Why Solving Problems for Your Team is the Fastest Way to Weaken Them

We all know that AI can improve your performance. It helps you do tasks faster and more accurately, but there's a cost: your ability to recall the information you used AI for decreases.

In a similar vein, recording a lecture makes it easier for you to quote the lecture later, but it doesn't help you retain the information shared in the lecture. Only taking notes will really help with that.

Using a calculator gets your math done quickly and correctly, but erodes your number sense and estimation abilities.

And relying on GPS to get somewhere (generally) guarantees you'll arrive, but impairs your ability to navigate using a paper map.

All of these examples remove friction, and friction is where the learning happens. More specifically, they bypass the process of pulling knowledge from memory (retrieval), working through ambiguity (struggle), and making and correcting mistakes (error).

And when you step in to solve your employees' problems, you're doing the same thing. You're not only removing the process by which your employees learn the tasks in their job descriptions, but you're also creating a dependency loop, where your employees no longer think they should do it themselves, or find it easier to turf it to you.

When you step in and solve their problems, you're taking away ownership and accountability for the outcomes, and reducing your employees' attachment to them. (I often remind managers that for every 5% you change an employee's email, their sense of ownership of that email drops by about 50%. It's a percentage I made up, but one I felt keenly whenever my manager rewrote my emails.)

You're also limiting their critical thinking skills. You're impeding their willingness to take a risk. And you're blocking the development of their independent thinking skills.

Shall I go on about why this is all bad for you?

The more you take back work, the more work you have. The more you solve their problems, the more they'll come to you with problems. And then you'll have even more work. The less they develop their independent and critical-thinking skills, the more you'll have to step in and do that work for them, too. Or, at a minimum, you'll spend more time giving feedback on their work and not seeing progression.

So what should you do instead? Ask for help and encourage involvement! Instead of saying, "Here's what you should do," ask:

• What do you think would work here?

• What would your next step be?

• What information do you need to make a decision here?

• Do you need me to hear, help, or handle?

The more you can encourage them to solve their own problems, or coach them while they solve them, the stronger team you'll have in the long run (and even the not-so-long run)!