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Three ways people respond to a problem (other than solving it)
- andsoitis 3mo agoThere’s a fourth: deny
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- metalman 3mo agoor perhaps thats the first response? in any case, as a hard core problem solver who is currently overwhelmed with problems I am bieng forced into no choice paragmatic responses. where I have lost any reserve capacity, deflect, move, deny a problem and get some rest, eat, shave the yak, before rejoining the fray with enough energy to perform is just part of the routine now. ie: triage or go under, which may be habit forming
- jagged-chisel 3mo agoDenying the problem exists is not the same. Denying that the problem is a “problem” would be. In the first case, the affected do nothing because there is no problem. In the second, it’s “not a problem” because they did a thing and moved it elsewhere.
- metalman 3mo agothe other possibility is that the problem is somebody elses, rendering it invisible and therefor potentialy usefull in it's own right
- 1970-01-01 3mo agoThere's a 0th: empathy. They want to hear you say you heard them, hear you say the problem is a problem, and have you say the problem is making things harder.
- pessimizer 3mo agoThe cool thing about this one is that you don't even have to understand what they said, just learn how to repeat it back to them with a sad look on your face.
- hackable_sand 3mo agoFascinating demonstration of denial
- ActionHank 3mo agoMy colleagues like this one.
- 0wis 3mo agoNice article, interesting to keep an open mind. On "No. 0002. Preserving problems", it can happen to people too, no need for a complex system at the size of a company. I have often noticed recognized experts keeping the root of the problem unsolved because it was justifying their position. I may even have been subject of this curse. As an expert, you may know the root cause but have no incentive to solve it and it can be harder to mobilize ressources to solve the root cause than to keep solving the superficial issue. It is management or outside help role to identify and push for solving problems at their root, but it takes time and dedication because of expertise. As most of the time, incentives explain nearly everything.
- jimnotgym 3mo agoI often found the opposite can be be true, people can, for decades on end, be totally ignorant of what happens next door. When you show them the effect of their ignorance you often get something akin to the stages of grief. Definitely the anger, and with you in particular. The, 'I don't care whose fault it is, I'm not here to apportion blame' line only goes so far, especially since other managers and even the CEO might be very interested in apportioning blame. At least they are allies for the change that needs to happen
- mnahkies 3mo agoIn terms of the expert observation, I've seen this happen a number of times in conjunction with "not invented here" (and probably been guilty of it myself at times) - "the commodity solution doesn't do X that we want", "yeah our in house solution doesn't do x,y,z that the commodity solution does but just a little more effort and it'll be perfect" Spoiler: neither the commodity solution or the in-house solution will ever be perfect, and you should be really self critical of whether you're building something in-house to scratch your own itch. If you can find a commodity solution with the right extension points that's often the best solution, failing that many times it's worth accepting the limitations, rarely it's worth investing in the totally bespoke thing (outside of your core domain/proposition).
- ocimbote 3mo agoThis specific problem reminded me of Batman.
- jagged-chisel 3mo ago> … they inadvertently perpetuate the problem “Inadvertently”? Seldom.
- shermantanktop 3mo agoDo you think people look in the mirror and say “I’m going to be a terrible person today?” They look in the mirror and say “good job playing the hand you’re dealt - keep it up!” even while what they do is objectively terrible. Humans have an incredible capacity for rationalizing their own behavior.
- jagged-chisel 3mo agoThat’s definitely not “inadvertent.”
- IAmBroom 3mo agoIt is. Everyone rationalizes their emotional responses. Hangry. Rush-hour impatience in traffic. If you can avoid it, never appear before a judge just before lunch or the end of the day.
- bluefirebrand 3mo agoA response that needs to be rationalized is sort of by definition not inadvertent It might not be intentional but it's not inadvertent
- bluefirebrand 3mo ago> Do you think people look in the mirror and say “I’m going to be a terrible person today?” Not so directly, but I do think that a lot of people don't put any effort into being a good person. Think of the shopping cart problem. Good people return their shopping carts to the store or a cart return. Many people can't be bothered to do that. People think "oh I'm not bad for leaving my cart in a parking spot" they think "stealing or damaging a shopping cart is what bad people do" But they're still kinda bad people for not returning their carts. They're certainly choosing not to actively be good people.
- cheschire 3mo agoSeems related to the four risk management strategies: - Avoidance - Mitigation - Transference - Acceptance
- blitzar 3mo agoSounds like the classic 5 stages ... Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance.
- Insanity 3mo agoWell, I guess both risk management and the 5 stages are inherently a human activity. Not too surprised that behaviour transfers across personal/professional boundaries. :D
- AlienRobot 3mo agoI don't have a problem. It's YOUR problem, actually. I do have a problem, but problems are good if you think about it. No matter how many problems I fix, there is always a new problem... These problems aren't that problematic, they're trade-offs.
