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Leadership Development With Tom
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Problem or Possibility
And the Answer Is...
By Tom Stevens (c)2006
A teacher asks a colleague about a particular student – imagine two different replies.
In the first, the colleague says, “He’s behind two grades in reading, lives in a single-parent home, and is picked on regularly by a number of other students.” In the alternative response, the colleague says, “He reads everything he can about animals, his mom comes to every parent-teacher conference, and he has two good friends he hangs out with at school.”
This hypothetical example illustrates the difference between a problem perspective that focuses on deficits, and a possibility orientation that focuses on strengths. While based on equally good intentions, we would be right to suspect that consistently responding from one perspective or the other would have a pervasive affect on one’s teaching style.
In my experience, most leaders, and therefore most organizations, over-use problem thinking and under-use possibility thinking. Consider the following: we all want good health, maximum wealth, and good quality products. Yet we do not gain optimal health simply by treating illness, just as we do not acquire prosperity simply by cutting costs, nor do we assure quality products simply by reducing manufacturing defects. This is often the mindset of many companies in the respective industries nonetheless, not to mention how individuals manage their personal lives.
We all know it would be foolish, even potentially suicidal, to ignore illness, cost controls, or defects. Achieving excellence, however, requires going beyond problem thinking, and operating from a perspective of possibility thinking.
This key principle applies directly to leaders who aspire to achieve outstanding success for their businesses or organizations. Extraordinary organizations are not created simply by solving problems. Leaders need to be skillful at problem-solving, yes, but to be outstanding they also need to be competent at possibility-building. Jim Collins, in his book, Good to Great, notes great leaders help their organizations “confront the brutal facts” of their circumstances, yet “never lose faith” in their ability to achieve.
To develop organizations that appropriately apply both problem and possibility perspectives, there are two general skill sets that leaders must develop: awareness and action.
Awareness
Leaders must understand the difference between problem/deficit thinking and possibility/strength thinking.
Problem thinking is based on perceiving deficits and seeks to fix what’s broken. Thinking from this perspective focuses on analysis of causes and consequences, and logical processes which can lead to problem solutions.
Possibility thinking is based on a positive perspective – finding what is best and getting more of it. This thinking focuses on discovery of the positive core of the organization, mapping and use of assets, and narrative information that energizes people and encourages widespread use of best practices.
Simply understanding the difference isn’t enough. Leaders must develop awareness of whether their own thinking is problem- or possibility-oriented at any given time, and learn how to switch modes appropriately depending on the circumstances.
Action
The point of leadership is influencing others. Leaders do well to develop a toolbox of skills designed to influence followers to adopt either a problem-solving or possibility-enhancing perspective.
One valuable skill is competency in framing questions to elicit either a problem or possibility frame of reference. One of my favorite demonstrations in leadership workshops it to illustrate how just slightly different questions on a same topic, e.g., ways to increase excellence in the organization, can lead groups into very different discussions and results. After dividing the participants into small groups, I’ll ask half to come up with “issues and priorities” to help their organization increase excellence. I’ll then ask the other half for “best experiences and how to encourage more of them.” Typically, both processes and results are quite different.
Another skill set includes the ability to facilitate discussion so that dialogue is meaningful and stays true to a purpose. Carefully crafted questions will set up the direction of a discussion, and proper facilitation will keep it on track. As noted previously, discussion focused on attunement, bringing out success stories, and creating energy and enthusiasm is decidedly different from dialogue aimed at framing a problem and stimulating innovative solutions. Ultimately, organizations need both to excel, but not haphazardly.
Problem or Possibility?
For exceptional leaders, the answer is…problem AND possibility!
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