Thinking for leaders dealing with persistent problems
Karamawari writes about the organisational patterns that make recurring problems difficult to see and expensive to leave unresolved: how evidence becomes representation, why reasonable fixes fail, where capacity disappears and what leaders can learn when the same outcome keeps returning.
New Coke: When the Data Answers the Wrong Question
One of the most dangerous problems in business begins when leadership gets a perfectly accurate answer to the wrong question. In 1985, Coca-Cola faced a problem that looked increasingly difficult to...
The Failure Is Hiding Between the Boxes
Some of the most expensive recurring problems survive because every function can prove it did its job. That sounds contradictory. Sales met its responsibilities. Operations followed the process....
Die Hard: When the Problem You See Is the Problem They Want You to See
Some of the most expensive recurring problems survive because the organisation keeps solving the problem presented to it instead of asking whether something else is actually happening. That is one...
The Consulting Paradox: When More Experts Create Less Clarity
There comes a point in a recurring problem where adding another expert can increase the organisation’s confidence while reducing its understanding. For a CEO facing a problem that has survived...
The Small Problem That Weighs Billions
The recurring problem your leadership team barely notices may be carrying more economic weight than the enormous problem consuming the entire board agenda. A teaspoon is tiny. You could hold one...
Your Recurring Problem May Be a Habit
Some recurring business problems survive not because the organisation cannot solve them, but because it has become extraordinarily good at recreating them. That is an uncomfortable idea for a CEO....
