When I worked for a telecommunications company as a young executive, I was part of the weekly executive meetings held in a conference room decked out like we were at a Fortune 500 company (which we were not). The CEO had 20 years more experience than any of us and would come equipped with a list of issues he wanted to cover. If there was a performance problem, he might say something like, “We missed our revenue target by 5% last month. What are we going to do about it?” Then he would sit back with a Cheshire cat grin because he knew what was about to happen. It was as if we were the greyhounds and he had unleashed a mechanical rabbit we were all chasing. The “give the best answer and impress the execs” race was on!
The CEO was usually the first to share an opinion about the problem and how it should be solved. Others would then respond with a solicitous, “Great idea, boss, and you know what else we could do?” Usually, no one would ask for clarification about any idea previously offered but would merely pile on with more ideas. The executives were in enthusiastic selling mode as they each made the case for their own suggestions. And those not speaking would surreptitiously look at the CEO to see which ideas were resonating, as if the only thing that mattered was the competition to please the leader.
I now realize that our inability to tap into everyone’s expertise made our attempts at collective problem-solving doomed from the start. There was good intent behind asking the team for their ideas, but it never worked. There was a lack of mutual trust and no agreed-upon process for what it would take to achieve great decisions and solve timely issues. As in the majority of companies I know, everyone was locked into doing things the way they had always been done. But there is a far better alternative: the Drama-Free Problem-Solving System.
This system, which I’ve used during hundreds of client sessions, is pretty easy to implement. It only requires understanding five elements that result in gathering thoughtful ideas from everyone, leading to consistently better solutions:
- Sharing critical information in advance
- Leaving egos at the door
- Avoiding sinkholes
- Defining the key criteria
- Killing snakes, not symptoms
By utilizing this system instead of flying on autopilot, teams are better able to identify the characteristics of the solution before discussing actual potential solutions. Let’s look at each in turn.
Element 1: Sharing Critical Information in Advance
The first rule is that everyone should distribute key information about any significant problem at least a day before any discussion. Organizations that struggle with problem-solving often have people say in meetings, “Well, according to the data I’ve seen…” No one else can respond intelligently because they haven’t seen that data. One person’s exclusive knowledge becomes a weapon and hinders a drama-free exchange of ideas.
The reason this matter is because different, equally smart people process the same information in different ways. It helps to be mindful of different processing styles within any team, especially when it comes to complex, multifaceted problems.
The positive impact of sharing complete information in advance and then using a “second eyes” process is hard to exaggerate. Team members who do their best thinking overnight will provide far better insights and will catch any negative consequences before they can do any harm.
Element 2: Leaving Egos at the Door
Ego is a major source of drama during attempts at collective problem-solving because subject matter experts often get defensive about the correctness of their suggestions, and defensiveness tends to shut others down. This can cause an entire team to lose important perspectives.
High-performance teams get good at disconnecting their egos from potential solutions. Team members must learn to play down their own authority, signaling that all ideas will be respectfully considered. Over time, trust will increase, which will increase your team’s ability to deeply listen and build on other’s ideas.
Element 3: Avoiding Sinkholes
You’ve been there: The biggest talkers dominate the room with whatever topic they decide to talk about. Then suddenly the discussion is over, and most attendees feel like they wasted their time on a wandering journey with no destination despite the urgency of the issues that need solving.
Even if these tangents are unintentional, it’s essential to avoid them during problem-solving sessions. Once you understand how teams tend to fall into sinkholes, it becomes a lot easier to sidestep them. Instead of pivoting the objectives to a meeting to discuss a provocative idea, table it for a future meeting, so everyone can come prepared with the essential data and devote the time both topics deserve.
Element 4: Defining the Key Criteria
Defining key criteria before you start to brainstorm is another simple yet powerful technique that can transform conversations and unlock better solutions. Everyone has criteria for solving a problem, even if those criteria are never consciously acknowledged or shared.
Imagine a leader who puts out a call for solutions and quickly rips through a stack of 10 proposals. Four are immediately set aside as “No way!” Three go into a “Perhaps, but they need some changes” pile. And the final three go into the “Really interesting! Let’s pursue!” pile. Clearly, that leader is using an unspoken list of criteria, but to others, the results can seem arbitrary.
I’ve sat in hundreds of meetings where two intelligent, capable executives argue for the superiority of their points of view. Without agreement on those criteria, they can go back and forth indefinitely without reaching consensus.
How much time would be saved if, instead of having your people guess what the boss is looking for, everyone knew the clear criteria that defined a great innovative solution? You’d be far more likely to have people on the front lines taking initiative. Co-creating criteria prior to any brainstorming will help you clarify your thinking and enable your team to join the process of creating viable solutions.
Element 5: Killing Snakes, Not Symptoms
Jim Barksdale, the former CEO of Netscape, AT&T Wireless, and other companies, has a wonderful expression from his upbringing in rural Mississippi. When we worked together at Mobile Telecommunications Corporation, Jim used to say, “Dave, if you see a snake, you gotta kill it. That’s rule number one. Rule number two is don’t play with dead snakes.”
He meant that it’s tempting to focus on the symptoms of a problem rather than the underlying issue. But if we don’t confront the underlying issue head-on, it will show up again and again. So drama-free problem-solving has to include identifying the actual snakes in any situation.
Most people in organizations can quickly identify the biggest snakes. Ask the team, “What are the issues that have been around a while that keep getting in our way of being great? What’s the real problem here?” The next time you embark on this question, ask team members to generate a list, then ask the team to vote on which issue is most important to address. Then start an honest discussion: Is the root cause you’ve identified really the root cause? Or is there another snake that’s even more fundamental?
Once you offer your people a path to drama-free problem-solving, most if not all should be willing to give them a try. And if anyone on your team isn’t even willing to try, ask them what’s getting in the way of testing this new approach. Maybe they enjoy drama a little too much!
Excerpted from “The Buy-In Advantage,” copyright © 2025 by Dave Garrison. Reprinted with permission from Matt Holt Books, an imprint of BenBella Books, Inc. All rights reserved.
