The Danger of “Don’t Bring Me Problems, Bring Me Solutionsâ€
I recall working for a manager who always said “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions. I think his intent was to stop whining and get people working on problem solving before bringing the problem up. But I always thought it was counterproductive….. If I had a problem I might or I might not have a solution.. And I might need collaboration or leadership to obtain one. This Harvard Business Review article substantiated my long time concern over that management style.
“Instead of promoting accountability, it actually encourages employees to turn a blind eye to problems they see but cannot figure out how to fix. When you say “Don’t bring me problems—bring me solutions,” what you’re saying, in effect, is “Of all the problems you find, I only want to know about the ones you can solve.”
Identifying problems can be a solo sport, but finding solutions rarely is. This is especially true when the problems have any degree of complexity. If you’re giving people permission to tell you about just those problems they can solve, you’re missing out on many opportunities for improvement. You’re leaving performance boosters on the table simply because the problem and the solution aren’t collocated.”
Thank you HBR.
Of course in project estimation, planning and control part of the art is to identify both problems and solutions while bounding risk and uncertainty. That is part of the goal of the 10 step process.
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Another take is that you want to get people thinking about the problem – take the next step. The assumption above is that the request for a proposed solution is just a way to shut people up and turn a blind eye to the issue. I disagree – remember, the actual saying is “Don’t JUST bring me problems, bring me solutions”. I want my people to be connected to the issues and take ownership. I use this as a mentoring tool, not a way to squelch dissent. I’m trying to get the next generation of leaders thinking as creative problem solvers. I’m happy if someone comes to me and says “here’s the problem, but I really don’t have a solution yet.” At least it means they *hopefully* gave it some thought. Like any other tool, it can be used the wrong way, but it can also be used to grow an organization’s capabilities in dealing with issues in a systematic way