We all do it. Many times a day without even thinking about it. We see a problem and go straight to a solution. Sometimes the problem is obvious: I cut my finger and it’s bleeding. I need a bandage.
Much of the time the problem isn’t that simple, and the solution we identify can become the problem. My career is stalling. I need a promotion. I need to exercise more. I’ll get a bike. I need more space for my woodworking. I’m going to expand and remodel my garage.
What do these all have in common? They’re anchor problems. So-named because we’ve plopped a solution into a problem statement, anchoring the problem in that solution, thus making the solution the problem to be solved. Getting a promotion, for example, becomes the problem to be solved for a stalled career.
Most problems have multiple solutions. A career that feels stalled might be addressed by expanding an existing role, going back to school, changing professions, or starting a fun side gig. Getting more exercise might have nothing to do with a bike. More woodworking space could just require some de-junking, or finding a cool co-woodworking space. And, the more wicked — difficult, complex, hard to solve — the problem is, the more an anchor can keep us stuck..
First introduced in Designing Your Life (DYL), identifying and reframing anchor problems has been a powertool in my work, and has kept me from getting stuck.
Know thy problem
Steve Jobs famously said, “If you define the problem correctly, you almost have the solution.” The DYL authors tell us to pause before solutioning and be a data scientist to our problem. Your career is stalled. What does stalled actually mean to you? What are examples? If you track your activities and energy levels for a few weeks, what does that reveal? And, importantly, ask yourself “if this stalled career problem was solved, what would success look and feel like?”
One of my favorite examples of this came from a condo developer in this “jobs to be done” piece.
In the mid-2000s, a condo development in Detroit aimed at downsizers was designed and built according to what buyers said they wanted, priced the units attractively, and launched a solid marketing campaign. When the lookers didn’t turn into buyers, confounded, they hired an innovation consultant to do some detective work.
The consultant studied people who had actually purchased the condos, and his sleuthing revealed a clue. While prospective buyers repeatedly said they didn’t need a formal dining room, the actual buyers kept saying, “As soon as I figured out what to do with my dining room table, I was free to move.” The dining room table? These weren’t valuable heirlooms and many had seen better days, yet they represented something much deeper — decades of nightly dinners, birthday, holiday, and graduation celebrations, homework and projects. If a relative wasn’t willing to take the table, they couldn’t part with it. THAT stopped the purchase.
The consultant realized the problem wasn’t simply downsizing. People were in the psychological throes of a jarring transition — leaving a treasured life behind.
The condo developer reconfigured the units to allow for a dining room table, arranged and paid for moving, offered two years of free storage, and a staging area where people could lay out their stuff, decide what to keep and what to get rid of over time.
The strategy proved successful. When the housing crisis hit and industry sales were off 49%, the developer's condo business was up 25%.
This jobs to be done framework can be a handy tool for seeing past anchor problems. “My career is stalled, I need a promotion” can be explored by asking: What jobs do I want my career to do for me? What’s the financial job? The emotional job? The social job? The physical job? The learning/skill building job?
Shots on goal
Design thinkers know that the more ideas we have to solve a problem the better our final solution will be. DYL author Bill Burnette tells us, “Quantity has a quality all its own. In design thinking, more is better, because more ideas equal access to better ideas, and better ideas lead to better solutions. And, don’t go with your first solution. Most often they are pretty average and not very creative.” And, after choosing a path from several ideas, prototype it — try your solution out before going all in.
Surprising things can happen when we take the time to think our problems through. One client a few years ago thought her problem was mostly her nightmare boss (and that was a truth!). Yet, after a little inquiry and some creative brainstorming, the underlying problem had been nowhere on her radar. She realized her heart wasn’t in working in manufacturing. She was drawn to the people side of the business! When she got past her anchor problem and made the switch to the people function, she was right at home from the start and continues to thrive.
What anchors could use a little aweigh-ing in your life?
Sunday Morning: 180