Why organizations keep solving the wrong problems

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January 27, 2026 | 12:00am

It’s not about bad execution, but it boils down to thinking alignment. This happens when we use small tools for big problems, big tools for small problems, then we wonder why everyone is tired and frustrated. Understand that not all problems deserve the same kind of thinking.

This is the Thinking People Strategy (TPS), a principle that matches four things correctly:

One, the size of the problem. Two, the character of the problem. Third, the level and style of thinking required to solve it. And fourth, critical thinking skills.

Overkill is not power. Underkill is not courage. That’s why we don’t use a flamethrower on flies or send interns into forest infernos.

Systems thinking

At the top of this illustration sits Top Management, focused on big, complex problems that if not solved would be fatal to the organization. People at the top would ask the following: Why are we losing relevance? Why is our business model not working?

These problems are systemic. They cut across departments. They involve culture, structure, strategy and long-term survival. You don’t fix them with memos and pep talks.

They require Systems Thinking, which politely confiscates the whack-a-mole mallet from leaders. Instead of hammering away at declining sales, high turnover and product defects, it asks the smarter question: What kind of system is breeding these moles in the first place?

Strategic thinking

Next is Middle Management, facing day-to-day, medium-sized problems that are moderate and ordinary. These are not threats, but they are not trivial either. Think capacity planning, workflow conflicts, segmented market positioning, cross-department coordination and performance gaps.

This demands Strategic Thinking that lives between corporate vision and managerial execution. They ask given where we are now and where top management wants us to go, what must we prioritize, design and sequence?

Strategic thinking isn’t about creating 80-page plans that impress nobody and guide no one. It’s about intelligent trade-offs: what to double down on, what to dumb down, what to shut down and what to build up. It’s about designing systems of work that make doing the right thing the easy thing.

A medium-sized problem, like declining delivery performance doesn’t need a corporate reinvention. It doesn’t need motivational posters. It needs analysis, prioritization, cross-functional negotiation and deliberate design.

Kaizen and lean thinking

At the base sits “non-management,” a politically-correct term for frontline workers. They’re tasked to work on small problems that are trivial to escalate, yet too frequent to ignore because they’re numerous, occurs daily, mostly invisible and could possibly result in cumulative damage to the organization.

They’re thousands of little frictions that slow work down: searching for tools, unclear instructions, rework, handoff errors, waiting, unnecessary motion, confusing layouts and minor defects. These are the natural home of Kaizen and Lean Thinking.

Small problems should never be escalated into corporate drama. They should be eliminated at the source, by the people who experience them, as close to real work as possible. It respects people by assuming that those who do the work are best positioned to solve their operational issues.

When non-management people are trained in structured problem-solving, waste identification and continuous improvement, small problems stop accumulating into big ones. Work becomes smoother, quality stabilizes and pride quietly returns. They’re responsible for making work processes easier, better, faster and cheaper in that order of priority.

Critical thinking

The underlying key to all this is a horizontal reminder that everyone, regardless of job grade and hierarchy must have critical thinking skills. It’s one element that cuts across all levels. It’s curiosity that refuses to accept convenient explanations or inherited assumptions without examination.

At the top, critical thinking challenges strategy myths and leadership comfort zones.

In the middle, it tests plans, data and trade-offs. At the frontlines, it questions “we’ve always done it this way.”

Without critical thinking, Systems Thinking becomes philosophy, Strategic Thinking becomes bureaucratic and Lean Thinking becomes ritual.

Why TPS matters

Today’s organizations are drowning in mismatched problem-solving. We assign big, complex, structural problems to task forces with no authority. We ask a long list of executives to approve office supplies worth $10. We suffocate operators with KPIs instead of equipping them with methods.

TPS restores intellectual order. It clarifies who should solve what. It prevents escalation of the trivial and neglect of the critical. It protects top management from operational noise, middle management from confusion and frontline employees from helplessness. Most importantly, TPS turns problem-solving into a design choice instead of an emotional reaction.

When size, character and thinking style are aligned, organizations stop going nowhere.

Rey Elbo is a quality and productivity enthusiast. Email [email protected] or DM him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X or via https://reyelbo.com. Anonymity is guaranteed to those who prefer using a flamethrower for killing flies.