Scenario: Problematic Problem Presenter (2024)

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  wthimmes

  August 2, 2024 at 11:38 am | #

  I would start by informing the problem presenter that I became aware of this situation and would ask them for some time to talk with them after the action learning set.
  I would then begin the action learning set acknowledging that the problem presenter, who is about to state the problem, has previously presented their solution to the team. I would turn to the team and ask, “What is the impact on the team when the problem owner presents a solution to their problem before the team begins asking questions about it?”
  Hopefully, this will lead–in an honest and fearless team–to a discussion about limited problem solving and creativity in the action learning set. I would follow up by asking, “How might the team still move forward with a creative and inquisitive mindset given that a solution has been presented?” Here, I would be hoping that the team begins to see that they still have options to explore alternate solutions, re-explore the original problem, or move forward productively even with this limitation.
  If the team is part of the organization and feels intimidated or limited in resisting the problem presenter in moving toward solution, the first question might be unanswered by the team or someone on the team might reinforce the problem presenter’s approach by stating that the team has been given instructions and needs to move ahead. At this point I would turn to the team, “How does the team wish to proceed.” This would allow for an “out” for the team to move ahead with solution or begin to discuss or debate other ways to move forward.
  Either way, I would still meet with the problem presenter after this meeting and ask, “Why did you feel it important to share a solution with the team before their meeting to discuss the problem?” This would give me a sense of how firm the problem presenter is. It could be the case that they are not autocratic in their thinking, but wanted to provide context and their point of view. In that case I would ask the problem presenter if they were open to the team exploring other ways of looking at the problem to come up with the most relevant solution which might get at root causes and not the apparent problem faced by the problem owner. Obviously, if the team instead had agreed with the problem presenter earlier and wanted to move ahead toward solution, I would use this conversation to thank the problem presenter and affirm that action learning may not be the most useful way to proceed given their desire to direct the team forward with a preferred solution.

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