Time Wasted on Unsolved Problems

John opened a desk drawer to grab a pen. The drawer stuck. Jammed. So he did what he always did: jiggle it, shake it, force it open. This went on for years. Every single day. His colleague Dean watched him struggle and finally asked: "How long has this been a problem?" "Two years," John said. "I've been bothered by it every single day." Dean asked: "How long would it take to fix?" John fixed it right then. Two minutes. Two years of frustration. Two minutes to solve. Why do we tolerate this? Because on any given day, managing a problem takes less time than solving it. Thirty seconds of jiggling is faster than two minutes of fixing. So we live with it. We manage it. We accept the daily friction as normal. But compound it over years and suddenly you're living a life designed around broken things. A client was chronically late to meetings. Every important meeting triggered anxiety. She'd worry about being late, not focus on the work. Until she spent two minutes setting calendar reminders for five minutes before each meeting. Two minutes. Gone were the daily anxiety that cost her hundreds of hours. Some tasks that seem "not worth it" in the moment save you hundreds of times the time over the long run. Ask yourself: • What problem irritates me repeatedly? • What's the total cost of managing that over several years? • What's one small action I can take right now to solve it? The goal: Find the most annoying thing that can be solved in the least amount of time. You'll be shocked what changes. From Effortless pg.196

I timed it yesterday: A leadership team spent 47 minutes "solving" the same issue they've tackled in every meeting for the past 4 months. Sound familiar? They identified symptoms, not causes. Everyone had opinions, few had solutions. They created action items no one completed. The problem returned, slightly repackaged. This isn't just inefficient. It's the silent killer of growing businesses. After implementing EOS with 500+ entrepreneurial companies over 15 years, I've found teams waste up to 68% of their meeting time on recurring issues that never get solved at the root. The difference between teams that solve issues once and teams stuck in the loop isn't intelligence. It's methodology. Enter the Issues Solving Track - the EOS tool that transforms how leadership teams attack problems: 1. IDENTIFY the real issue Most teams get this wrong. They discuss symptoms, not causes. Try this instead: → Write the issue as one clear sentence → Ask "Why is this happening?" three times → Determine if it's a people issue, process breakdown, or communication gap A manufacturing client kept "solving" quality problems until they properly identified the real issue: unclear quality standards, not lazy employees. 2. DISCUSS with discipline The discussion phase isn't: → A platform for the loudest voice → A place for tangents and war stories → A political positioning exercise It is: → A focused examination of relevant facts → A space for diverse perspectives → A way to challenge assumptions respectfully The best teams have a designated facilitator who keeps discussion on track and ensures every voice contributes. 3. SOLVE completely The only reason to discuss an issue is to solve it. When you've reached clarity, document: → A specific action step → One person accountable (not a department) → A concrete due date (not "ASAP" or "ongoing") Then move on. No revisiting. No second-guessing. A software company I work with was averaging 3.5 hours in weekly leadership meetings. After implementing the Issues Solving Track, they cut meeting time to 90 minutes while solving twice as many issues. The best businesses aren't the ones without problems. They're the ones that solve problems at the root. Want to implement the Issues Solving Track in your business? Use the process below 👇

The VP of Engineering walked into the CEO's office with a spreadsheet. "We're spending $2.3 million annually on internal data requests." The CEO looked confused. "That's not on our P&L." They had been tracking it for months. - Engineers pulling reports for executives. - Product managers building one-off dashboards. - Designers creating charts for board meetings. None of it showed up in the budget. All of it was burning cash. "Show me the math," the CEO said. She opened her laptop: - 12 engineers at $180K: 15% of time on data requests - 8 PMs at $150K: 20% of time building dashboards - 4 designers at $120K: 10% of time on charts "We're accidentally running a data agency inside our product company." The CEO leaned back. "How much would it cost to fix this?" "Two analysts at $120K each. Self-service tools for $50K annually." "Total cost: $290K." The silence stretched. "We're spending $2.3 million to avoid spending $290K?" She nodded. The CEO closed his laptop. "What do you need to implement this?" Three months later, the culture had shifted. Leaders stopped asking for reports they didn't really need. Engineers were back to building products. The company was no longer subsidizing executive curiosity  with million-dollar talent. The invisible expense became visible. Once leadership saw the opportunity cost, behavior changed immediately. Sometimes the most expensive problems are the ones that don't show up on the P&L.

