Kolar Associates

Strategic problem solving and innovation

The idea

Some problems just don’t seem to go away. They aren’t being ignored. Some of the biggest on-going problems I’ve seen have had teams working on them on and off for years. This isn’t unique to just one company or industry either. I see it happen everywhere. It’s certainly not for a lack of effort or creativity. More often than not lack of progress results from one of five issues:

  • Solving the wrong problem
  • Framing problems around solutions rather than outcomes
  • Identifying solutions that just make you “whole” instead of moving you ahead
  • Not finding ways to quickly and efficiently implement those solutions.
  • Focusing more on being new and different than on solving the problem

With increased pace and pressure, many leaders find themselves having difficulty balancing time to think strategically while they are executing in a tactical manner. This is a false dichotomy. Effective leaders know how to employ strategic tactics. This requires developing the ability to think critically and challenge assumptions while making day-to-day decisions. Critical thinking needs to be happening all the time - especially during execution. After all, that is the only point at which your actions have consequence. Look at the most critical or devastating execution mistakes in your business. I would bet that many are not due to failed execution of the plan or policy. Often it is because they executed it too well.

The story

The June, 2005 issue of Technology Review had an article by David Talbot titled Preventing Fratricide. Talbot discusses a case where both a U.S. and a British fighter plane were shot down during the second Gulf War. Planes get shot down during war, that wasn't his issue. The issue was that U.S. Patriot Missiles shot them down. Talbot provides several reasons for the errors including critical thinking. One of the biggest culprits was that the people who deployed the Patriots had a flawed assumption in their strategy. They assumed that Saddam Hussein was going to have a heavy, on-going barrage of missiles. Unfortunately, they didn't plan (or at least communicate a plan) for the alternative. According to Talbot, "The operating protocol was largely automatic, and the operators were trained to trust the system's software...a design that would be needed for heavy missile attacks, the task force wrote." In other words, part of the plan was that the operators shouldn't think but should rely on the system. Unfortunately, the intelligence was wrong and the missiles were few and far between. The systems weren't set up for that. The people deploying the Patriot batteries followed the plan perfectly. As a result, they watched as the missiles shot down their allies.

Sentinel events in hospitals, airline crashes, military errors, or even mundane day to day problems such as poor customer service or shop floor inefficiencies often stem from a lack of critical thinking during execution.

As a leader, your job is to ensure that you create an environment where people think about what they do.

Training offerings

Brad customizes and tailors all of his training courses to incorporate content, issues, and examples that are unique to your organization. In addition to his standard courses (listed below), he can create custom training experiences adapted to your unique needs.

Standard courses (click for more detail):

Consulting services

Brad can help you ensure that you are focused on the right problems and employing the best solutions. He will help you ask the questions you are overlooking. His outside perspective and inquiry-based approach uncover and challenge both your known and unknown assumptions.

  • Diagnosing business and performance problems
  • Facilitating innovation incubator sessions to drive high-impact solutions
  • Providing thought partnership and outside perspective on critical issues