Are You Treating the Symptoms or the “Disease?”

Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on January 19, 2011. Editorial changes have been made here.

On January 18, 2011 a high school student in Gardena, CA brought a loaded gun to school in his backpack. During the third period class he dropped the backpack on a desk, causing the gun to discharge. Two 15-year-old students were wounded, one critically.

As the story unfolded, I listened to the commentary on NPR, where Patt Morrison was facilitating a conversation among her guest experts, a reporter on-site at the locked-down school, and listeners calling in with their opinions. The focus of the discussion was on the deficiencies of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s measures to keep weapons out of the schools, and on the question of whether the parents of students who take weapons to school should be held accountable for their children’s actions. In the midst of this raging debate, Ms. Morrison took a call from Daniel, a recent high school graduate, who changed the direction of the conversation completely. In essence he said, “Everyone is talking about keeping weapons out of the schools. How come no one is talking about why kids feel the need to bring them to school in the first place? Why did that kid feel he needed a gun to protect himself?” He then went on to talk about what it’s like to be a student who feels unsafe in his own school, day after day.

Daniel’s question was right on target. While others had been focusing on the symptoms highlighted by the unfolding incident, he went right to the heart of the matter, which was the “disease,” or the problem that gave rise to the symptoms. All the speakers to that point had been talking about contingent actions – i.e., how to address the aftermath of the problem – such as what to do when students take weapons to school, how thorough security screenings should be, and who is to blame if weapons get by those systems. Daniel, on the other hand, brought the attention to preventive actions – i.e., creating safe environments in schools so students don’t feel the need to bring weapons to protect themselves.

The nature of the conversation described here occurs far too often in organizations – and in our personal lives. That is, we tend to focus on symptoms instead of on the issues or problems that gave rise to them. Often it seems much easier to identify contingency actions to take when the symptoms pop up than it is to take the time and make the effort to delve into the issues so that we can develop effective preventive measures. For example, I cringe when I hear of agencies whose Professional Standards Divisions focus on specifying appropriate punishments for errant employees rather than emphasize what leaders can do to support their staff to ensure their behaviors do not require remediation. The fact is that contingency actions are short-term solutions, and they come into play only after the damage has been done. Though preventive actions are more time consuming, in the long-run they mitigate or obviate the need for contingent actions – and, importantly, they remove obstacles to success.

Take a look at some of the issues you’re dealing with right now, personally or professionally. Then ask yourself whether you’re focusing on resolving those issues directly or merely addressing their symptoms.

© 2012 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.