Get More ROI With These Six Steps

Solutions bias is the tendency to jump to a solution without fully root causing a problem.  We spend 80% of our time focused on the solution, but only 20% of the time really understanding the problem in the first place.  And because of that, we often end up building solutions to the wrong problem.  Or solutions that only address a small part of the problem.

We see it play out again and again across all parts of a sales organization – whether we're developing or cascading sales strategies, selecting metrics, creating new sales tools, or building training.  And regardless of your role in the process – whether you're the one building the strategy or the one responding to a request for tools or training – there's a simple process you can use to help overcome solutions bias.

The process is very much like lean six sigma – only you don't need years of six sigma training (or a six sigma blackbelt) to use it.  There are six steps in the process:  

Step 1: The MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION you start with is:  WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT? That question will allow you (or you and your requestor) to expand your thinking a bit, and clarify what problem you are trying to fix.  Define current state as well as the ideal state that the problem is keeping you from.

Notice, you have now changed the conversation from what solution you should pursue to what the actual problem is that's keeping you from where you need to be.  That shift is critical.

Step 2: With the problem clearly articulated, next we turn to identifying root causes.  Look beyond the problem itself to determine what's at the heart of the problem.  Uncover underlying causes that have created the problem.  Flesh out as many reasons as you can think of that are preventing you from hitting your goals.  Then select the one root cause that you (and/or your requestor ) think is the biggest one that's keeping you from hitting your goal.

Step 3: Now that you (and/or your requestor) have identified the root cause, it's time to select metrics.  There are a number of metrics you can select (volume or output metrics, attitude or perception metrics, behavioral "do" metrics, etc) – but the metrics that carry the most value are the ones associated with changes in human behavior. Answer these three questions:

What exactly is it that we want people to DO differently?
How are we going to measure if they are/aren't doing it?
What's our target goal (% increase/decrease in behavior and reasonable timeframe)

Step 4: Now that you've agreed upon the problem you're trying to solve, identified the root cause of the problem, and agreed on the behavior change necessary (along with how you'll measure it) – it's time to start turning our attention to solutions.  HOWEVER… don't just jump right in.  Run what's called the 5 WHY EXERCISE against the primary root cause you selected in step 2.  Start with the root cause and ask – why is that true?  When you come up with an answer, then ask again – why is that true?  And again.  And again.  Don't be concerned with pushing to complete all 5 WHY's  – you may only need two, you may need six.  But as you go through this exercise, the obstacle keeping you from overcoming the root cause and resolving the problem will become obvious.

Step 5: Design and weigh potential solutions.  Now that the key obstacle has been identified, how do we overcome it?  List out all the options, and use things like cost/time to implement as well as potential benefit to choose which one is the most ideal.

Step 6: Map out an implementation plan and monitor results.

It sounds simple – and it is.  And you can do all of this on a single piece of paper.

Yet none of us do it.  We shortcut the problem analysis and jump straight to the solution.

By adding just a little rigor to every project or request you're considering, we'll ensure that any strategy/project/solution we come up with is going to get the results you hope it will.  In some cases, this process will lead you to an entirely different solution.  In other cases, you may end up with the same solution you started with.  Even then, it's still valuable, because now we've pre-agreed upon behavior change and metrics.

This is especially helpful for highly visible projects – if you capture all of this, you'll quickly and easily be able to explain to anyone how you came to this solution.  So if someone (like your boss) comes in mid-course and says – "Wait, I thought we were working on a forecasting tool?  How did we end up building a new buying process?"  Well, you can show them exactly how.

SEC Members, see a full overview of the process and download a template that takes you through the six steps.  You can also download a workshop version of this problem-solving process to use individually or with your teams.