Why I don’t tell people to come with solutions rather than just problems
Separate ‘highlighting things that can be improved’ and ‘finding people to help solve them’. The second should never stifle the first.
Many of us have been in this situation. We see something that isn’t working or could be improved, and our Manager says “It’s not very helpful for you to just come with problems, I need solutions!”
The issue with this approach is that it’s putting up barriers in front of people helping the organisation learn and improve. What if I see something that isn’t working, but I don’t have the experience or visibility to suggest a solution? Does that mean I shouldn’t say anything? Or what if my to-do list that is already too long, so speaking up means I’ll never get to it or having to deprioritise something else? Is the (potentially unknown) benefit worth it to me? Would I be better off just ‘keeping my head down’ and working on the tasks already in front of me rather than adapting to respond to what emerges?
On this occasion I’ll propose a solution because it’s something I’ve experienced enough to have a view on. Managers need to separate ‘highlight things that can be improved’ and ‘finding people to help solve them’ as different activities that don’t need to be solved by the same person.
Highlight things that could be improved: If I see something that could be improved, my Manager should be trying to remove barriers and make it as easy as possible for me to highlight it. There should be no expectation that I need to come up with possible solutions. I shouldn’t even need to know who else could come up with the solution. In software terms, this is similar to designing for the ‘end-user’. Making things as easy as possible for the team member rather than creating barriers will help lead to employee engagement.
Finding people to help solve them: A widely held view is that Managers should help to remove barriers. This is an opportunity to do just that. And it’s not just Managers who can help. One of the powerful things of a social network is that anyone in the organisation can have visibility of ,and help solve, problems. You may not even know the person who solves it exists! Alternatively, you could have cross-functional teams who a dedicated to help solve problems, or find the people that could help (and those people do not necessarily need to work for your organisation).
In summary, encouraging people to highlight things that can be improved is one thing. Finding people to help solve them is another. The second should never stifle the first.
This is similar to when I have an idea, and my Manager says “Is that you volunteering?”
