If I had one hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution. –Einstein, Albert

I ran across this quote the other day and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I began to ask myself questions as to its meaning: Why did Einstein use, “save the world” as the problem to solve and not something more trivial? And why would he spend 55 minutes defining the problem and only 5 minutes solving it?

Soon after I realized the intrinsic value Einstein’s quote had with respect to The Work Institute’s methodology. Too many times companies and individuals haphazardly waste resources in a desperate attempt to solve problems without taking the necessary time to understand their sources or causes. And why is this? Have we, as business leaders, not learned the importance of understanding the core driving forces behind the companies we manage?

Research, Research, Research….

I think Einstein’s point was that to effectively solve any problem (including the most important: saving the world), one must spend exponentially more time and resources understanding the problem in comparison to time and resources spent solving it. Besides, where has shooting from the hip ever got any of us? Einstein’s ideology is directly aligned with The Work Institute’s methodology. You have to take the time to find the REAL REASONS behind the behavior, expectations, and intents of your employees, students, or customers to make quality evidence-based decisions, in order to achieve the desired outcome: FIXING THE PROBLEM!

I leave you with one last thought.

If you are the type of HR business leader that makes workplace decisions on the fly and does not enjoy the benefits of having the information that allows you to make EVIDENCE-BASED DECISIONS, then we are not the right company for you. However, for those of you who find yourselves wanting to know and understand all the moving parts of your business and have the supporting statistics to help guide your decisions, it’s time to give us a call.

By Chris Poole