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Words
The problem with solutions

solution, n, the act or means of solving a problem or difficulty

Business A says it provides ‘enterprise productivity solutions’. Business B says it provides ‘innovative transport solutions’. While Business C tells us to ‘look no further for aquatic education solutions’.

On further investigation, we discover Business A actually sells software. (What a surprise!) Business B is a truck leasing business. And Business C teaches people – mainly kids – to swim.

Asked why they chose to promote themselves as an ‘innovative transport solutions business’, a senior manager from the truck leasing business said ‘It’s what people want. People don’t want problems. They want solutions.’

It’s hard to argue against the idea that people don’t want problems. But asked what other innovative transport solutions his company had to offer, the manager says ‘None. We’re truck leasing specialists. That’s what we do.’

As psychologist Abraham Maslow once observed, when the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. But, in the real world, a nail is usually only one of many problems. To suggest they can all be remedied with a single solution, no matter how innovative, is just plain silly.

The first business that decided to call itself a ‘solutions provider’ probably hoped that it would help it to stand out from the crowd. But that was then. Now is now. Today, self-proclaimed solution providers have become the crowd. Now it’s the truck leasing specialists that stand out.

The solution? Perhaps it’s time to find another word.