Solve in the Right Lane

People, process, and technology are parts of the same operating model, but they are not interchangeable fixes. Diagnose the lane where the problem lives before choosing the solution.

There is no magic bullet, and the wrong kind of fix usually misses.

• Technology can support a process, automate a process, or make a process observable, but it cannot make an unclear process correct.
• Process can clarify expectations, reduce variation, and make work repeatable, but it cannot turn toxic behavior into healthy collaboration.
• People can compensate for weak process and poor tools for a while, but relying on heroics is not an operating model.
• When a solution fails, ask whether the remedy matched the root problem or merely attacked the most visible symptom.
• Improve the lane that is actually constraining the outcome, then make the other lanes support it.