Stop Solving Everything: The Hidden Cost of Always Having the Answer
We often attach our value to our ability to find the right answers and show we’re in control. This post explores a shift in mindset that every manager needs to make: from fixer to sense maker.
Couple of months ago I had a conversation with a manager on my team that brought this lesson home.
He’s leading a brand-new initiative, it’s not just a new process, it’s a whole ecosystem he’s trying to cultivate. The goal is ambitious, and the output isn’t there yet. He’s noticing a lack of ownership, not enough independence from the team of contractors he is managing.
He’s doing all the right things—giving his team space to be creative, articulating the goals clearly, and at the same time, providing a very specific SOP with step-by-step guidance. But despite this thoughtful approach, something’s still missing.
My first instinct: “What fix can I suggest?” I started mentally reaching for potential solutions. Maybe I could suggest a better incentive structure, or a tool for task tracking... After all, I wanted to be helpful and valuable.
But this wasn’t a problem. It was a challenge.
There wasn’t a single broken piece to repair. This was a complex human system, influenced by motivation, clarity, communication, company culture, incentives, psychological safety—and a team of people who technically don’t even report directly to us.
So instead of offering a “fix,” I needed to create space, ask exploratory questions and listen.
And in that space of our conversation, the manager started shaping a new idea. It wasn’t a fix that targeted productivity head-on, but it was rooted in understanding customers and process better. A different angle, focused on building energy, not extract output.
We don’t know yet where that idea will take us. But I do know this: by treating the conversation as a challenge to rise to, rather than a problem to fix, we opened a door to new perspectives, opportunities and deeper learning.
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The Crucial Distinction: Problems vs. Challenges
Understanding this difference is a turning point in leadership:
• A problem is technical, solvable, linear. It has a cause and a fix. Think: a broken process, a bug in the code, a missing report.
• A challenge is complex, dynamic, and adaptive. It sits at the intersection of people, systems, and meaning. Think: culture change, motivation, innovation, leadership growth.
You fix problems.
You rise to challenges.
The mistake we often make—especially as new or mid-level managers—is that we treat everything like a problem. We search for silver bullets. And in doing so, we often miss the opportunity to grow with the challenge, to co-create new approaches, and to empower our teams.
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Why We Default to Fixing
Most managers didn’t start out as leaders.
They were experts in product, operations, sales, design, engineering. And as experts, they got rewarded for solving problems efficiently.
But the moment we step into leadership, the game changes. The biggest things we face are no longer fixable. They’re complex, emotional, social, cultural, ambiguous.
The expert mind wants to control, to solve, to deliver. The leadership mind learns to hold complexity, to listen longer, to ask better questions. It’s not easy.
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Practical Tips to Shift from Solver to Sense-maker
Here’s a different mindset to adopt:
• Instead of “How do I fix this?”, try “What am I learning about the system?”
• Instead of “What should I do?”, ask “Who needs to be part of this conversation?”
• Instead of “How do I get control?”, explore “Where can I create clarity or connection?”
You become less of an expert and more of a sense-maker—helping others navigate uncertainty, not eliminate it.
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Final Thought
Leadership isn’t about fixing everything. It’s about showing up, listening closely, and holding space for the real work, especially when the path is unclear.
Some of the most powerful moments as a leader come not from brilliant solutions, but from trusting your team to rise to the challenge with your support, not your control.
The next time you feel the urge to fix, pause.
Ask: Is this a problem? Or a challenge?
And lead accordingly.
Thank you for sharing a valuable perspective. The problem vs challenge distinction is very helpful. I heavily lean toward fixing things so it's a nice reminder for myself. Too often we rush to ask converging questions to find a solution and forget the value in questions that open up.
This really resonates with me, i jump into solution mode(ADHD much). It reminds me of Nancy Kline's 'Thinking Environment' approach ('https://amzn.eu/d/5c5Fswj) - where the most powerful thing you can do is give someone uninterrupted time to think while you listen with complete attention and ask only questions that help them think more deeply. The idea is that people actually think best when they feel truly heard, not when someone else is trying to solve their problems for them. Your example with the manager perfectly illustrates this - by treating it as a challenge to explore rather than a problem to fix, you created the conditions for genuine insight to emerge. I have used it many times and think it is something that can bring so much more value in the work place but ego is always at the centre of problem solving.