Why Solutions-Focused Thinking Creates Conditions for Better Outcomes

Written by Jonathan Rozenblit, Professional Development Coach

Jonathan Rozenblit is a Professional Certified Coach (ICF-PCC), author, and podcast host who specializes in helping corporate professionals discover and develop their unique practice of leadership. His focus is on the inner work of leadership, creating conditions for people to be, bring, and do their best.

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When something goes wrong at work, your instinct might be to analyze what fell apart, why, and who was responsible. Yet, this problem-focused approach, while feeling logical, may not lead to the outcomes you want. You might understand the past better, but that does not automatically translate into knowing what to do next. Solution-focused conversations acknowledge challenges without dwelling on them, directing energy toward what is possible. This shift in mindset is a fundamental part of developing your leadership practice as you create conditions for yourself and others to be their best, bring their best, and do their best.

What does it mean to create conditions as a leader

Traditional leadership often focuses on managing tasks, directing people, and solving problems. Modern leadership asks us to focus on something bigger: creating conditions where people can be their best, bring their best, and do their best so that they can manage their own tasks and solve problems themselves.

Creating those conditions requires a fundamental shift in how you think about your leadership practice. Your practice shifts from having all the answers to becoming someone who creates an environment where answers can emerge. Instead of directing every action, you establish conditions where people can discover their own best ways forward.

This approach is central to the Leadership Practitioner work that my dearest co-coach, co-author, and friend, Marlene Ziobrowski, and I talk about in the first of a series of books about leadership practitionership. The approach recognizes that people already have capabilities, insights, and potential within them. Your role as a Leadership Practitioner is to create the conditions where they can flourish.

Think about a gardener. They don't make plants grow. They create conditions, the right soil, adequate water, and sufficient light, where plants can do what they naturally do. Similarly, as you practice leadership, you develop courage and bravery, provide clarity of purpose, and establish trust. These conditions allow people to access their own capabilities and contribute their best work.

Your mindset shapes these conditions. When you believe people need constant direction, you create conditions of dependence. When you believe people have valuable insights to contribute, you create conditions of engagement. When you focus on problems, you create conditions of defensiveness. When you focus on solutions, you create conditions of possibility.

This isn't about being soft or avoiding accountability. It's about recognizing that sustainable high performance comes from people who feel trusted, valued, and capable, not from people who feel judged, managed, or questioned at every turn.

What's the difference between problem-focused and solution-focused thinking?

When you practice leadership, as part of the choice to practice leadership, you choose the mindset that you believe will have the best outcomes in the moment. Often, you are faced with the choice between two fundamentally different approaches to challenges: problem-focused thinking and solution-focused thinking. Understanding the distinction can transform how you create conditions for yourself and those around you.

Problem-focused thinking examines what went wrong, why it happened, and who was involved. You analyze root causes, identify failures, and dissect mistakes. This approach assumes that understanding problems in detail will naturally lead to solutions. When you engage in problem-focused conversations, you might ask, "What caused this failure?" "Where did we go wrong?" "Who didn't follow what?"

Solution-focused thinking, by contrast, directs attention toward desired outcomes and possible paths forward. You explore what success would look like, what's already working, and what small steps could move things in the right direction. When you adopt a solution-focused mindset, you might ask, "What would we want this to look like?" "What are we doing already to help us get to that?" "What's one thing we could try in addition?"

These approaches create vastly different conditions within people. Problem-focused thinking can create an atmosphere of inspection and blame, even when that's not your intention. People may feel they need to defend past actions rather than explore how to move forward. Solution-focused thinking can create an atmosphere of possibility and agency, where people feel invited to contribute ideas rather than justify mistakes.

Consider a team that missed a deadline. An approach informed by a problem-focused mindset would investigate why the deadline was missed, what went wrong in the process, and which decisions led to the delay. An approach informed by a solution-focused mindset would explore what the team could continue doing (because it did help them, despite the outcome) and what they might need to meet future deadlines.

Both approaches acknowledge the reality: the deadline was missed. The difference lies in where you direct your attention and energy.

