Episode: 364

Episode Title: The Problem with Solo Solutions

Reaching a group decision can be time-consuming. It’s tempting to go solo instead, but here’s why that doesn’t work, coming up next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 364 show:

You’re now in The Perna Syndicate—welcome! As we talk this week about what it’s like in the trenches of shifting the paradigm for education, workforce, and economic development, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share why it’s a bad idea to solve things alone.  

I call this a solo solution, and it can be an easy trap to fall into. Solo solutions are quicker. They’re neater. You come up with a brilliant idea to address the challenges in your community—whether it’s an education challenge, a problem employers are having, or something on the economic development front. You see the issue clearly and also what needs to be done about it. So you solve it. 

Your idea really is great. So you formulate it, you perfect it, and you bring it to the people it’s going to help. Isn’t this a great idea, you say. And maybe it is. 

But there’s one problem with the solo solution. It’s solo. The stakeholders affected by the problem weren’t involved in creating the answer. Maybe you understood their needs and perspective in your solution, maybe your solution would solve all that—but the fact remains that they were left out of the process. 

Going solo may get things done quicker in the short term, but if we want a solution to stick, we need to make decisions as a team. I practice this with all my clients and most of all, within my own company. We just don’t solve things solo. And that’s why we succeed. 

Tomorrow marks the last episode of The Perna Syndicate for the year. And I want to talk about something we’ve all experienced—and that is, falling short of a goal. We’ll see you back here tomorrow for that discussion. Take care!