“I know you think your solution is better than anything your team might come up,” I agreed. “Do you think that is really the point?”
Gretchen was resisting. “But, I don’t have time to have a meeting, and besides, I don’t think my team wants to be creative. Sometimes they act like dolts.”
“They act like dolts when you solve a problem like this for them?”
“Well, yeah. I can solve problems like this pretty easy. I have been in the business for six years. I have the experience. But when I tell them what to do, they’re like zombies from the Night of the Living Dead. Some of them walk around like they still don’t know what to do, even though I gave them the solution.”
“Why do you think that is?” I asked.
“Like I said, I just don’t think they care,” Gretchen insisted.
“You are right. They don’t care about your solution.”
This caught Gretchen off-guard. She didn’t expect me to agree so easily. “They don’t care about your solution,” I repeated. “So, who’s solution do they care about?”
“Well, I’m the only one who can solve the problem,” Gretchen tersely replied.
“Indeed?” -TF
Experience comes with time and attempts. If I constantly solve challenges for the team, I remove learning opportunities from their experience. Since it is my solution, the team has diminished responsibility in applying the solution. More importantly, if I am constantly presenting the solution, why do I need a team? People will live with a problem they understand rather than accept a solution they do not understand. Collaborative problem solving helps team members understand and apply solutions more effectively. I see my role as facilitator to that solution.