Three ways people respond to a problem (other than solving it)
Three ways people respond to a problem (other than solving it)
人们应对问题的三种方式（除了解决它）
When people learn I’m a consultant, conversation often proceeds to problems and problem-solving. It’s true that I only get hired well after there is a problem. Typically a problem that has gotten so lousy that nobody wants to deal with it and it has therefore become worth the trouble—of spending time, money, effort, and reputation—to bring in somebody to sort it out.
当人们得知我是顾问时，谈话往往会转向问题和解决问题。确实，我通常是在问题出现很久之后才会被聘用。这些问题通常已经变得非常糟糕，以至于没人愿意处理，因此才值得投入时间、金钱、精力和声誉，请人来解决。
That said, I like completeness. What other responses do I notice to problems? (Other than solving them.) I don’t know that any of these are universally good or bad. But I do see people having three additional responses, and acting based on them. These are: Solving problems (the first response we think of), Pushing problems around, Preserving problems, Promoting new problems. Let’s look at each of these three ‘P’s in turn.
话虽如此，我喜欢完整性。除了解决问题之外，我还观察到人们对问题有哪些其他反应？我不知道这些反应是否在任何情况下都是好或坏的，但我确实看到人们有三种额外的反应，并据此采取行动。它们分别是：解决问题（我们想到的第一种反应）、推卸问题、维护问题、制造新问题。让我们依次看看这三个以“P”开头的行为。
No. 0001. Pushing problems around
0001. 推卸问题
When I was facilitating staff-led continuous improvement projects, this was the common outcome. Making things better here by making them worse there. This is what most problem-solving in medium and large organizations look like, because this is what local optimization looks like. This is fine, in a certain sense, and a huge waste of time, in another. A key point is to not blame people for pushing problems around. They’re playing the game in front of them, and playing to win. Instead, when you see this happening, look for their boss’s boss and fix the incentives and system view there.
当我主持员工主导的持续改进项目时，这是常见的结果。通过让某处变糟来让另一处变好。这就是中大型组织中大多数问题解决方式的样子，因为这就是局部优化的表现。从某种意义上说，这没问题，但从另一方面看，这简直是巨大的时间浪费。关键点在于，不要责怪那些推卸问题的人。他们只是在玩眼前的游戏，并且力求获胜。相反，当你看到这种情况发生时，应该去找他们上司的上司，从那里修正激励机制和系统视角。
No. 0002. Preserving problems
0002. 维护问题
Clay Shirky wrote, in part of a 2010 blog post that is no longer online: “Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.” Kevin Kelly named it ‘The Shirky Principle’ and wrote, also in 2010: “The Shirky Principle declares that complex solutions (like a company, or an industry) can become so dedicated to the problem they are the solution to, that often they inadvertently perpetuate the problem. … Because of the Shirky Principle, […] progress sometimes demands that we let go of problems.”
克莱·舍基（Clay Shirky）在2010年一篇现已下线的博文中写道：“机构会试图维护那些它们本身就是解决方案的问题。”凯文·凯利（Kevin Kelly）将其命名为“舍基原则”（The Shirky Principle），并在同年写道：“舍基原则宣称，复杂的解决方案（如一家公司或一个行业）可能会过于专注于它们所解决的问题，以至于往往在无意中延续了这些问题。……由于舍基原则，……进步有时要求我们放下某些问题。”
A very easy thing to look for when there’s a problem are the people who depend on it. Who’d lose out if the problem were solved? You don’t have to agree with these people—the ones who preserve the very problems you’re working to eliminate. But you had better know who they are and include them in your plan.
当出现问题时，很容易就能找到那些依赖于该问题的人。如果问题解决了，谁会受损？你不必认同这些人——那些维护着你正努力消除的问题的人。但你最好知道他们是谁，并将他们纳入你的计划中。
No. 0003. Promoting new problems
0003. 制造新问题
Always ask this. It’s one of Neil Postman’s six questions about technology (from a 1998 lecture): “What problems do we create by solving this problem?” Jerry Weinberg wrote in one of his books: “Once you eliminate your number one problem, you promote number two.”
永远要问这个问题。这是尼尔·波兹曼（Neil Postman）关于技术的六个问题之一（来自1998年的一次讲座）：“我们在解决这个问题的同时，制造了什么新问题？”杰里·温伯格（Jerry Weinberg）在他的书中写道：“一旦你消除了头号问题，你就会提拔出第二个问题。”
The ability to find the problem in any situation is the consultant’s best asset. It’s also the consultant’s occupational disease. To be a consultant, you must detest problems, but if you can’t live with problems, consulting will kill you. Does this mean you must give up trying to solve problems? Not at all. It means that you must give up the illusion that you’ll ever finish solving problems. Once you give up that illusion, you’ll be able to relax now and then and let the problems take care of themselves.
在任何情况下都能发现问题的能力是顾问最好的资产，但这也是顾问的职业病。要成为一名顾问，你必须厌恶问题，但如果你无法与问题共存，咨询工作会让你崩溃。这是否意味着你必须放弃解决问题？完全不是。这意味着你必须放弃“你能彻底解决所有问题”的幻想。一旦你放弃了这个幻想，你就能偶尔放松一下，让问题顺其自然。
People who can solve problems do lead better lives. But people who can ignore problems, when they choose to, live the best lives. If you can’t do both, stay out of consulting. In my own practice, the primary way of dispelling this illusion is to get a good diagram going so that everybody can see their problems, agree on what they are, and pick a few that are actually worth fixing.
能解决问题的人确实生活得更好。但那些在选择时能够忽略问题的人，生活得最好。如果你两者都做不到，就别做咨询。在我自己的实践中，消除这种幻想的主要方法是画出一张好的图表，让每个人都能看到他们的问题，就问题达成共识，并挑选出几个真正值得解决的问题。