🎯 Why Most Business Problems Remain Unsolved (And How to Fix That) Last week, I had the privilege of facilitating a Problem Solving & Business Acumen workshop for our teams at L'Oréal Indonesia. 💡 The Problem We All Face (But Rarely Talk About) Here's an uncomfortable truth: we're wired to jump to solutions. In business, this looks like: ✔️ Launching promotions without understanding why sales declined ✔️ Hiring more people without diagnosing process inefficiencies ✔️ Copying competitor tactics without validating if they fit our context The cost? Wasted resources, frustrated teams, and recurring problems that never truly go away. According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2023, analytical and critical thinking are the #1 and #2 most important skills for workers. Yet, most of us were never formally taught how to think critically or solve problems systematically. 🛠️ The Problem-Solving Process: A Step-by-Step Guide Step 1: Define the Problem (Don't Jump to Judgment!) 📝 Craft a Problem Statement with 6 components: "How can [responsible party] improve/reduce [reality] to meet [expectation] within [timeline] without [anti-goals], in order to fulfill [reason]?" Example: "How can the product team launch a new product on time in Q4 2024 without sacrificing key processes, in order to meet the sales target?" Step 2: Find Alternatives (Issue Tree + MECE) Once the problem is clear, break it down using an Issue Tree. For instance, if mascara sales dropped -14% YoY: 📦 Placement → Gondola compliance, visibility, signage 🎁 Promotion → BOGO mechanics, POS materials 💰 Price → Elasticity, perceived value 🎨 Product Claims → Content freshness, reviews 🔥 Competition → Share of voice, endcap presence ✅ Ensure hypotheses are MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive)—no overlaps, no gaps. Step 3: Test Your Hypotheses Don't fall in love with your first idea. Run quick tests: 📊 For a skincare serum declining in pharmacies, we tested: ✔️ Hypothesis A: Reduced pharmacist advocacy is the issue → Micro-detailing pilot in 10 stores ✔️ Hypothesis B: Cold chain OOS drives lost sales → Warehouse SOP audit + temperature logs ✔️ Hypothesis C: Execution gaps suppress promo ROI → Endcap compliance audit Each hypothesis had clear KPIs and timelines—no guessing, just data. Step 4: Make the Decision (Impact vs. Effort Matrix) Not all solutions are equal. Prioritize: 🟩 Quick wins—do this! 🟦 Strategic bets 🟨 Fill-ins 🟥 Avoid Focus on low effort, high impact moves first. Build momentum, then tackle the big bets. 🚨 What Happens When We Skip These Steps? A mascara brand saw sales drop -14% YoY. The reaction? "Let's run a BOGO promo!" The result? Sales stayed flat. Why? Because the real issues were: ❌ Poor gondola compliance (only 68% correct facings) ❌ Weak influencer share of voice ❌ Competitor secured prime endcap space The lesson: Solutions applied to the wrong problem = wasted budget and missed targets.

In my early manufacturing days, a senior leader once spent almost one full hour reviewing my mobile bill of ₹395. His goal was clear: Separate personal and official calls. Save costs. Every rupee mattered. At that time, I respected the intent. Years later, with more context, the lense changed. That same leader was responsible for capital expenditure running into crores. One hour spent questioning and saving ₹100 on mobile claim. Very little time spent deeply reviewing large purchase decisions where real money leaked. Fast forward to today, the pattern still exists. Only the target has changed. Instead of mobile bills, we now see cost reduction driven by: ▪️ Junior and middle-level job cuts ▪️ Project funding reduction ▪️ Lower increments While much larger costs stay untouched such as: ▪️ Cost of poor quality which includes rework and rejection ▪️ Regulatory misses, project delays ▪️ Inefficient or broken processes In problem solving, effort alone is not intelligence. Impact is. Solving the easy problem feels productive. Solving the right problem actually saves money. #ProblemSolving #Leadership #Execution #StrategicThinking

