“You said you had one problem, but you were able to tell me several more,” I started. “Here’s the list –

• An upset customer.
• A RUSH order that delayed other orders.
• A rogue salesperson that went around protocol.
• A quality inspection process that wasn’t followed.
• A shortage of raw materials with a lead time.

“Yep, I think you got them all,” Mason shook his head.

“And, I asked you which problem you were going to solve, knowing that everyone on your team, and everyone on the sales team sees the problem in a different way. Even the customer sees the problem in a different way.”

“And, I was just thinking last week that everything was under control,” Mason surmised.

“So, which problem are you going to solve? You see, each stakeholder sees the problem differently because they see the solution (that they want) differently. Each stakeholder would name the problem differently because they each see a different solution. The problem we name is the problem we solve.”