a) Problem Blindness: Things like "It is what it is" or "that's how it always has been" - Turns out the biggest problem is identifying there is a problem in first place. In the Expedia example, nobody thought about eliminating calls, because customers calling to you is not considered a problem. No one thought, why are so many customers calling. One more example is, Kids dropping out of school. Many people will say it happens, due to personal reasons. But, identifying that it is a "solvable" problem is the biggest leap.
b) Lack of Ownership: Even after we have identified that there is a problem. People think it is not mine to fix. In the above example, when teachers started realizing that there is a problem with the high rate of dropouts in our school. Even then, the biggest hurdle was, recognizing that it was theirs to fix or they could atleast do something about it. Sometimes changing perspective helps. Think of it from their angle. Why are they leaving ?
c) Tunneling: This one really resonated with me. Most of our lives are filled with jam-packed calendars and overwhelming life responsibilities that need our attention. This leads to "tunneling" or just focusing on a narrow part of the world or problem. Stop fire-fighting. Look for the big picture. The solution will come.
Let me know your examples of proactive thinking in the comments or
email. Hope you liked it.
References:
1. Dan Heath's Book - Upstream
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