Over the three-day weekend, I worked on my lawn. I removed an overgrown flower bed, created a new border, and planted grass seed.
The process took longer than anticipated, and I made at least nine trips to home and garden centers – perhaps others I can’t remember.
Each trip was created by a problem that I needed to solve.
This reminded me that as a leader, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks and lose sight of the problems our organizations solve. To combat this, it’s important to be able to clearly articulate the answers to four key questions.
1. What is the problem we exist to solve?
When Andy Stanley tells the origin story of his organization, Northpoint Church, he always notes that Atlanta didn’t need another church. Atlanta needed a church where people who felt skeptical about church could attend.
Being clear about the problem has made every decision easier.
2. Is the problem we solve really the problem we solve?
What problem does Domino’s Pizza solve?
Several years ago, Domino’s itself struggled to answer this question. Then they realized that what they primarily sold was convenience, not pizza. They solved the problem of providing a quick, affordable meal for a hectic family. They provided easily-delivered, reasonably-priced party food.
3. What makes our solution unique or different?
With the rise of Big Box Home Improvement centers 20 years ago, I was concerned about the fate of my local hardware store. My fear was unfounded. Local hardware stores provide a unique service that the big stores don’t do well.
Local hardware stores provide service, expertise, and convenience that big box stores can’t match.
4. Am I regularly reminding my team members of the problem we solve?
Almost three decades ago, I learned this valuable lesson the hard way.
At the time, I was leading a team in the renovation of a building. We were working late one night, less than 48 hours away from the opening day, when one of my team members, who was tired and overworked, asked, “Why are we doing this?”
Initially, I was irritated by the question as I believed it was obvious why we were doing it. We needed to finish before the opening day.
However, after a few days, I realized that I had failed to communicate the bigger picture and the problem that the opening would solve.
It wasn’t the team member’s fault for asking the question, it was mine for not communicating the reason behind what we were doing.
In a world full of noise, being clear is always the best approach. To achieve the clarity you seek, answer these four questions honestly.
