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Framing our situation is important, because the lens we choose to use when examining the world around us influences what we see, the actions we believe are helpful and the outcomes we seek. Ask an academic about the choice of theoretical frameworks and you’ll need copious amounts of caffeine to survive the lecture. Prominent, exceptionally important, yet rarely discussed.

Leaders make decisions, they examine the information or data, seek guidance or advice, but in the end are tasked with committing their organizations to a path. That pathway, when grounded in strategy thinking has a higher degree of resilience, because the leader is managing issues, not finding solutions.

Solutions are the endgame for problems that are 100% within the control of management. Personnel, resources, processes, policies and procedures are designed to address known problems, to offer solutions to end the harm. Solution seekers require authority and control, which is why they can only be successful when looking inward. To look to the environment, over which we have exceptionally little influence, requires a different lens, that of managing issues vice finding solutions. 

When we consider the myriad of problems, existential for some, the aim is not to invest finite resources in trying to solve a problem within another organization, but leading our teams through the issue presented by the external problem. Issue management is the concept of leveraging the resources over which we have control, to find the least disruptive and most helpful pathway for our team. 

I cannot control the decision of the US Federal government to change the funding allocations related to FEMA. That is a problem in another organization over which I have little influence. The intelligent response is to understand how I navigate the issue presented by the change in funding models. This reaction is rare, when we examine the proliferation of articles and posts on LinkedIn, almost to an exception, they are demanding an outcome they cannot control, bemoaning the change - but few offer ideas on mitigating loss, other than simply demanding someone else provides the resources. Change is here, it really is inconsequential whether you agree or not, but as a leader in your organization, how will you leverage your assets to manage the issue?

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