Why solving problems is not the same as delivering goals!

Why solving problems is not the same as delivering goals!

My broadband at home is going very S L O W and I’ve phoned my provider to ask them to address this. I offered them the results from an internet speed test and they were perplexed.

Their salesman’s approach is to sell me faster broadband. I explain that if the current system & speed doesn’t work, then spending more only makes the “not working” more expensive: Instead of not getting 4MB I am not getting 8MB (not really helpful!). Eventually I talk to an engineer. We discuss possibilities and configurations on the phone, but with no conclusion.

Eventually the problem is passed to the telecoms provider who at  circa £50/hour turn-up to the house and check every component from the point where the broadband enters the house to the display on my laptop. We identify the problem and agree a solution.

During the visit I explain that I’m trying to Skype my daughter at University and the connection is so poor that it makes communication really difficult. Immediately the telecoms engineer identifies with the situation, explains their experience and offers some helpful advice.

When I retold this to a friend I said ”You know if someone said we’ll sort everything out so that you can talk to your daughter at University I would gladly have given them £400 just to get it done” Instead the process took months, being bounced from one possibility to another but none of them helping me achieve what I want.

My friend replied “That’s the difference between solving problems and delivering goals” People get focussed on offering their solution that they ignore the customer goal. The salesman sells more broadband as his solution to my needs. The engineer offered diagnostic advice as his solution to my needs. The telecoms provider, however turns-up at my house and systematically checks everything, including what my goal is. Eureka my needs are met.

Managing projects and change.

I’ve reflected on this and realise that on some projects we spend huge amounts of time offering silo based solutions that don’t look at the end-goal.  We also spend an extra-ordinary amount of time thinking of all the problems and potentials for failure that we have little time left to consider innovative or alternative routes for success.

I have an MBA and have often complained that I can tell you one thousand reasons how and why projects and businesses fail. I’ve spend years looking at failure and their causes. But this isn’t the same as being an entrepreneur. Knowing the causes of failure doesn’t guarantee success. Ironically I have some sympathy with Lord Sugar who will often discount a candidate if they have an academic qualification because an over reliance upon a structured thinking can blind people to the end-goal and innovative or alternative routes for success.

Tim Rogers
Founder ciChange
timrogers@ciChange.org
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853
ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/