In a previous post I discussed Running towards the pain in terms of how that can guide strategy. Today, I’m going to focus on the exploration side of running towards the pain.

For example

Recently someone on my team ran a few experiments using a new AI tool at their own expense. They showed me some of the experiments and how they work. One of the experiments saved the team multiple hours of labor.

Another one of the experiments allowed us to aggregate some internal company data to help guide some product decisions. Surprisingly, this is where we ran into some problems.

The importance of exploration

In an effort to run towards the pain, we also can’t be too hasty to solve the problem. In this case, one person on one team built a solution to a problem the team was experiencing. The risk in solving problems this way, is that we could potentially mask the symptoms of a larger problem. If one team no longer experiences the problem, but other teams do, problems continue to be solved in an ad hoc way and not necessarily shared company-wide. If that’s the case, the solution could be shared with a few teams, and not have a proper rollout to the entire company. The number of complaints about the problem never reach critical mass, so a company-wide solution is never rolled out. The symptoms of the problem are masked, but it’s never fully solved.

On the one hand, it’s great that this person was experimenting, learning, and coming up with suggestions. On the other hand, the implementation creates the risk of masking symptoms.

In our 1:1 we discussed these risks and have put a pause on the experiments for now. There are still other tools to be experimented with, and hopefully I can provide better guidance in the future for where to focus on exploration of the problem space, and finding solutions for problems unique to our team. There will also be opportunities for me to elevate this person’s work so that they can eventually solve bigger problems that could impact the whole company.

Stay in the problem space for a little longer

Although we have the tools to solve problems quickly, we should also consider the full scope of the problem. How can we solve it for the most people? Is it something we can prove out and then later roll out to the whole company?

In this example, the problem could be resolved through more conversations and communication across teams. The venue for the conversations already exists, we just need to take advantage of it. This way, we can solve the problem more fully, and reap more benefits than just aggregating insights. We can improve relationships across teams and lead to better teamwork in the future.

Wrapping up

When it comes to solving big problems, resist the urge to go for an immediate solution. Staying in the problem space a little longer and doing more exploration of the scope of the problem allows for a more wholistic solution that can lead to additional benefits and a smoother rollout.