Colleagues, We’ve looked at the first two steps of problem identification this week. Consulting stakeholders, obvious and less obvious, is critical in the sunburst process as it helps generate diverse perspectives. Some of these perspectives may be far-fetched while others may be spot on. Some may even seem silly, but the value in the sunburst doesn’t lie with any single option (or sunray). The value lies in the collection or totality of the options. We’ll start processing all these options next week, but we will wrap this week up with a small offering. Close your eyes for five seconds and think of three changes you are trying to make (or things you are trying to fix) in your organization. Got it? Now answer this question: what problem are you trying to solve? Too many times we fix things that aren’t really broken. Or we make them better when they were already good enough. Be ruthless in asking this question any time you are contemplating a change. What problem are you trying to solve? You will recall that I was having critter issues in my garden a few weeks ago. I developed all kinds of plans for fences, barriers, and walls. Some of them were going to be beautiful. I even thought about expanding the garden so it would be more symmetrical. But why? What problem was I trying to solve? What problem are you trying to solve? If you can’t answer that question, your actions are meaningless.
Do good and be well, Frederick
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Colleagues, The beauty of going from point A to point B is that you don’t have to go far to realize you are off track! In Monday’s email, which came out Tuesday, I mentioned that this topic is a 1 ½ day workshop. Fitting it into five 300-word messages isn’t working, so we are adjusting course. The first step to identifying the root problem of an issue is to identify all of the stakeholders. The second step is to engage in the sunburst activity. Example: our meetings are unproductive. Why? Notice:
Please do one of two things:
If I don’t receive a bunch of emails I’ll know you have been busy reflecting =;^} Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
Once we identify stakeholders, it’s time to expand the possible reasons causing our issue by using a sunburst. Our goal is to generate as many ideas as possible. Begin by creating a sunburst diagram with you issue in the center phrased as “Why is x issue happening?” With stakeholders, develop a list of all the possible reasons. There are three challenges in this part of the process:
Here are some best practices to help:
If you can’t do this with stake holders present, here are some options:
How to take shortcuts for a minor issue:
Your turn! Assemble your stakeholders and develop a sunburst. I’ve included an example here. I would love to see what you came up with so please consider using the links below to share. If you have questions, let me know and I can address them. Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
Pause and think about two issues you are facing, one minor and one major. The urgent algorithm often causes us to skip the most critical piece of the entire problem-solving process: consulting with all the stakeholders. Why? We may believe:
These beliefs and behaviors undermine our leadership. A great example of the importance of stakeholders is in this hilarious 46 second video. The first group of stakeholders are the obvious ones:
Make a list of the stakeholders for each of your issues, minor and major. The second group of stakeholders are less obvious:
Make a list of the stakeholders for each of your issues, minor and major. In taking the next steps, these people should be included. If it seems too cumbersome to include all of them, here are some strategies:
Reflect on this:
Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues, This week we dive into the second key of leading strategically, focusing on problems instead of symptoms. Problem identification is part of a larger model called the Strategic Action Cycle (SAC). A full SAC training spend 1 ½ days on problem identification, so this week’s emails will just scratch the surface. In our simplified process we may still get to the root problem, but sometimes we’ll only find hidden symptoms and that’s okay. Any incremental improvement is a win.
We will dig into the four parts of the process beginning tomorrow, but here is an overview:
If you only take away two things from the week, they are:
Frederick |
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