Why problem-focused conversations could trigger defensiveness

When faced with a challenge, a natural instinct might be to dig into what went wrong. This feels logical and responsible. Yet, when you bring this problem-focused mindset to conversations, you may inadvertently trigger defensive responses that shut down the very thinking you need.

The human brain treats the inspection of past choices as a threat. In the simplest terms, when people sense they're being evaluated as a possible cause of something going wrong, their amygdala activates, flooding their system with stress hormones. This fight-or-flight response narrows their thinking, reduces creativity, and shifts their focus from solving problems to protecting themselves.

You can see this play out in everyday workplace conversations. When you ask, "Why didn't you check with Finance before proceeding?" for example, the person might hear criticism, even if you intended a neutral inquiry. They might respond with justifications, deflections, or withdrawal. Rather than the conversation being about possible future choices, the conversation becomes about defending past choices.

Here's another example: You are a sponsor and notice that the team continuously does not deliver what they said they would deliver by the time they said they would deliver. You gather the team and, with a problem-focused mindset, say, "We need to figure out why you are not delivering on all of your goals. What's going on?"

Watch what happens. Team members start explaining why it wasn't their fault—the details kept changing, other priorities got in the way, people were away, etc. Each person, instinctively, protects themselves from blame. The energy and attention of the conversation go into justification rather than improvement. Even well-meaning attempts to "just understand what happened" can create these defensive conditions.

This defensiveness isn't a character flaw. It's a predictable human response to perceived threat. When you focus conversations on problems and failures, you can unintentionally signal that someone's competence or value is in question. The resulting defensive state makes it nearly impossible for people to access their best thinking or contribute creative solutions.

How solution-focused thinking opens possibilities

When you shift to a solution-focused mindset, something remarkable happens. The same people who were defensive moments ago can become creative collaborators. The change isn't in them; it's in the conditions you create through your approach.

Solution-focused thinking works because it directs attention toward what people want to create rather than what they want to avoid. This forward focus activates different parts of the brain than problem analysis. Instead of triggering the amygdala's threat response, you engage the prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for planning, creativity, and complex thinking.

This shift creates a sense of comfort; there is less likelihood that people will be judged for past mistakes, and as such, people tend to show up with access to their full cognitive resources. They are more likely to take creative liberties in their thinking because the conversation is about possibilities, not judgments.

Consider the same sponsor and team from the previous example. This time, you, as the sponsor, adopt a solution-focused mindset. You gather the team and say, "I'd like to explore what successful delivery would look like. What would be happening if, as a team, you were consistently meeting commitments? What would you need, and who would you need it from?"

The energy shifts immediately. Team members start describing their vision, a better understanding of the requirements, regular check-ins, buffer time built into estimates, etc. They're not defending; they're creating. You could then ask, "What are you already doing that moves you toward that state?"

Now the team identifies existing practices that work, like their existing team check-ins, where they catch issues early, and their futurespectives, the team meetings where they reflect on how they’d like to work and generate ideas on how to make that happen. They're building from their successes rather than defending against failures. When you ask, "What's one small change you could try, as early as tomorrow, that could bring you closer to that ideal state you described?" the suggestions flow freely.

The same people, the same challenge, but completely different conditions. By focusing on where they want to go rather than where they went wrong, you can create an environment where people feel comfortable thinking, experimenting, and contributing their best ideas.

The language that shifts conversations forward

The words you choose can either reinforce problem-focused thinking or invite solution-focused thinking. Small shifts in language can create dramatically different conditions for the people you are working with.

When you acknowledge challenges without dwelling on them, you demonstrate that you see reality while choosing to focus on possibility. Instead of saying, "We failed to meet our target," you might say, "We didn't hit our target yet, and I'm curious about what could help us get there." The first statement closes thinking; the second opens it.

Questions are particularly powerful tools for redirecting conversations. Problem-focused questions like "What went wrong?" or "Why did this happen?" pull people backward. Solution-focused questions like "What would success look like?" or "What's already working that we could build on?" pull people forward.

