5 steps to fixing flaws that are holding you back

So you suspect that your company or organization might have an issue...maybe you are missing some goals, you hear grumbling from employees, the energy seems to be missing, or you are getting more complaints from customers.  These are some of the indicators that you might have a larger issue.  For the sake of this article, it doesn't matter what the issue is, the key is to address it correctly.  Here are five steps to address the issue

1. Recognize you have an issue and determine what it is
Sounds simple, right?  I actually think this is the most challenging step.  It is too easy to brush of the indicators of an issue and assign them to some temporary cause that will pass on its own or accept the cause of the warning signs as just the result of how things are.  You can imagine the first conversations when the warning signs showed up at some of the companies that have failed recently because they did not innovate quickly enough, "We can't do anything about the fact that people just don't want to go to stores as much as they used to.  Let's try to make more money on each individual who does shop with us." No issue there...
2. Be humble enough to be willing to take advice from unexpected sources
The second step is almost as challenging as the first, realizing you don't have all of the answers and that the person who has the answer may not be a high-powered consulting firm.   When a problem arises a leader asks the team for a solution what do they propose?  I think it is a fairly common dilemma that they propose more of what they know...  Should we use an open sourced solution?  No, says the developer who is an expert of the current closed platform.  Should we consider agile marketing? No, says the project manager who has invested a lot of time and energy in long term static resource planning methodologies.  This is not done with malice, but because every incentive points to doing more of the same.  The unexpected source can be source with the right answer.  
3. Be prepared to overcome opposition to the solution 
Once you determine a solution, it is almost certain there will be opposition to that solution.  Just like the established players  are hesitant to propose a new solution they will be hesitant to adopt a new solution.
4. Fully implement the solution 
5. Recognize those who contributed to fixing the issue

The challenge is that implementing these steps is difficult prior to the issue becoming a crisis.  You may notice that things seem slightly off, but convince yourself that the issue is temporary or it will resolve itself.  If the issue is now a crisis you can no longer delude yourself.  When an issue isn't a crisis you can convince yourself that you can solve the problem yourself, not needing the opinions of others.
When an issue isn't a crisis the opposition's arguments seem to have more merit making it more challenging to overcome the opposition or to get them on board. No one wants to update business as usual if they don't need to and