July 29, 2026·
post
The Problem with Solutions
The Problem with Solutions
Many decisions look successful in isolation. What's less obvious is that the "solution" becomes the next problem.
Here are some failure patterns:
- Trade-off: One problem is reduced by accepting the cost somewhere else.
- Side effect: Solving a major problem while creating a minor one.
- Second-order effect: A solution creates indirect problems that emerge after the initial problem appears solved.
- Net negative: The cost of the solution exceeds the cost of the original problem.
- Symptomatic solution: Addressing visible symptoms while leaving the underlying cause, often making the problem worse over time.
- Problem displacement: The problem is relocated to another person, team, process or point in time instead of being eliminated.
- Problem avoidance: The root cause is intentionally left unaddressed because acknowledging or solving it carries risk or consequences, leading to superficial solutions or substitute work.
- Problem suppression: The problem is addressed so poorly that people stop reporting it, not because it is solved, but because they no longer expect a useful response (A particularly nasty failure mode because the signal disappears, not the problem.)
- Fire fighting: Fixing one issue only to repeatedly discover more because the underlying system remains unchanged.
- Cross-functional transfer: One function benefits by shifting costs or burden to another. (For e.g., Marketing to Support)
- Secondary problem creation: The original issue remains unresolved, and the attempted solution introduces an additional problem.
- Self-defeating solution: The solution itself is unfeasible or impractical and becomes difficult to execute, maintain, or manage, creating another problem to solve.
A problem can only be considered solved when the overall system is better off after the solution:
- Not when a metric improves.
- Not when a process becomes faster.
- Not when costs are reduced.
Many solutions don't eliminate problems.
They simply change where the problems appear and what they look like.
After asking "What does this cost?, you gotta ask, "What else does this create?"
P.S. Hate the airline all you want, Ryanair famously eliminated a seemingly harmless addition because of second-order effect: newspapers (inventory, waste, cleaning, disposal = a longer turnaround).
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