Three ways people respond to a problem (other than solving it)

When people learn I’m a consultant, conversation often proceeds to problems and problem-solving. It’s true that I only get hired well after there is a problem. Typically a problem that has gotten so lousy that nobody wants to deal with it and it has therefore become worth the trouble—of spending time, money, effort, and reputation—to bring in somebody to sort it out.That said, I like completeness. What other responses do I notice to problems? (Other than solving them.) I don’t know that any of these are universally good or bad. But I do see people having three additional responses, and acting based on them. These are:Solving problems (the first response we think of)Pushing problems aroundPreserving problemsPromoting new problemsLet’s look at each of these three ‘P’s in turn.No. 0001. Pushing problems aroundWhen I was facilitating staff-led continuous improvement projects, this was the common outcome. Making things better here by making them worse there. This is what most…