Diagnosing the root cause of a problem is a critical analytical skill. Most often, what you see is not what you get – the symptoms might indicate something, but the root cause might be entirely different. Some cases require a short-term fix – an immediate one, while some require careful investment in the long-term to completely eliminate root cause of a problem. Generally, most problems require a combination of the two. While ‘Process Pundits’ favor a long-term, preventive action, the action-oriented Cowboys can’t wait for eternity and want some short-term, immediate corrective fix to the problem, even if the problem resurfaces a few weeks later. In a way, the corrective-action Cowboys are like John Keynes, who said: “The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead”. After all, of what possible utility would be a long-term investment if we are not around, say, next quarter. So, no arguments that an immediate need must be addressed first and foremost, but it is like the proverbial firefighting – lack of preventive action eventually leads to emergencies that simply need a big fire hose to douse the fire. Initial trivialization of small incidents only leads to benign neglect which eventually deteriorates into a full-fledged Frankenstien of problems that simply refuse to die.
If initial and repeated trivialization is bad, so is other end of the spectrum – taking every problem far too seriously and calling the army when a watchman will do. In a zest to solve problems, we sometimes make them appear larger than life, and then find solutions that would perhaps address every exception condition, every nook and corner – mindless of the fact that for perhaps 80% of the times, a 20% solution could have done. The result is wasted money, time and effort, and an overbureauracratic process that stifles not just creativity but even the work itself. Look at what happens to our bus driver in this nice story when he takes the problem a little too far:
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