Why are there babies in the stream? (What’s the root cause of the problem?)
I was at a Habitat for Humanity conference this past weekend. The CEO, Paul Leonard, gave a great talk (not a speech, really, as he “gets it” that one should have a conversation and connect with the audience.) In talking about Habitat’s strategy and focus, he noted,
“Say, you’re in the business of pulling babies out of a stream….you’re working hard, saving a lot of babies…but eventually, it should occur to you to go upstream and see why the babies are the water in the first place.”
All too often - in both non-profit and for-profit endeavors, people get so focused on the immediate task or crisis they don’t go upstream - finding the root cause of the problem. Sales down? It may not be because of your sales team. Increasing customer complaints? It might be a process problem - versus a real product issue. And so on.
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