The Key To Solving Big Problems

Photo by Jef Willemyns on Unsplash

I moderated a panel discussion this week about the topic of Sustainability, particularly as it relates to the Procurement function within organizations. It’s a big, meaty topic, one that has been getting plenty of airtime over the last decade and much more so in recent years.

And precisely because the subject is so big and meaty, there are many angles to it, many aspects to rethink, many stakeholders to get aligned. And, as a result, there are many actions that can be taken to effect change on this front. 

The problem, though, is that this can be overwhelming. We don’t know where to start. Do I need top management commitment first? Should I coordinate across my peers? Should I think about peer collaboration across my industry? Do I need big, symbolic wins? 

The questions are numerous and they can build upon themselves, to the point where we ultimately get paralyzed. We stop processing the ‘actionable’ because we can’t fully process the ‘conceptual’.

The solution, as one of the panelists pointed out, is actually very simple. 

Don’t.

Don’t get overwhelmed. Don’t worry about solving every problem. Don’t worry if you’re starting in exactly the right place or not. 

Worry about action. Worry about progress (in any form). Worry about movement.

In other words, just get started. Pick one issue, one problem, gather a group of colleagues, and start doing. Start attacking that one problem and showing gains. When you make progress there, others will see the impact, join in and your movement will gain credibility. 

Then, you can pick the next issue, then the next and then the next. And as you make this progress, you can fashion the bigger picture - the end goal - in a more tangible way, having already broken the realization of that end goal into smaller, ‘movable’ initiatives.

Of course, it would be great to get alignment across the board, to have management commitment, to lay out the full roadmap and goals ahead of time. But that isn’t always practical or possible. 

Sometimes, folks need to be won over, especially on bigger issues. And nothing persuades as strongly as results. And so, we need to empower ourselves, take individual responsibility and just get started. Start moving and start doing. 

Build it, and they will come.