Donella Meadows wrote that the behaviour of a system is largely shaped by its structure.

That matters because when a problem keeps returning, our instinct is often to fix the person, tighten the process, introduce another rule or try harder.

But recurrence is information.

If different people, different interventions and different circumstances keep producing the same result, the more useful question may be:

What in the system keeps producing this outcome?

Sometimes the problem is not that the solution failed.

Sometimes we have been solving at the wrong level.

Strategic Reflection Prompt

What problem in your work keeps returning, and what might its recurrence be telling you about the system producing it?

About Giselle

Most costly decisions begin with a wrong read of the situation.

I’m Giselle Hudson — writer and Pre-Fixer. I don’t fix; I pre-fix. Most advisers jump to solutions before they’ve found the real problem. I find it first — the part that isn’t fully visible yet. Once we see that clearly, everything else falls into place, and confident, right action can follow.

Through my daily Strategic Alignment Journal, I explore leadership, decision-making, and the patterns that shape organizations — helping leaders make sense of complexity before they commit significant time and money to the wrong thing.

What’s the one thing about your business that frustrates you most — the thing that, despite your best efforts, you can’t seem to resolve?