Problem-Solving Hint: The Answer Can't Be an Adjective
Listen up, friends.
I know you love solving problems.
I know your brain is so good and finding gaps and flaws and potential for improvement.
And I know your nerdy heart loves a good root cause analysis so you can figure out what’s not working now and how to make it better.
So let me give you a hint — a little cheat sheet — for you to use as you’re running around, breaking down and solving problems.
Here it is:
The answer can’t be an adjective.
The output of your analysis cannot be:
The root cause is that I’m lazy.
This happened because I’m stupid.
The reality is that I’m just hopeless.
The problem is that I’m unreliable.
The real issue is that I’m indecisive.
Etc. etc.
If your analysis has resulted in an adjective, that is a sure sign that you are wrong.
This is like #REF! popping up in your final output cell.
Imagine if you were hired to advise a client, and they laid out their whole problem in front of you. They carefully explained what happened, what they want, and why they’re struggling to close the gap on their own.
Then they ask you for your opinion, and you say:
“Yeah, I figured it out. The problem is that you’re stupid.”
You would be fired immediately. And not just because you were rude but because you were unhelpful.
“Stupid” is not an actionable diagnosis of the problem.
You might say: “You have skill gaps in critical areas. You need new training for your employees and different people in your leadership team.”
And that is a thousand times more helpful than an adjective.
Your brain will want to go to adjectives.
Your automatic brain is the king of turning one data point into a blanket conclusion about everything.
So it will be very tempting to say “The answer is that I’m ___.”
Don’t. It only feels right because of a logical fallacy — a cognitive illusion that is a product of your mind, not the outside world.
And I’m here to help you correct it.
It’s an incredibly simple fix:
If the answer is an adjective, your analysis is wrong. No worries. Just try again. And look for the process problem, not the you problem.
And if you’re having trouble finding the answer…
If your brain is insisting that this time it really is the adjective and nothing else…
Come talk to me.
You can’t solve the problem if you don’t get the root cause diagnosis right.
And that’s exactly where we’ll start.
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