The "Impossibles"
Galloway looks for pressing problems an organization has given up trying to solve. Her approach is to start with a small effort, test new approaches, and recruit help as the work becomes clearer.
THE IDEA
THE “IMPOSSIBLES”
Galloway’s guiding principle for learning initiatives is to focus on problems that people believe cannot be solved. “I try to find a pressing public need, something the organization has given up hope of ever resolving, something people have learned to just live with. I call these ‘the impossibles.’ Each year I try to work on at least one impossible, something that scares me to death, that I can’t even figure out how to approach. The key is just to get started. Once we do, people say ‘Oh, that was easy.’
“I know I won’t get a lot of support for projects like this. The fact that I can’t get support tells me it is the right project. I believe Einstein’s statement that the consciousness that created the problem cannot be the one that solves it. I try to start looking at this problem and say, ‘What is this problem trying to tell us? What can I see that’s different about this? Once I start to figure that out, then I can enroll people. I start talking with people who will say, ‘Oh, I have an extra hour. I’m willing to do this for you.’ My boss will say, ‘If you want to work on that, OK. Let me know what you need from me.’ Then it gradually starts to build from there.
“For example, last year we started working on reducing the mean time to solve highly technical problems. Many of the organization’s leaders thought that a significant reduction was impossible, but one of our senior organizational development consultants saw the opportunity to ‘do the impossible.’ She partnered up with a senior engineer to challenge the thinking and structures limiting faster problem solving. They utilized rapid learning cycles with testing and reflection to apply new approaches which ultimately dispelled the belief that faster results meant less quality. The results they achieved were dramatic. Problems that had taken months to solve were now being solved in four weeks.
“The irony is that if we were only working at the top of the organization we might never have been aware of some of these problems and thus might never have attempted to solve them. But when you build a team that believes that change from any place in the system is possible, significant change can sprout from even the tiniest of seeds.”
When to use it
A company facing a longstanding technical debt issue that seems insurmountable; apply the 'Impossibles' approach by forming a small team to tackle it incrementally.
In education, a school struggling with a persistent achievement gap; use rapid learning cycles to test new teaching strategies.
A nonprofit trying to address a complex social problem; identify a narrow but 'impossible' subproblem and start with minimal resources.
A product team encountering a user experience flaw that has been accepted as unsolvable; challenge assumptions and build a cross-functional task force.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Reducing Mean Time to Solve Technical Problems
A senior organizational development consultant partnered with a senior engineer to challenge the thinking that faster results meant less quality. Using rapid learning cycles with testing and reflection, they reduced problem-solving time from months to four weeks, dispelling the belief that significant reduction was impossible.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
What is an 'impossible' problem in your organization that people have given up on? How could you start approaching it?
Think of a time when a problem seemed unsolvable. What mindset shifts helped you or others make progress?
How can you identify a problem that the current mindset cannot solve, and what steps would you take to reframe it?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- The Fifth Discipline The Art Practice of the Learning Organization (Peter M. Senge)