Know What You Don’t Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen

1. From Problem-Solving to Problem-Finding

“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem.”

—G. K. Chesterton

Code blue! Code blue! Mary’s heart has stopped, and her nurse has called for help. A team rushes to the patient’s room. No one expected this crisis. Mary had come to the hospital for routine knee-replacement surgery, and she had been in fairly good health prior to the procedure. Now, she isn’t breathing. Working from a “crash cart” full of key equipment and supplies, the expert team begins trying to resuscitate the patient. Working at lightning speed, yet with incredible calm and precision, they get Mary’s heart beating again. They move her to the intensive care unit (ICU), where she remains for ...