We solve the wrong problems – and That is the Real Problem at Work   Many executives spend a large amount of their time firefighting. Often, they are trying to solve the right problem. The classic case is that of Kodak, which once dominated the photographic industry worldwide. It had pioneered digital technologies well before their competitors, yet the leadership wanted to stick to the legacy of inexpensive camera with expensive consumables (film and paper) for high margins. Kodak’s initial reluctance to embrace and commercialize its own digital inventions caused a rapid erosion of its market share. It launched competitive digital cameras late - in the 2000s. They tried to perfect their digital technology while losing money on the cameras sold. The real problem wasn't that they needed better digital cameras—it was that the business model had shifted from selling cameras to selling services and software. What is the lesson we can take? Before diving into any solution, invest some time asking "What problem am I really solving?" It is useful to have separate discussions on defining the problem first, and having identified it, then working on finding solutions. Ensure you are looking at the root cause and not the symptoms of the problem. Write down multiple versions of the problem statement. Brainstorm and iterate. Version one might be "Our team misses deadlines." Version two becomes "Our team receives unclear project requirements." Version three reveals "Our team lacks a standardized way to prioritize competing requests." This simple exercise stops you from building elaborate solutions for surface-level symptoms. It prevents you from becoming the person who automates a broken process instead of fixing it; or optimizes something that shouldn't exist. Pick your biggest work challenge. Check whether you have defined problem statement correctly. You'll find yourself solving the root cause instead of chasing endless symptoms.   Picking the right problem leads to simpler solutions. Would love to hear your experience where you had to redefine your problem statement. 

MAKE SURE YOU’RE SOLVING YOUR PROBLEMS, NOT JUST MITIGATING THEM. Most leaders don’t fail because they ignore problems, They fail because they keep managing them instead of resolving them. They patch symptoms, apply quick fixes, & call it progress, while building pressure beneath the surface. And it makes sense, right? Because most people want the easy way out & it’s much easier to apply a bandage than to heal a wound. But the problem is that what stays unhealed eventually infects everything around it, It’s what I call ���THE BANDAID TRAP" It’s the illusion of progress that hides the erosion of clarity, confidence, & culture. And in business, it impacts alignment, execution, & results. In fact, unresolved issues drain up to 40% of your brain’s decision-making capacity, eroding clarity, draining energy, & blurring focus. And the cost is staggering: → U.S. businesses lose $350 billion every year to unresolved workplace issues. → 68% of executives admit to revisiting the same recurring issues multiple times a year. → Companies that rely on short-term fixes spend up to 40% more time firefighting rather than innovating. → Absenteeism tied to poor culture costs $225 billion annually. → Unproductive meetings waste up to $100 million per year in large companies. → Turnover from unresolved friction costs 50% to 200% of an employee’s annual salary. Instead of falling into this trap, Here’s HOW I HELP TOP LEADERS BREAK THE CYCLE & ACTUALLY SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS: → DIAGNOSE, DON’T DISGUISE. Slow down long enough to identify the root cause, not just the visible effect. Trace patterns back to process, communication, or leadership gaps. → CHALLENGE AUTOMATIC RESPONSES. When your instinct says “move faster,” pause & ask, “what’s creating this recurring friction?” Precision always outperforms speed. → SYSTEMATIZE THE SOLUTION. Once you resolve an issue, lock it into structure. Create a standard, checklist, or communication loop that makes the problem impossible to repeat. → INTEGRATE REFLECTION TIME. Protect an hour each week to review: “What problems am I solving versus what patterns am I repeating?” Strategic reflection separates reactive managers from intentional leaders. → BUILD PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY. Empower your team to surface root causes without fear. Organizations with open communication resolve operational issues 30% faster. High performance leadership is about deliberate precision. Quick fixes that bring short-term ease are the enemy of sustained excellence. True leadership demands the courage to dig deeper, confront what is uncomfortable, & build systems that prevent history from repeating itself. Your company, your energy, & your future depend on it. The choice is yours… You can manage the same problem a hundred times or solve it once. Your decision will determine whether you leave a trail of exhaustion or a legacy of excellence. I’m curious… ~Are you patching at the surface or solving at the root? #leadership #strategy #success

