Eliminating problems?

Getting rid of what you don't want doesn't necessarily create what you do want.

Which is why focusing efforts on 'problem solving' just optimises what you already have, it doesn't create the future that you want.

Experts love problem solving.

It's where they can test their knowledge and prove to others that they are capable of finding an optimal solution to a malfunctioning system; until the system breaks down again, which is when their expertise will get called on again to fix what already exists.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few”

Imagining how things could be however doesn't require expertise or problem solving. You can ask a 6-year old to design the ultimate space rocket and out of that kid will flow millions of amazing ideas as to how it could be designed.

A rocket engineer with a string of degrees from MIT will just give you a list of constraints and reasons as to why your brief is problematic.

Similarly, you don't need a panel of 'expert bankers' to help you design the perfect bank; anybody who has ever used a bank will have lots of good ideas and suggestions as to what the ultimate banking experience should be like.

Strategy work that results in a list of things to-do and problems to fix doesn't create an outcome that is future-orientated. At best, it might restore the operating system that was more relevant before the world had been affected by change as much as it has over the past decade.

Designing the ideal future starts by creating a compelling vision of what it is you really want first. Only once you have that picture clear can you then start to unpack how you are going to build it. Preferably 'experts and problem solvers' should be kept rather far away from this important step.