When people come to you to present their problems …

An executive at a large publishing company was sick and tired of boring and unproductive meetings marked by excessive hand-wringing. He enforced a rule that everyone who wished to present a problem to him first had to submit a memo answering these four questions:

1. What's the problem?

2. What's the cause of the problem?

3. What are all possible solutions to the problem?

4. Which solution do you suggest?

He now rarely has to deal with problems anymore and he doesn't worry about them. He's found that his associates have used the system to find workable solutions without tying up hours in useless meetings. He estimates that he has eliminated three-fourths of his meeting time and has improved his productivity, health and happiness. Is he just passing the buck? Of course not! He's paying those folks to do their jobs, and he's giving them great training at decision-making.