Lessons From Harvard Kennedy School of Business’ Ronald Heifetz

In management, there are two types of problems: those that can be solved with expert knowledge, and those that require an organization to change its views, beliefs, or behavior. Mistaking the two is one of the most common errors in management, and to the detriment of most managers, business problems are usually composed of both. 

What are the two types of problems, and where do they come from?

Problems can either be:

• Technical: Problems that can be solved with internal know-how. They are characterized by the swiftness of their resolution because, usually, one change can solve the problem entirely. If you use knowledge, the issue will stop occurring. For example:

- An insurance company is invoicing its clients wrongly because of a faulty script.
- A construction worker used the wrong glue to paste wood paneling, and it fell off.
- A team is being delayed because of an unnecessary compliance process.

• Adaptive: Tougher issues to solve, you need to change behaviors that exist because of the organization's beliefs. For example:

- A group in the company isn't adopting a new technology that streamlines their work.
- An organization is implementing a CRM, but salespeople aren’t using the tool.

Managers must understand that you cannot apply a technical solution to an adaptive problem. For example, you realize that a division isn’t using a tool that would help them get their job done quicker. Upon examination, team members tell you that they don’t use the tool because they don’t have a budget to use the tool on every project. If you were to treat this as a technical problem, you would approve a budget to use the tool globally, but chances are you’d come back a week later, and people still haven’t adopted the new technology. Why does this happen? Changing people's behavior isn’t something that's done through a memo. 

Academic and author Ronald Heifetz of the Harvard Kennedy School says that you need to treat the system like a pressure cooker. You need to use a stick to force people to change behavior but have a carrot at hand when the pressure in the cooker gets too high, to ensure the system doesn't explode. Like the pressure cooker analogy, the pressure must be constant, so teams can change their behavior. 

How do you get adaptive change done:

Diagnose the Adaptive Challenge

• Begin by distinguishing between technical problems and adaptive challenges. Technical problems have known solutions, while adaptive challenges require changes in people's values, beliefs, and behaviors.
• Dig deep to understand the root causes of the challenge. Identify the underlying issues that contribute to the adaptive nature of the problem.

Regulate Distress

• Recognize that adaptive change often involves discomfort and resistance. Leaders must manage the distress of challenging the status quo and facing uncertainty.
• Encourage a constructive level of tension that motivates change without overwhelming individuals. Help people navigate the emotional aspects of adaptive challenges.

Assign Owners and Leads

• Create a reporting system that tracks a metric relevant to the adaptive change you want to achieve. In adopting software, it could be the percentage of people using the solution with a high NPS score. 
• Adaptive change requires collective efforts. Empower individuals and groups to take ownership of the change process. 
• Acknowledge that adaptive change often faces resistance and opposition. Leaders must protect those who speak up and challenge the status quo.

Adaptive problems are the most challenging problems to solve in business, but we face them daily. While a common mistake is confusing a technical problem with an adaptive one, learning which is which and having a knack for solving both is essential to get anything of value done.