Be Committed to Solving the Problem.

If you really don't care about the problem, the solution is harder to find. This sounds so simple, yet seemingly difficult to grasp. Consider this:

We are fighting a war spending billions of dollars to fight with no clear definition of the problem we are trying to correct and the solution we are trying to achieve. Not to mention, there is no collaborative buy in to the problem as well. No commitment.

TARP was intended to bailout the financial institutions that were in trouble, yet some of them took the money grudgingly because of the strings attached. Once again, there is no clarity of a defined solution because there is not unity in understanding the problem and how it should be addressed. No commitment.

The school system in this country sucks and we are losing ground educationally with respect to the world, yet no one has gained enough commitment to solving the problem; therefore a solution continues to be elusive.

Amazing how such serious problems can't have problem solving commitment. What about your business?

What are the problems in your business that need to be solved? I'm talking the big ones no one wants to talk about, I'm referring to the issues that generate the most heated discussions, that create a verbal war inside an executive meeting.

This is when you know the commitment is on other things than reaching solution. Most often times there is more commitment in placing the blame than in arriving at a complete solution. There is more energy being spent on defending a department or control. When this is the case, a solution is a distant opportunity.

Make a list of the high energy issues you are facing. Make a list of the obstacles to having a fruitful conversation.