Why smart teams get stuck even when everyone’s working hard

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THE ART & SCIENCE OF LEADING SELF
The Power of Clarity

My friend, the Mindset series is not done. This week, however, I want to share work I did that illustrates much of what we have been exploring the past few months.

A Committee Stuck in Motion 🤔

Recently, a nonprofit board reached out because a special committee was stuck. They were meeting, discussing, contributing, and trying to make progress. But every conversation drifted. They weren’t disagreeing on purpose. They weren’t aligned for one critical reason:

They weren’t working from the same definition of the problem.

When I stepped in, I didn’t start by exploring their ideas or solutions.

I asked one question:

“How have you defined the problem you’re here to solve?”

That question revealed what the activity had been hiding. 👀

1️⃣ Defining the Problem (🎯 The Point of Focus)

Once I helped the committee coalesce around a shared problem statement, the energy in the room shifted. They could finally see why the discussions kept circling: each person had been solving a different problem.

How you define the problem determines:

👉🏽 Which information feels relevant

👉🏽 Which solutions feel possible

👉🏽 Which decisions feel credible

Without a shared definition of the problem, alignment is accidental at best — and temporary at worst.

2️⃣ Surfacing Assumptions (🧠 The Thinking Beneath the Thinking)

After the problem was named, something important happened: it created the space I needed to support the committee members in identifying and articulating the assumptions they were operating from.

An assumption is something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof. It often shows up as a premise (something that feels factual but hasn’t been tested).

The committee clarified assumptions in four key areas, and doing so helped them distinguish:

✅ Assumptions from facts

✅ Assumptions from hypotheses

✅ Assumptions from constraints

Without this intentional distinction, these categories often get blurred. You and I have likely experienced that in the professional and personal realm. So, you understand when I say that once they’re blurred, you often can’t tell whether you’re acting with intention or just running familiar patterns.

That’s when the work looks aligned on the surface, yet everyone is operating from a different reality.

3️⃣ Naming Constraints (The Edges That Keep Work Real)

Only after the problem and assumptions were clear could the committee identify the constraints they had to honor.

Instead of limiting the work, the constraints shaped it. The time we spent here removed the endless hypothetical “what-if” paths and focused everyone on what is feasible.

Investing time to define a clear problem statement, identify assumptions, and name constraints enabled the committee to identify and develop viable courses of action central to their mandate.

The process I took them through didn’t slow them down.

It accelerated the work and culminated in a successful presentation to the board that resulted in a majority vote in favor of their recommended course of action.

What unlocked alignment for the committee is the same thing that unlocks alignment in your own leadership. This is where the lesson turns inward.

🔄 The Self-Leadership Application

The story I shared doesn’t just illustrate a committee pattern. It depicts a leadership pattern.

Be honest. You’ve done this before:

→ Jumped into action before clarifying the problem

→ Mistook motion for progress

→ Tried to influence others before aligning your own thinking

Most leadership “stuckness” doesn’t begin at the team level.

It begins at the individual problem-definition level.

When you don’t define the problem, your mind fills the gap with urgency, and urgency often feels like clarity, even when it isn’t.

👥 From Self-Leadership to Team Leadership

What happened in that room happens within leaders every day. The same drift, the same misplaced urgency, the same illusion of alignment.

Bottom line: When you aren’t clear on the problem you’re solving, your team improvises their own versions, and each version carries its own assumptions, constraints, and priorities.

And remember: no amount of talent, effort, or urgency can align people who are solving different problems.

Shared language is what makes collective clarity possible.

Collective clarity is what makes coordinated action possible.

Clarity is never an accident. It is an outcome of unpacking mindsets.

Before your next meeting, decision, or strategy sprint, pause and ask yourself the following question:

“Are we solving the same problem, or just working in the same room?”

Your answer will reveal whether your team is directing its energy or simply expending it.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD 📢

EXCELLENCE UNBOUNDED
How I Can Help You

Trusted by Executive Teams When Alignment Matters Most

When leadership teams misalign, it’s not just an internal issue. It shows up in decisions, culture, and outcomes.

I design and deliver high-impact, immersive leadership experiences that:

🔍 Expose misalignment at the root

🧠 Build shared language and mindset

⚡ Strengthen execution velocity

If you lead or advise an executive team that’s approaching an inflection point or preparing for significant growth, book a conversation.

🎤 Speaking + Facilitation

From main stage keynotes to boardroom sessions, I deliver talks on the inner capacities that drive performance.

Past clients include KraftHeinz, Amazon Women @ Payments, and the ICF in Panamá (delivered in Spanish).

Let’s talk about your event.