Monotony, Politics, and Problem Solving

Only one generates progress.

In Reject Performative Busyness, I argued that an unfortunate amount of work in knowledge organizations is performative busyness, activities that appear productive while producing little of value.

The Popperian business consultant Bart Vanderhaegen offers an alternative and more actionable way of categorizing work. In episode 167 of his podcast, Seeking Good Explanations, Bart defines three working modes:

• Monotony

• Politics

• Problem solving

Monotony is operating on routine work. It’s executing an already proven solution. This work might generate useful output, but it can’t sustain a company in the long run. Problems are inevitable and today’s solutions are unlikely to work for tomorrow’s problems.

Politics is navigating the inevitable social dynamics that emerge when people collaborate. This mode requires creativity, but it directs it toward winning zero-sum games that improve your position or that of your tribe instead of improving the customer’s life.

Problem solving is the quintessential creative mode. It consists of generating, exploring, criticizing, and testing ideas. This mode is the opposite of performative busyness: every minute spent in it is productive. Operating in problem solving mode is the only way to progress.

The other modes are not necessarily wasteful, but the results they produce will at best make existing processes run more smoothly. That might be okay in the short term, but for a business to remain viable — and for people to feel they have an impact — progress is required.

Compared to “let your best people cook,” thinking in terms of Bart’s work modes has the advantage of being applicable to any role in an organization, regardless of how directly involved they are in creating the product. Whether in engineering or HR, design or middle management, everyone benefits from a working environment that optimizes for problem solving over monotony and politics.