T1 – Solutions


The Compass is a draft now. Please submit your comments in the comment section below or email them to us: info@omimo.org
The review stage ends on 2025-11-01.

Leaders are needed to create results, and they do that through solutions. That’s why the solutions category is in the center of the behavioral model in the Compass.

What’s a solution?

This Compass uses the word “solution” in a broad sense with several meanings, including the following:

There’s a hierarchy of solutions: There are massive ones, such as projects and programs, which contain smaller ones, such as tiny innovations.

Who designs solutions?

Sometimes, the leader is the person who designs a solution (e.g., how to resolve a conflict), but usually, the leader motivates other people to design such solutions.

Regardless of who designs solutions, the leader needs to employ certain behaviors to support the proper design of solutions. These are the behaviors described in this category.

Decisions

Each solution or action represents a set of decisions. That’s why the solutions category has many decision-making behaviors. However, the category is called “solutions” and not “decisions” because decisions are enablers whereas solutions are what we need.

When it comes to decisions, remember that failing to make an explicit decision when one is required is also a decision – an implicit one.

Adaptation

Having great solutions is not enough; we also have to adapt to changes in our environment and improve those solutions to get better results. That’s why adaptation is the outer category around solutions.

Behaviors

The following are the desirable behaviors for leaders related to solutions:

  1. You direct all decisions based on their alignment with a vision for a desirable future.
  2. You ensure that the benefits of doing anything justify its investment.
  3. You break down big or complex subjects into smaller, more manageable ones.
  4. You understand the cognitive biases of yourself and people around you and limit the impact of those biases on decisions.
  5. You improve decisions by considering relevant, diverse perspectives.
  6. You increase buy-in of impactful people by involving them in decisions.
  7. You ensure that all relevant factors and their interconnections are considered when making a decision.
  8. You ensure enough time is spent understanding and exploring the subject before a decision is made.
  9. You ensure solutions are not limited to popular, predictable options but also consider designing original solutions.
  10. You select the more sustainable, high-quality solutions from among those that are similarly justifiable.
  11. You ensure that the implementation of the solution is not rushed, but that an appropriate amount of time is spent planning it upfront.
  12. You ensure that solutions in your area are compatible with those others create in related areas.
  13. You ensure that relevant people have a reliable understanding of what it takes to implement the solution (time, cost, etc.).
  14. You don’t act too conservatively out of fear of failure but rather take measured, reasonable risks.