When Problem-Solving Sends the Client Backwards

I've been giving some thought to an observation by Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting. He suggests that solving a client's problem might simply return them to where they were before. That got me thinking. Is returning to where you were necessarily the best outcome?

It's a distinction I suspect we don't always examine closely enough.

Back Where We Started

Of course, coaches and consultants don't make their clients' decisions for them. We help people examine their circumstances and decide what to do next. But I wonder how often we explore what they actually want to achieve beyond the problem they've brought to us.

What Working With a Chiropractor Taught Me

My professional background is in business coaching and consulting, particularly marketing and sales. Some years ago, a chiropractor approached me for advice on attracting more patients to his practice.

At first glance, the problem seemed straightforward. He wanted more new patients, so improving his advertising appeared to be the obvious solution. But when I examined the business more closely, I discovered another opportunity.

We looked at what he was spending to attract new patients and compared it with what it might cost to bring lapsed or “lost” patients back. The second option was considerably cheaper. So we redirected part of his advertising budget towards a campaign to bring lapsed patients back.

The campaign also offered returning patients the opportunity to enrol in longer-term treatment plans, paid in advance. The result was that revenue exceeded the chiropractor's expectations.

Here's what struck me. He asked for help attracting more patients. But when we talked more about the result he wanted, it was increased revenue. More patients were one possible route to that outcome, not the outcome itself.

Had I accepted his presenting problem as the whole problem, we might have spent more money attracting new patients without discovering a more economical opportunity already within his practice.

One Question I'd Be Interested in Asking

There's another question I'd want to explore before accepting a client's description of their problem as the complete picture.

"Suppose this problem were completely resolved. What would your life look like then?"

The question doesn't suggest that the client has chosen the wrong problem. It asks them to picture what happens after it's resolved.

Their answer might confirm they're on the right track. Or it might open up a conversation neither of us expected.

Sometimes a problem really is just a problem, and fixing it is enough. The client gets to decide what success looks like.

What Are We Calling Success?

I suspect we can become so focused on helping clients resolve the problem they've brought to us that we overlook the possibility of something better.

The next time a client describes a problem they want help solving, perhaps it's worth pausing to ask, "Imagine that problem solved. What then?"

Coach: Imagine that problem solved. What then?

Client: What do you mean, "what then?"

Coach: Well, with that problem out of the way, what would be different for you?

They might discover that getting back to where they started is exactly what they want. Or they might discover somewhere else they'd rather be.

Either way, isn't that worth knowing?