How leaders inspire bold solutions to big problems.
I recently attended a client's leadership planning session.
It was a gathering designed around reporting on current initiatives, discussing goals, and building tactical plans to achieve them.
Overall, I was impressed by the intentionality of bringing the team together in person and executing on a very tight agenda.
The more sessions I participated in, (that's my approach to being an advisor—I'll be part of your team and join leadership sessions) I noticed a trend...
People were admiring the problem.
Simply put, admiring the problem means finding as many ways as possible to say:
"We have a problem." or “We need to improve x or y.”
The thing is, stating we have a problem or need to get better and coming up with solutions are two very different things.
Here's how I helped that organization move from admiring the problem to coming up with a clear path to address it and how you can inspire bold solutions to big problems within your teams.
What's really going on?
"How do I get my team to bring bold ideas to the table?"
I've heard this often from leaders of all levels...
When faced with big problems, people get overwhelmed about how to start trying to solve them, so nothing happens... they admire the problem.
From my experience, what's really happening in these situations is one of two things:
1) People are afraid.
They're afraid of admitting to their CEO or their fellow leaders that they aren't confident they have the right solution to solve the problem.
2) People are paralyzed by constraints.
Leaders paralyze themselves because they start layering on all the “yeah, buts” that have to be accounted for when trying to come up with new ideas.
The ‘buts’ or constraints can be dealt with later. They can be layered in, one by one, as the ‘how’ is defined. Constraints will always exist and will always be friction to easy solutions.
Look, I get it. Solving big problems and coming up with bold ideas is hard.
AND when no attempt is made to solve a problem, then a decision is still being made on behalf of the entire team or organization.
A decision to do nothing and accept the status quo.
What CEOs really want from their leadership teams.
Let's flip this for a second...
Alright, I'll admit it... CEOs don't have all the answers to solve every problem.
Nor should they! That's why effective CEOs surround themselves with talented people to help them make decisions.
As a CEO, I'm looking for my team to provide options. Not just ideas, but potential solutions to address whatever problem we're trying to solve.
In other words, tell me what it will take to solve X.
When I'm given options, I can often use my vantage point from the CEO chair to connect dots, ask further questions, or draw conclusions to help us make an informed decision on how to move forward.
Notice I didn't say "the right decision", I said "an informed decision".
As a leader, you have the ability to control the environment.
Effective leaders intentionally use their words and influence to create an environment that reduces fear, sets constraints aside, and encourages bold ideas.
Innovation is a result, not an action.
As I was sitting in the room with my client's leadership team, I halted the meeting at one point and said:
"Look everyone... I'm hearing a lot of you admire the problem and I appreciate it's a difficult one to solve. We need to give Jessica (CEOs name altered for privacy) options so she can make a decision."
Now, I'm not suggesting that simply telling people "Hey, come up with a solution." is the answer when people are admiring the problem.
Here's how I posed it to this group:
"Let's throw all constraints aside and free ourselves of the pressure to come up with the perfect solution... Knowing what we know right now, what will it take to address this problem?"
Now, I want you to notice three things I did there:
Removed constraints (opening people’s minds to the art of the possible)
Acknowledged we’ll never have all the information
Asked, "What will it take?"
What flowed was a productive conversation.
People willingly shared their perspectives and their proposed solutions to the issue at hand.
By the end of the conversation, we came away with a couple viable options that could be presented to the CEO so a decision could be made.
Bringing it all together
To move people from admiring problems to solution mode:
Acknowledge the difficulty of the problem at hand.
Recognize that options are what you’re ultimately looking for.
Be willing to put aside constraints to allow new ideas to flow.
Acknowledge that we’ll never have all the information.
Ask a new question framed around "What will it take?"
Innovation is a result, not an action.
Leaders, teams, and firms that can create the right environments and ask the right questions to spur bold solutions to age-old problems will be the ones who innovate—and BREAK THE MOLD™.
As an advisor, that’s exactly what I help CEOs and leadership teams do and I'm taking on new advisory clients in 2025.
If you'd see value in having an experienced CEO, one who led a significant scaling and transformation in only a few years, as part of your leadership team to help you make decisions, navigate growth, and provide a different point of view on areas you’re getting stuck, I'd enjoy speaking with you.
Send a reply to this email or book a time on my calendar here.
Happy New Year.
With intention,
Alan D Whitman
Whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you and your organization:
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