No one was really to blame. The organizer knew what she wanted to accomplish and the attendees were genuinely trying to be helpful. So what went wrong?

In short, the roadmap to the desired destination was fundamentally flawed.

The meeting began with the identification of a problem – low attendance at the organization’s events. After introducing the problem, the meeting organizer wanted feedback on a proposed solution. Her solution was well thought out, carefully documented, and primarily involved assigning and clarifying responsibilities for those responsible for managing and promoting the event. Some of the desired behaviors were new and others seemingly needed clarification, new emphasis, and follow-up. So what’s wrong with that? Clear expectations and responsibilities are always important. Follow-up is critical. How could anyone criticize that?

A problem doesn’t occur without a cause. Something must have changed to trigger a drop in attendance. And no solution, no matter how elegant, will fix a problem if it doesn’t eliminate the cause of the problem. If you don’t know why attendance has dropped, your “solution” is just a shot in the dark. A random bandage. A wish and a prayer.

On the other hand, if you successfully identify the cause of a problem, eliminating it is often quite simple. It isn’t always easy to determine cause, especially when multiple factors are involved, but your efforts to do so will be well rewarded. Furthermore, with a specific hypothesis in mind, you can select and test solutions, saving lots of time and money.

Here are some general questions to ask in order to get to the crux of any problem:

• Where does the problem occur? What locations are and aren’t affected?
• Who is and isn’t affected? Are all customers and all employees affected equally or is the problem limited to certain markets, customers, and employees?
• When did the problem begin? Since it began, has it been consistent or sporadic?
• Under what conditions does it appear?

Once you have a well-defined problem – you know as specifically as possible under what conditions it occurs – you must then determine what has changed. Something must have changed to precipitate the problem. That change is the cause of your problem. Undoing or countering that change has to be your goal.

If this meeting organizer had devoted time to narrowing the problem and generating a list of potential causes, it would have been a much more productive and satisfying meeting for all involved. With a list of potential causes in hand, someone could easily begin investigating each in an effort to identify the most likely. Only then does it make sense to talk about solutions.

One simple question can save an enormous amount of time: “What problem are we trying to solve?”