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When you set out to solve a problem and the problem does not solve, you’re solving the wrong problem. The ability to correctly evaluate an area reveals the correct target for correction – the “right” problem to solve.

Without this ability one becomes buried in unimportant and unproductive activity. Resources are wasted. Executives are overworked. Productivity sags under the burden of backlogs and distraction.

We had a group that called us in to re-design their training program. On evaluation, we discovered that those who had attempted the training were literally morons – the highest IQ being 85.

The actual problem these executives needed to solve was their hiring line, which we accomplished at considerably less cost than the (unnecessary) re-design of their training program. The new recruits got through the training program with no difficulty, and productivity soared.

The Broadcast Division of SONY US brought us in to help them turn around a seven-year downtrend in their market share. They had been targeting their sales representatives as the source of the problem, but after lengthy and costly attempts to correct the reps, sales continued to plummet.

An evaluation brought to light a fundamental that was completely absent from their operations, and once installed their sales recovered.

The correct problem, isolated and resolved, opens the door to progress.

Training people in the rudiments of correct evaluation is a simple task, and is information that should be well understood and applied at every echelon in a company.