Diagnosing a problem and determining its many potential causes is a very creative exercise best performed with a diverse stakeholder group.
There are often many reasons why a problem exists and breadth of perspective and diversity of experience help paint the full picture. Problem Loops enable deeper problem solving skills across the stakeholder project team.
Problem identification and diagnosis can quickly slide into the “blame game” if care is not taken to provide a psychologically safe environment where fear of reprisal is minimized. Cognitive biases (examples: confirmation, recency & anchoring biases) left unchecked, can greatly influence the quality of the problem diagnosis, and ultimately result in solving the wrong problem.
​
Problem Loops start with a clearly defined problem frame and engage stakeholders to identify potential causes, provide evidence, and prioritize the most likely causes. A project stakeholder is much more likely to accept the eventual solution and implement the change if they were involved in the creative problem solving process itself.
Problem Loops Deliver ...
-
agility and efficiency as project stakeholders do not need to be scheduled to attend long problem diagnosis workshops.
​
-
quality problem identification with the breadth and depth of stakeholder engagement, diversity, and psychological safety.
​
-
speed of implementation as a result of involving stakeholders in the problem solving process itself.
Problem Loops minimize the “blame game” and build stakeholder buy-in.
Problem Loops Example ...
Problem Identification & Diagnosis Example:
Financial Services Stakeholders
This department of a Fortune 500 Financial Services company was responsible for publishing a critical report that the entire organization depended on for decision making. The project team required information from every key department in the organization and the report was consistently published late. They had met in meetings many times to try and diagnose the problem, but the discussions always got derailed and heated.
