Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences:
Not every problem originates in our thinking, but the assumptions we bring to a situation can influence how we understand it, respond to it, and sometimes contribute to its persistence. Could examining our thinking be one of the most important steps we take before deciding what needs to change?
I’ve never seen a work or money problem that didn’t turn out to be a thinking problem. — Byron Katie, Loving What Is
Could that really be true?
Surely some problems exist independently of how we think about them. People lose their jobs, businesses experience financial difficulties, relationships deteriorate, and organizations confront circumstances beyond their control. These are real experiences with real consequences. Yet Byron Katie’s observation raises an intriguing question about the relationship between the problems we encounter and the thinking we bring to them.
Perhaps we need to begin by considering what we mean when we describe something as a problem. There is the circumstance itself, our interpretation of what is happening, and our judgment about what it means. These can become so intertwined that we experience them as one and the same. We may recognize the facts of a situation while remaining unaware of the assumptions influencing our understanding of those facts.
The business case of declining revenue.
The financial results are measurable…but what explains them? Leadership might attribute the decline to poor sales performance, changing customer behavior, increased competition, or economic conditions. Each explanation suggests a different response. The difficulty arises when one interpretation becomes accepted as fact before it has been sufficiently examined. The organization may then invest considerable time and resources addressing a problem that has been incorrectly defined.
Our thinking influences what we notice, what we overlook, and which explanations we find convincing.
A leader who believes employees are resistant to change may interpret questions as opposition. Someone convinced that customers are primarily motivated by price may overlook dissatisfaction with service. An organization accustomed to success may continue relying on assumptions that were once valid but no longer reflect its operating environment. In each case, the circumstances deserve attention, but so does the thinking through which they are being understood.
Experience plays an important role
We draw upon what we have learned to recognize patterns, assess risks, and make decisions. Without that capacity, every situation would require us to begin again. Yet experience can also limit our willingness to consider alternative explanations.
The more familiar a problem appears, the less inclined we may be to investigate it.
We recognize something, attach meaning to it, and proceed as though recognition were the same as understanding.
How does our thinking contribute to the persistence of certain problems?
An organization struggling with employee engagement may believe that its people lack commitment. Leadership responds with closer supervision, additional reporting requirements, and stricter controls. Employees become frustrated, initiative declines, and management interprets the resulting behavior as further evidence that employees cannot be trusted. The original interpretation has now influenced actions that reinforce the very conditions leadership hoped to improve.
Does this mean the problem was entirely a thinking problem? Not necessarily. There may have been genuine performance concerns requiring attention. But the assumptions guiding the response became part of the problem’s development. Without examining those assumptions, leadership may continue introducing interventions that make the situation worse.
Questioning our thinking does not mean denying reality or avoiding responsibility.
Financial obligations still need to be met. Difficult conversations still need to happen. Decisions must be made, often with incomplete information and under considerable pressure.
The value of inquiry lies in recognizing that our first explanation may not be our best one, and that certainty does not necessarily indicate accuracy.
Perhaps Katie’s observation becomes more useful when we resist the temptation to treat it as an absolute truth. Some problems originate in circumstances we did not create and cannot control. Others emerge from decisions, behaviors, and systems that have developed over time. Yet in every situation, our thinking influences how we interpret what is happening, what we believe is possible, and how we choose to respond.
So, could every problem be a thinking problem? Perhaps the more useful question is whether we can ever approach a problem without our thinking becoming part of how we experience and address it.
We may not be responsible for every problem we encounter, but we have a responsibility to examine the thinking we bring to its resolution.
Strategic Reflection Prompt
Consider a problem you are currently trying to resolve. What are the facts of the situation, what interpretations have you attached to those facts, and which assumptions are guiding your response? Could your current way of thinking be influencing the problem’s persistence or limiting the solutions you are willing to consider?
About Giselle
For nearly three decades, I’ve worked with leaders across the Caribbean facing problems that keep returning, solutions that haven’t delivered the expected results, or changes that prove difficult to implement.
When I ask business owners what problem they can’t seem to solve, the answer is usually “people.”
So I ask them to tell me more, because people and businesses are rarely as simple as they first appear.
I help them understand what’s really causing the problem before they spend more money trying to fix it. And where needed, I help design an appropriate solution and work with their teams to implement it effectively.
What are you trying to make sense of right now?
