Yesterday’s Answers Are the Problem

“It's not working.”

Whether it’s a muttering under your breath, a scream in your pillow, an employee’s email in your inbox, or a partner’s confession at the bar, eventually all leaders face this moment.

And listen up. It’s not (all) your fault. 

Nothing lasts forever. When it comes to strategy, I always tell clients, “It works...until it doesn’t. This sucks, but it doesn’t have to be the end.” To be honest, though, I’m rarely concerned that a client is going to give up in the face of a strategy set back.

In fact, as leaders, we are geared to solve problems, take action, and not give up. It’s actually this relentless search for the next solution that often concerns me the most. Leaders are more apt to reflexively engage another consulting firm, read another book, or hire another executive to get that next fix than to shut it down, pack up, and head home. And as helpful as those things can be, dependence on them for the way out is simply no way to build a lasting, effective, agile, growing business.  

Yesterday’s Solutions

But what if today’s problems come from yesterday’s solutions? And what if today’s solutions—the ones offered by the consultants and business books—are the springboard directly into tomorrow’s problems? What if the solutions they offer don’t really address the core issues or come from a cookie cutter that doesn’t take your individual situation into account? Could it be that we are in a repetitive cycle, just slapping another coat of paint on the wall? Perhaps some of us have given up on strategy all together, and instead, have settled for playbooks and tactics and hope tomorrow will be better.

It does not help that “strategy” has become big business and only continues to grow. Over the last few years, people have been turning in droves away from “big box” to “local” for their products and solutions, but business strategy seems to have missed the memo. According to Statista, “since 2012 the number of management consultants in the U.S. has increased every year, reaching 734,000 consultants in 2020.” Globally, the management consulting market reached an all time high of $160bn in 2019 . With so much money tied up in strategy work, we have to wonder if some of our troubles stem from selling solutions rather than solving actual problems. When the incantations of the business guru wear off or the buzzwords from the latest fad lose their shimmer and shine, we are left to wonder if we have been sold a bill of goods.

Strategy Sickness

For all the talk, money, and time devoted to strategy, there doesn’t seem to be much attention paid to the very real negative effects on leaders, teams, and stakeholders. Over the past 15 years of working with leaders across various industries, geographies, and cultures, I have observed over and again a condition best described as strategy sickness. Strategy is about winning the future you want. But what if it's strategy that's making you sick?

For many, it’s unquestionably true. The revolving door of endless strategies drives many investors, founders, owners, executives, and other leaders into the maddening search for the perfect answer when, really, they should be looking for the right questions.

When yesterday’s answers return an awkward silence, it’s not time to search for more answers, but better questions.

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***If you’re feeling sick from the ever-changing strategy landscape, Changegoat partners with investors, founders, and executives in the moments where leadership matters most. We don’t have a strategy for sale; we’ll help you ask better questions to unlock both personal growth and organizational performance.***