posted 02-12-2002 10:14               

Fixes That Fail: Why Faster Is Slower
by Daniel H. Kim

Why don’t we have time to do things right in the first place, but we have time to fix them over and over again? From a systemic perspective, the “Fixes That Fail” archetype highlights how we can get caught in a dynamic of continually implementing quick fixes to solve recurrent problems. Many managers fall into this trap, because they fail to recognize that the same pattern of events keeps repeating.

How does this archetype work? Suppose a problem symptom gets bad enough to grab our attention, such as a slump in sales. We might respond with a slick marketing promotion. Sales then temporarily improve, but with an unintended consequence: We divert our attention away from the real problem--our aging product line. As a result, after some delay, the original symptom appears again, perhaps even worse than before. Because of delays in the system, the person who “saved the day” often gets a promotion while the hero’s replacement gets the blame for the eventual fall in sales.

How can we recognize and intervene in such vicious cycles? First, we need to acknowledge that short-term solutions are merely stopgap measures to buy us time to determine the root cause of the problem. Second, we need to anticipate delays in the system that mask the unintended consequences of our short-term “improvements,” and then schedule performance reviews after the delay period. With a more accurate picture of the actual “progress” being made, we increase the likelihood that we’re taking the most effective approach to problem-solving.