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴. And you'll defend it brilliantly. I've watched executives build entire strategies around assumptions they never tested. The pattern is always the same: • Someone flags an issue. • The leader's mind races to a solution. • A plan emerges: clean, logical, decisive. Everyone nods. The meeting ends. Six months later, nothing's changed. Here's what happened: 𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 "Sales are down" isn't a problem definition. It might be a symptom. Without defining the problem, we won't get to the root cause. Without finding the root cause, we will just create short-term "fixes" that won't solve the problem. 𝟮. 𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 Real problems don't live in PowerPoint. They live at Gemba - where the real work happens. If you haven't stood beside the people doing the work, listened to their reality, and seen what they see, you're solving from a distance. Distance breeds elegant theories. Proximity breeds truth. 𝟯. 𝗪𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 The smartest person in the room is rarely in the room. It's the operator who's run that machine for eight years. The experienced sales colleague in the field who hears the same complaint daily. The engineer who's been working around a broken process for months. Leaders who bypass this expertise don't just waste time. They waste trust. Toyota taught me something painful early in my career: ✅ Your job as a leader isn't to have the answer. ✅ Your job is to frame the question so clearly that the people closest to the work can solve it. That requires humility. And a quiet ego, by the way 😉 It requires going to Gemba where the problem lives. It requires trusting that someone else might see what you can't. Most executives resist this because it feels slow. But "𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡, 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ" beats "𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑥 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑛𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡" every single time. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿. 𝗣.𝗦. When did you last go to the Gemba before making a big decision? Drop a number: how many days ago? ♻️ Repost if your best idea turned out to be wrong. Image by Michael Ballé (thank you 🙏)

Your team isn’t slow. They’re stuck in friction. You see it daily. Tasks take longer than expected. Customers wait. Your team asks the same questions again and again…. They’re working hard. The system isn’t. Here’s what’s actually happening. → People are searching instead of serving. They’re guessing instead of following a clear path. They’re fixing problems that should never exist. That friction quietly drains your business. Ten minutes lost here. Fifteen minutes there. Multiply that across your team and your week is gone. → You don’t fix this by pushing performance. → You fix it by REMOVING obstacles. Start here. ↳ Walk the customer journey from first contact to final delivery. ↳ Write down every moment where someone pauses, waits, or asks for help. ↳ Then talk to your team. ↳ Ask one question: “Where do you lose the most time each day?” You’ll hear the same themes: Searching for information. Unclear ownership. Missing documentation. Too many handoffs… Pick one. Not all friction is EQUAL. → Solve the problem costing the most minutes per day. → Create a clear system: One owner One location One way to do it ✅ When friction disappears, SPEED shows up. ✅ Your team moves with confidence. ✅ Mistakes drop. ✅ Customers feel the difference immediately. ✅ Leadership starts to feel LIGHTER because you’re no longer the bottleneck. → What process in your business wastes the most time right now? Share it in the comments and I’ll help you break it down during a LinkedIn Systems Jam Session. I help healthcare and eldercare leaders identify time-draining friction, install practical systems, and build teams that operate smoothly without constant oversight. #systems #leadership #business #strategy #ProcessImprovement

When I worked at JL Audio, they used simple checks and balances on the production line to dramatically lower defects and improve product quality. Every operator double-checked the previous person’s work before starting theirs. Yes, it took extra time. But the result? A massive drop in defects at the end of the line. That same principle can be applied to your custom integration firm. Build checks and balances into your process…especially in the moments that could derail a project downstream. The pushback I always hear is: “We don’t have time to slow down.” Ok, I get it…but ask yourself… • How long does it take to review a proposal with a teammate before sending it to a client to make sure what you sold can be delivered? • How long does it take to review a project before production starts with the team members intalling it to ensure what was sold can actually be delivered? • How long does it take to sit with your team to review active projects so you can get ahead instead of constantly reacting? Now ask yourself… • How many internal change orders that you can’t bill for are created because no one reviewed the proposal first? • How many non-billable days onsite happen because the team didn’t fully understand what was sold? • How many extra truck rolls are wasted because the project was called “done” too early? You do have the time. You’re just spending it later…fixing preventable problems that cost more money, more hours, and more frustration. Make time now, or waste time later. The choice is yours, the solution is simple.