The problem gets solved in two ways. The first way is reactionary. The problem is discovered and then there is some action to resolve it. This is classic “customer service.” The second way is proactive. We discover a problem and then we work to solve it, but we don’t stop there. We try to figure out where the problem originated to see if it’s possible to solve the underlying cause. Some problems cannot be permanently solved (like the problem of hunger), but others can. Seems simple enough. We don’t tend to do it, though, because the urgency of each problem at hand beats the importance of finding the underlying causes every time. Urgency is the professional team playing against Importance which is your high school’s JV team. However, If we can put in our SOP that “we are the type of people who always look to solve the roots of our problems,” and if we can build a culture around that sentiment, then, over time, our customers benefit, our blood pressure benefits, and our organization benefits. Investing in the important is urgent!
With your teams, don’t get out of the way, do this instead
"Get out of the way!" I often hear some version of this sentiment when talking about building a culture to incentivize high performance teams. "You have to find the right people, equip them, and then get out of the way." People who talk about getting out of the way...