Difficult economic conditions typically result in natural emotional reactions by most people—and the organizations their actions shape. Yet when faced with unresolved performance problems, such emotional responses typically will not reverse an organization's struggling performance without identifying and/or differently executing the different solutions required for success! Let me share a few real, current examples that illustrate this point.
One of my business consulting partners, John Spader, was recently with a group of business owners who were complaining about the current tough economy and blaming most of their current business problems on lenders. John asked the business owners one question; “If you were the lender, and your job or business depended on making good loans, how many of you would lend yourself the money you want given your current performance?” To their own amazement, 80% said they would NOT loan themselves what they were seeking! Thereafter John helped them refocus on what sound business management practices they need in order to qualify their organization as a good investment risk for lenders.
Another common, self-perpetuating, non-rational practice is for people from any level or function to pick the wrong solution to a problem. For instance, sound methodologies like Six Sigma that work well to solve business process problems are used for building a winning culture with limited success. Another example is when Emotional Intelligence is used as another ‘all-purpose’ silver bullet solution. Research by my co-author colleague Dr. Drea Zigarmi has shown that Emotional 
Intelligence only correlates with highly effective, supportive leadership-managerial practices, but not those directive practices required in unfavorable, struggling situations where focusing, directing, and structuring actions are essential for success.
These are just a few of the examples of wrong solutions being implemented daily among owners, leaders, managers, or employees across industries and all size businesses. However there is a known, practical three-step performance reversal discipline an organization can use to move from struggling to succeeding. Here it is.
1st: Focus on those key problems (or opportunities) that you can control and, thereafter, those that at best you can only influence. The difference between these is often conditions, or situations internal to your business (more controllable) versus those outside, and external to it (often influenced only at best). A practical example, for instance, is how to significantly improve customer satisfaction and retention. Research has shown that for 81% of customers the most important factor is within your organization’s own control—namely, your staff.
2nd: Move from emotional to rational assessment of the situation. This involves identifying the ‘real’ problem (as well as key opportunities when focused on growth versus survival). This requires identifying the root cause of the problem (business result not being achieved). And, even for more complex problems that may have 2-3 key root causes, identifying which dynamically occurs first or, if not a sequence pattern, which has the greatest impact and then leads to identifying the next step of selecting appropriate actions.
3rd: Identify and select the appropriate type of solution for THIS problem (or for more favorable situations, contributes toward the targeted growth goal). Research from a variety of sources can be synthesized as identifying just 3 different types of primary solutions for any problem (business or personal). In order to work, these obviously have to match up with the type of problem/goal involved. I use the acronym “B-E-T” to help people remember these for ready recall and practical use. “B” stands for “Behavior” solutions---for those situations where “capabilities” or “motivations” by the performer involved will solve the problem.
For the customer satisfaction example provided earlier, for example, ‘knowledgeable’ staff (capability) is three times more important than “friendly” staff (motivation)—though together they again account for what’s most important to focus on for 81% of customers. “E” refers to “Environment” solutions, both internal and external business environment, where the problem is a negative (vs. positive) or unstable (vs. stable) situation. And “T” is where the essence of the problem is a function of the type of “Task” itself.
This type of problem typically involves either complexity, which is likely to cause confusion and error or the lack of a predictable, routine way of achieving the desired result. With the vast majority of more multi-faceted business and leadership problems no more than two of these types of solutions are required. "You can B-E-T" on it.
