I see it all over the place, and I’ve done it myself. We apply fake solutions to a problem. The trouble is that the fake solution often appears to work for a while. So we think we’ve got it worked out, until suddenly the fake solution stops working, or it creates unintended consequences. What am I talking about?
Symptomatic “Solutions”
I’m talking about addressing the symptom rather than addressing the root cause.
Here is an obvious example: There is a fire in Sally’s house and the fire alarm is going off. Sally doesn’t like that the alarm is on, so she turns it off. In this example, the alarm going off isn’t the problem. It’s the symptom. The root problem is that there’s a fire in the house. Turning off the alarm doesn’t make the fire go away. In fact, the alarm will probably come back on soon.
This example seems silly, and you may wonder, “who would ever do such a thing?” Well, we all would, and we all do.
Here’s a real example: Bob doesn’t know how to manage money and finds himself in over his head in debt, and he can’t make his payments. So, the bank gives him a debt consolidation loan.
In this case, the root cause is that Bob doesn’t know how to manage money. His debt isn’t the problem, it’s the symptom. Giving him a debt consolidation loan is a fake solution. It won’t be too long before Bob finds himself in more debt and not able to make the payments once again.
This addressing of only the symptom happens all the time. We take medication for symptoms. We give to the poor rather than helping them find good work. We put people in jail rather than rehabilitate them. Students graduate who aren’t educated. And we say, “I understand,” so we’ll look smart, when we really don’t understand. We live in a world full of fake solutions.
You can spot a fake solution when the root cause is not known, not sought after, and not addressed.
Root Cause Coaching
As coaches, Rena and I, work to address root causes. When someone isn’t making progress on living their calling, there are reasons for that, and it’s not that they’re too busy, or they don’t know the right “trick”. The root cause frequently is that something in the person that’s holding things up. They’re afraid of being wrong, or being too visible, or they think they’re not enough, or other things.
This is why we are often sad to watch people attempt to make a big splash in the world all by themselves. We know things are going to come up, and frequently they won’t understand the root causes, and they’ll stop in their tracks or advance much slower. And the people they are meant to impact will miss out.
We know this because we’ve been there. We’ve been stuck. We’ve experienced a slowdown, and we have needed our coaches to help us through.