Here are some specific language shifts that can transform your conversations:

• Instead of "What's the problem?" you could try "What would you like to have happen?"

• Instead of "Why isn't this working?" you could try "What would working well look like?"

• Instead of "Who dropped the ball?" you could try "What (and who) could help us move forward?"

• Instead of "What mistakes did we make?" you could try "What have we learned that we can use moving forward?"

Notice how each alternative acknowledges the situation while redirecting energy toward solutions. The intent is not to pretend problems do not exist. You are, with intention, choosing where to focus the conversation's energy.

The phrase "What else?" becomes invaluable in solution-focused conversations. When someone offers one idea, asking "What else?" invites them to expand their thinking. It signals that you believe they have more to contribute. It creates space for creativity to build.

Similarly, scaling questions can help people see progress and possibility: "If ten represents where we want to be and one is the opposite, where are we now?" followed by "What tells you we're at that number?" This helps people recognize existing progress.

These language choices might feel unnatural at first. With practice, they become part of how you naturally create conditions for productive thinking and collaborative problem-solving.

Your practice of leadership transformed

When a solution-focused mindset becomes part of your practice of leadership, you may notice fundamental shifts in how you experience your work. You may find yourself energized by conversations that previously drained you. Instead of feeling the weight of every problem that needs fixing, you can see opportunities for growth and development.

You can become more curious and less judgmental. When something goes wrong, your first thought may shift from "Who messed up?" to "What can we learn here?" This curiosity can then extend to your view of people's capabilities. You may start noticing qualities and strengths you previously overlooked because you were too focused on what was missing.

Your confidence in your ability to create conditions for others may grow, not because problems disappear, but because solutions emerge. You may no longer feel you need to have all the answers. Instead, you can trust that the people around you have valuable insights and capabilities waiting to be discovered and applied.

You may experience less stress and frustration. When you stop trying to fix everything and everyone, you can free up enormous mental and emotional energy. You can engage with challenges without being consumed by them. You can acknowledge difficulties without being overwhelmed by them.

Your relationships may deepen. People may sense that you see their potential rather than just their problems. They might feel more comfortable being honest with you because they know you will help them move forward rather than dwell on what went wrong. This could create a positive cycle: the more people trust you, the more openly they share, and the better you can support them.

Perhaps most importantly, you could model a way of being that others may begin to adopt. Your solution-focused approach can become contagious, creating ripple effects throughout your environment.

Consider experimenting with this shift in your next challenging conversation. When you feel the pull to analyze what went wrong, pause. Ask yourself: "What would I like to see happen here?" When someone brings you a problem, try responding with: "What would success look like in this case?" Notice what changes in the conversation, in the other person's energy, and in your own experience.

After practicing this approach for a while, take a moment to reflect. How have people been responding to you differently? What shifts have you felt yourself? What new possibilities have emerged for you?

The choice between problem-focused and solution-focused thinking is part of your practice of leadership, and it is yours to make with each and every interaction.

Want to continue this conversation?

If this article resonated with you and you'd like to continue the conversation, or if you'd like to get regular insights on practicing leadership like this, consider joining the Leadership Practitioner community on Substack.

There, I challenge the traditional notions of leadership as a title or position and instead redefine it as a practice - a way of showing up, of choosing to lead with purpose and vulnerability. As such, I won’t prescribe a single way forward. Instead, I’ll endeavour to share reflections and gentle invitations to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of leadership, no matter your experience level.

I hope to see you there.

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Read more from Jonathan Rozenblit

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Jonathan Rozenblit, Professional Development Coach

Jonathan Rozenblit guides corporate professionals through their journey of discovering and developing their unique practice of leadership so that they can create conditions for themselves and others to be, bring, and do their best at work. Jonathan holds Professional Certified Coach credentials from the International Coaching Federation; is the co-creator of the Leadership Practitioner program, a program that equips individuals with practical tools to inspire trust and cultivate collaborative cultures where people can bring their best selves to work every day; co-host of the Leadership Practitioner podcast; and co-author of 'The Essential Leadership Practitioner: A Framework for Building a Meaningful Practice of Leadership'.