- MarkusQ 3mo agoThree more common ways of responding to a problem: Weaponize it. Study it. Blog about it.
- black6 3mo agoThe company for which I work seems to be run by engineers. When learning to be an engineer you're taught that doing nothing is always a valid option. In Army leadership courses we were taught that ANY decision is better than NO decision. My company is stifled by a bunch of engineers in leadership positions who always choose to defer up the chain rather than make a decision themselves.
- an0malous 3mo ago“Do nothing” can be a decision
- jcs 3mo agoThe person who decides owns the risk. The cost of waiting is spread across the whole team, so escalating is usually the safer move for the individual.
- mnahkies 3mo agoAs another commentator said "do nothing" is a decision. There's a distinction between "don't make a decision and hope someone else makes a decision" and "we acknowledge we're deciding to do nothing about X until/unless Y" The people in leadership positions should be active participants, and not all decisions will be ones they are are able to make locally - but they should feel comfortable to present a POV and recommendation/tradeoffs upwards when that's the case. If the buck stops with them then they should be aware that "do nothing" is a decision that they are making.
- IshKebab 3mo agoThe most common response I see is "unfortunately this problem is impossible for us to fix because I can't be bother.. err I mean because of these technical reasons. Yes definitely that."
- functionmouse 3mo agoreminds me of an old meme > have "problem"; don't care: no problem
- rawgabbit 3mo agoThe "meta" problem is that political in-fighting usually results in local optimization everywhere. Various departments throw each other under the bus to steal budget/people/resources. When leadership finally decides to right the bus, they hire an outside consultant; this is an important signal to the departments to stop the nonsense and tell the consultant what everyone knows but doesn't want to talk about. Serious problems require serious solutions. It is much easier to say if Y department would give us X, then line go up forever.
- blitzar 3mo agoNot my problem - the best kind of problem.
- chadcmulligan 3mo agoan SEP - somebody else's problem
- didgetmaster 3mo agoPeople often attribute the government's inability to solve a problem even after throwing billions of dollars at it; as a sign of incompetence. While there is plenty of incompetence within government; I think the 'Preserve the Problem' response is mostly to blame. If we 'solved' crime, homelessness, drug use, poverty, etc.; then budgets would decrease and political power would diminish. Those in charge of solving the problem often have the least incentive to do so.
- have_faith 3mo agoDoes anyone within the system genuinely feel threatened by the idea that something like "crime" can be "solved" to the point that they're avoiding solving too much crime? Same logic for the others.
- dmitrygr 3mo agoA LOT of crime can be solved. A huge percentage of perps are multi-repeat perps. Putting them away permanently would solve a lot of crime. "75% to 83% of released prisoners are arrested for a new crime" https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/2018-update-prisoner-recidivism-9-year-follow-period-2005-2014 https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/2018-update-prisone...
- tchalla 3mo ago… in the US
- skinfaxi 3mo agoYes, kind of obvious from the .gov right?
- numeri 3mo agoI read the comment you're replying to as saying, "in the US, but other countries may have different policies that result in lower recidivism, and that might change the conclusion; maybe people aren't inherently criminally insane, but can become useful members of society, if given a chance"
- josefritzishere 3mo agohug of death?
- sharadov 3mo agoThe pushing problems around under the guise of solving them for political gain is what corporate and government malfeasance is all about. The better you are at the game the higher you climb!
- throw4847285 3mo agoThere is a fourth that the author would never mention: Hire consultants about the problem
- QuantumFunnel 3mo agoHave unpopular solution or mitigation strategy, hire consultants, execute, blame the consultants
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- barrenko 3mo agoThe problems you have are solutions to the problems you don't want to admit to yourself are actually having.
- PeterStuer 3mo agoSomehow made me think of every 'modern' HR department.
- llm_nerd 3mo agoGood article. I think a lot of people in the software development field should ponder over "No. 0002. Preserving problems", because a lot of rhetoric is basically advancing this position. Software development traditionally is expensive, slow, adapts poorly, and so on. This worked in our favour as it gave us high paying jobs where we could always blame a framework, Microsoft, whatever, and estimate a week to move a button. These people are the ones who are the loudest at filling the silence with anti-AI propaganda because they desperately want to hold onto that problem.
- aanet 3mo agoOne doesn't need to be a consultant to realize how people respond to problems (other than solving them). But it helps. Perhaps. Maybe even more so if you (=consultant) leave with just the recommendations, without actually implementing them. Which is what most of the Big 4 consulting companies do. (Guilty, to be honest. And that's why (partly) I gave up mgmt consulting) But it helps to understand where people are coming from to realize why the problems exist in the first place.
