Don’t Avoid the Root Problem
As a campaigner and lobbyist, I spent many years working on solutions to the wrong problems. By ignoring the root cause/problem, I helped bring about solutions, that did not prevent the real problem returning.
As I got older, I learned that if you avoid the root problem, you are going to introduce solutions that fail.
As a lobbyist, you are often asked to help solve a ‘problem’. The client tells you they have a problem and you jump in, and solve it.
What does not happen enough is that you ask yourself “are you dealing with the right problem”. Do you understand the root problem?
If you don’t deal with the root problem, you may find a solution for the symptons. Soon enough, the root problem will manifest itself again, and you’ll be called back to treat some more symptoms.
Personally, I’ve found it more satisfying to work on solving the root problem.
Setting up a system to avoid working on the wrong problem
In my experience, the problem you are asked to look at is not automaticlly the problem that needs to be solved.
You need to set up a system that breaks the impulse to look at the problem on the table and switch automatically to find ‘the solution’.
We like to jump to the ‘solution’ because that’s what we are paid to do. The problem is that you may work on the solutions to the wrong problem.
There are three ways to avoid working on the wrong problems:
Option 1: Think through the problem yourself. Don’t assume what others say, including experts, is true.
Option 2: Put up a firewall between the problem definition and the problem solution. Sepearate the problem definition and the problem solution into two parts. Let people sleep on the problem definition for a day or so before coming back to the problem solution.
This simple tactic slows people down, and stops them jumping from problem to solution in a few minutes. If you divide the consideration, you get a far better understanding of the ‘real problem’, and from that you can come up with real solutions.
Option 3: Speak with officials dealing with the file and see if your and their identificiation of the problem is the same. Most of the time, it is not.