The Problem with 'Solutions'.

When I visit my local big box home improvement store, one of my favourite sections is where they keep the power tools.

You know, the brightly coloured man-boy toys that invoke dreams of all kinds of projects you could do if only you had this particular bit of equipment.

This whole section of the store is my imagination station.

They have them out on display where you can fondle, err, I mean touch these wonderful little testosterone enhancers.

One of these tools, the reciprocating saw, commonly known as the ‘sawszall’ does exactly what its nickname implies. Gripped in the gloved hands of a normally docile man, one press of the trigger and his chest puffs out a few inches, a guttural roar escapes from his lips, and in his mind he is a Jedi knight, destroying a wall in no time flat and saving the universe from dark forces…

… or perhaps that is just me.

Each tool is a solution for a problem I don’t know I have.

Beside each tool is a little sign describing the unique feature of each of the tools on display… written in a language that make them sound so much more powerful than the tool I already have in my workshop.

This saw has a specially engineered ‘dust management system’! Gee I wish my saw had a ‘dust management system’…” I think wistfully.

And the store has wonderful incentives for me to buy another tool.

That great quality, brand name, wonderful saws-all has a time limited sale and can be bought for only a few dollars more than the cheap hobby brand!

“Can you believe it honey? It’s normally $1000 dollars! I can take it home for ONLY $129!” (If I had taken the time to check, I could have found this thing at another store for $129 as well, but the emotional state I had gotten myself into somehow believed I was getting great value.)

I’m sure I’m not the only one who is so influenced by the siren song of the tool section, where wonderful tools are bought based on all the projects we could do.

But peek into the garages and workshops of many men, and you will see the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and unused power tools, bought in a moment of emotional weakness.

So... Where are you going with this?

But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), I am on to the trick of the big box stores, technology salespeople, and even myself when I am trying to convince someone to adopt a new process or technology.

I have come to realize the truth in the old maxim…

“People don’t buy a drill for the sake of buying a drill. 

They buy a drill to get the ability to make a hole.”

In other words, they have an objective, a goal, a reason to buy the drill. If they want to hang a picture, they buy a certain size and type of drill.  If they want to put a 1 inch hole in a stone wall, they still need a drill, but a much different kind.

Now I didn’t take the time to talk about my power tool weakness without a reason…

As you may have figured out by now, I write a lot about leveraging technology to transform organizations.

I’ve had some success at it over the years, so I do speak from experience.

It seems that there is a direct correlation between project success and whether or not we treated technology as a ‘solution’, or a ‘tool’ that would help us achieve the solution.

I was recently at a meeting with a number of educators hosted by a major technology company. We got to visit their ‘Open Innovations’ laboratory, an idea generating think tank that works with major universities and is charged with coming up with ideas that will impact the world.

After the presentation we had a question and answer session.

One of the attendees, knowing he had a significant brain trust in the room asked “How can I convince my school board and teachers to adopt a 1:1 computer program?”

It took approximately a millisecond for one of the brain trust to answer.

My colleague had a ‘solution’, but didn’t really appreciate the problem.

There it was.

The thinking that we can convince people to buy a solution.

It’s the “If you build it, they will come.” mentality that more often than not results in a white elephant project into which vast sums of money, time and energy have been poured with no tangible results.

It’s the thinking that if you can get someone emotionally attached to an idea or product, that you will get sustainable results.

That may work for power tools, but not for projects that will impact your organization, your company, or your life.

Start at the end.

Define the problem to be solved. Forget the “how” and concentrate on the “what” and “why”.

Then, and only then, does it make sense to define the solution.

If you are a vendor of a technology product or service, I would hope you take these words to heart. I get several unsolicited calls and emails every working day from someone who has a great ‘solution’, but have no idea what my problems are.

“Don’t be so harsh!” you say.

I’m not harsh. Let me give you an example from my previous position.

I’ve lost count of how many messages indicated that Vendor ‘X’ has their products in several other post-secondary colleges and universities. A 10 second search on the Internet would reveal that while Appleby College has ‘College’ in its name, it is a day and boarding school for grades 7-12.

With limited time to connect with vendors, you might understand why I couldn’t take the time to talk to those who haven’t taken the time to at least try and understand my world. Spending a few more minutes on the Internet would have provided some great material that describes the challenges and world of educational technology.

Someone who came to me with a clear understanding of the ‘problem’ rather than the solution would have much better luck in getting any business. As a matter of fact, all the vendors I work with are in this category.

So there it is… a rather circuitous route to me giving myself (and by reading this – you) advice about what I see as a scourge against technology project success.

This has been a problem for quite a while as evidenced by a quote from G.K.Chesterton

“I think the oddest thing about the advanced people is that, while they are always talking about things as problems, they have hardly any notion of what a real problem is.” 
G.K. Chesterton in Uses of Diversity

Quit focusing on the solution and clearly understand the problem.

In the meantime, you may find me wandering through the power tool section at my local Home Depot.

A man can dream, can’t he? (Which is a great topic for another post).

Image: Used under Creative Commons License

About the Author:

I'm convinced that IT leadership needs to dramatically change how IT is delivered rather than being relegated to a costly overhead department.

In addition to transforming IT in my role as CIO, I look for every opportunity to talk about this... writing, speaking and now blogging on BeBee (www.bebee.com/@kevin-pashuk) , LinkedIn, ITWorld Canada, or at TurningTechInvisible.com.

I also shoot things... with my camera. Check out my photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/kwpashuk