it might be useful to pause and examine the norms and incentive structures still in place from those exuberant days of heedless problem-solving. These structures now lock the organization in place with paralyzing might. Solving problems is still the currency of the organization, but that currency dries up when there’s an implicit “without creating new ones” requirement added.
We need a shift in perspective. What if, instead of looking at individual problems, we visualize the set of related problems, both solved and created, as a problem space? This problem space shrinks and grows depending on the actions of those who work within it. If the problem space shrinks, the team is doing good work. If the problem space grows, the team is struggling.