# Don’t solve the problem. - Signal v. Noise

<https://m.signalvnoise.com/dont-solve-the-problem/>

- Host: [m.signalvnoise.com](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/m.signalvnoise.com/)
- Saved: March 28, 2019 (2019-03-29T03:25:27Z)
- Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/e3749080ee1c/
- JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/e3749080ee1c.json

## What Jamie wrote

I know I've fallen into this trap many, many times. I see others do it a good amount as well. I have a feeling in technology disciplines this might happen more frequently than others. 

> What you’ll notice when you ask these questions is that most employees already have an answer (or several answers!) to a given problem. But they were uncomfortable with it, or they were worried about getting it “wrong.”
> 
> Part of asking the questions isn’t just to help them think through the problem more clearly, but also to help them realize they know more than they think, they’re more capable than they think, and that they’ve mitigated the risks better than anticipated.
> 
> Your job as a leader isn’t to just help clarify thought process – but to give confidence in their thinking.

The questions suggested here are a good set to start with, but the more fundamental concept is rethinking how you engage in problem solving as a leader.

## Facts

- Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/)

## Appears in

- [WT99: Weekly Thing #99 / Mar 30, 2019](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/99/), Featured Links 🏅

## Same host

- [Become A Facebook-Free Business – Signal v. Noise](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/a58807dda345/) (m.signalvnoise.com, December 27, 2018)
- [The books I read in 2018 - Signal v. Noise](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/619a9491aacb/) (m.signalvnoise.com, January 23, 2019)
- [Leaders, doing what you're good at hurts your team. - Signal v. Noise](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/f37dd1bfaa8a/) (m.signalvnoise.com, January 23, 2019)
- [The hardest leadership advice to follow](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/6e2404e27c12/) (m.signalvnoise.com, July 8, 2019)
- [You can heal the internet - Signal v. Noise](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/a9d145563fe9/) (m.signalvnoise.com, August 28, 2019)

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## Elsewhere

- Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://m.signalvnoise.com/dont-solve-the-problem/