- golly_ned 3mo agoMy favorite is ignoring or downplaying a problem. 95% of apparent 'problems' are best ignored in favor of solving the worthwhile 5%. Sometimes this means 'creating' a new problem by pointing to something unconsidered that's 10x more important.
- mettamage 3mo agoI do this at work a lot and often the problem goes away because the stakeholders above me couldn't agree on the problem being important enough to solve for a long enough time. When a problem survives this, usually it's worth solving.
- mettamage 3mo agoI normally don't write stuff like this but I did not expect 9 upvotes. I expected a karma hit (but I prefer to just write honestly what I think). That's informative, thank you.
- Eddy_Viscosity2 3mo agoWhat you said isn't controversial. Its very often the case that people fret and worry about things that aren't 'problems' but instead are just 'stuff they don't like'. In the former case, ignoring it will often make it worse. In the latter case, if you wait a bit then people move on to other things to complain about.
- mettamage 3mo agoUpdate: the project that we worked on for the past month got pulled and we now have to work on a new project. I am happy to report I only worked during the meetings and a bit outside of it, and feel totally vindicated by this approach.
- childintime 3mo agoThat's lesson number one for GP's. Second lesson is to pay attention to correctly catch the remaining 5%. You can get help to solve them later. Choose your battles.
- throw9383848 3mo ago>The most obvious example of how AI destroys the human ability to learn and think critically is its ubiquitous use in high schools and colleges. A study released in October 2025 found that 84 percent of high school students use AI to brainstorm ideas, edit or revise essays, and/or conduct research and find sources. Another 69 percent use ChatGPT to help with school assignments and homework. Perhaps I am not as smart as author, but how is "brainstorming ideas" doing the "destroys the human ability to learn and think critically"? It is just cooperative work! Rich kids have private tutors, and do the "brainstorming" all the time! I heard similar arguments when google search become widely available!
- myshapeprotocol 3mo ago[flagged]
- cgio 3mo agoMy favourite pathology is change the problem. Piggybacking on an organisational problem to solve it while promoting a personal objective. This is a subtle pathology, quite common e.g. when a new framework is introduced etc.
- zkmon 3mo agoYou make two big assumptions - 1) The problem is really a problem, it is not invented by the consultant, it is well defined, deserves "solving", 2) the person or team is the one who is responsible for doing something about it. 3) "Solving" is justified by overall cost-benefit view. The "pushing around" could be about letting the right person/team handle it. "Preserving" could be due to lack of business justification to "solve" it. Promoting new problem could be due to poor understanding of the problem and solution, usually due to consultants pushing for it.
- Nevermark 3mo agoThis is a gross oversimplification of my experience with conservative vs. liberal friends. But there is enough truth in it to at least be worth the humor. My conservative friends respond to a problem by mashing all its symptoms, and often operate on assumptions they have never tested. And would resist testing. My liberal friends respond to a solution, veering away hard from the solution's costs, without first asking how they can be mitigated or if the accounting still works out positive. Disclaimer: Could be anecdotal. Could be projection. But for my population of five people, the correlation is 100%! They would all likely agree too. Given enough beer, and with my recorder out of sight.
- gblargg 3mo agoDo you have any concrete examples of this? I'm having trouble picturing these.
- inigyou 3mo agoI think GP means "masking" instead of "mashing"? And then: Conservative: "homelessness is a problem! make homelessness illegal and people will get homes because they are homeless by choice!" ("is there any evidence that people are homeless by choice?" *crickets*) Liberal: "defund the police!" ("but who would deter petty crime?" *crickets*)
- x3qt 3mo agoI grew up in Minsk (2M people) and seen obviously homeless person just once in my entire life. It's not illegal to be factually homeless, but illegal to do everything homeless people usually do, unlike in Berlin, where I live nowadays, like sleeping outdoors, camping (insane!), being intoxicated etc. In Minsk such people instantly removed into correction facilities, thus cities are clean and more importantly safe.
- inigyou 3mo agoSo that's a great example of conservatives preferring to punish people instead of actually solving the problem. Minsk people must live in fear of losing their homes, knowing that if they do, they will be disappeared.
- sdevonoes 3mo agoHow are (tech) consultants typically hired? They also go through the nonsense of live coding / systems design interview? Or they get asked specifically about the problem they need to solve and see if they are a good fit or not?
- biscuits1 3mo agoNo. 0004. Pretermit new problems https://dev.to/solidi/ways-people-respond-to-problems-3fhm https://dev.to/solidi/ways-people-respond-to-problems-3fhm
- SuperNinKenDo 3mo agoIt's neglecting a fourth: Refusing to actually solve the problem so that they can continue to complain about it being someone else's fault.