Sometimes the Problem is the Problem
Too many of us waste time and money solving the wrong problem. Everybody does this. And there are two main reasons why:
SILOS
Too many disciplines, practices, and professions are siloed or segregated. For example, someone who’s good with a hammer thinks that everything needs a little more pounding. But your lawyer thinks that you need a better contract. And your CEO thinks the problem is a lack of sustainable strategy. Meanwhile, your sales consultant keeps telling you that the solution is more sales training. It’s nobody’s fault, because everybody has their own answer - given their particular expertise.
But what if your real problem is some or none of these or other possible answers or evaluations, or maybe even only a little bit of each - or something else entirely? How would you know?
Conflicts of interest
There really is, “no free lunch.” Who among us hasn’t gotten a “free diagnosis” from the same mechanic who then proposes a fix or solution for which we then pay them? This is a conflict of interest. These situations exist everywhere today. It isn’t just mechanics, and the people who do so aren’t necessarily bad, wrong, or dishonorable.
The fact is that many of those who sell and deliver solutions to our problems often have a conflict of interest. This is because we too often engage them to sell their particular service as a solution to a problem that we have already identified, or that they have presumably identified “for free.” Everybody likes a first consultation for free. But wouldn’t it make more sense to first get the needed know-how for framing the right problem, without any conflict of interest? This is how we add value. Our consultations aren’t free, but only free of conflicts.
What We Do
To avoid these challenges, it is important to frame the right problem rather than solve the wrong one, and do this in an interdisciplinary and conflict-free way. This means showing up with a whole box of tools rather than just a hammer. And what makes this process conflict-free is the fact that we do not earn any referral or other fee from any of the resources that we may help you to identify, and then help you to contract under fair terms for all concerned. You only compensate us for what we know and what we do – comprehensive problem formulation.
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