The Power of Problem Solving – In-house, not outsourced
Do you really need consultants for your must-win battles?
Last week in Chicago, we worked with 50 upcoming and established leaders on two real business challenges – not in theory, but in full: from defining the problem to generating bold solutions and communicating them with punch.
No slides-for-hire. No “strategy decks” abandoned at the airport. Just smart, reliable people doing sharp, strategic work – fast.
Here is what happens when you combine problem solving, professional empathy, and executive presence.
Last week in Chicago, I had the privilege of working with two groups of highly motivated professionals – upcoming and established leaders within a fast-growing organisation that has achieved double-digit growth every year since its founding in 2010. Today, it employs over 4,000 people and has seen net income rise by more than 70% in the past two years.
Together with my colleague Katharina Weithaler, we delivered two back-to-back programmes, each two days long with 25 participants. Across both sessions, we focused on building two capabilities that, when combined, deliver outsized impact: transformational business communication and professional-grade problem solving.
Participants tackled two real business challenges, working through each step of the Problem Solving Sequence© – from framing the problem to defining actionable recommendations. The result: clear, 12–15 sentence executive summaries that were both sharp and feasible.
This kind of work is often outsourced to consultants who are often technically brilliant, but detached, overworked, and increasingly reliant on AI-generated slide decks that look polished but lack true punch. They have never visited the site, spoken with the Hardworking Persistent People (HPP) who keep the business going, or taken time to understand the company’s Strategic DNA©. Sometimes they cannot – often they simply do not.
And when strategy is built by people who fail to grasp the true source of a company’s strength, it shows. It is like commissioning a car from someone who sneakily prefers another brand – it may look sleek, but it does not fit.
Once the PowerPoint is sent off to the client, what happens? Too often, the consultants head for the airport faster than you can say “implementation impact”. You are left holding the deck – and the consequences. The invoice is more overwhelming than the impact.
What we saw in Chicago was different – though not surprising. This happens again and again when the right conditions are in place: real challenges, focused training, and teams fully engaged. It is a tribute to the quality and intensity of the work – and to the untapped capability already within the business.
The teams had something else too: professional empathy. Not just emotional intelligence, but a real grasp of how decisions are made – under pressure, across silos, and often against the grain. Without that, even the cleverest slide pack misses the mark.
A quote comes to mind: “What if we train our people and they leave?”
A better question: “What if we do not train them, and they stay?”
So I invite you to reflect:
• What are your must-win battles?
• Do your people have the skill & will to define problems, generate bold, even maverick solutions, and communicate them powerfully?
You do not need Elon. You need the smart, reliable people you already have – equipped to think and act.
• How much are you spending on consultants – and what would it take to build this capability in-house?
This is how organisations grow from the inside out – and stay ahead.
🎥 Please have a look at the tutorial: Problem Solving as a Pro
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