When you hear the phrase ‘low hanging fruit’ in regard to a problem, it generally means that the focus is on easy fixes that can be applied quickly for some gain. It’s a very popular approach to problem solving in business, where managers want to be seen to be actively solving workplace problems.
Although you are bound to get some quick wins (as well as some outright misses), there are unintended consequences of looking for the low hanging fruit.
- Very soon all the easy solutions will have been applied; all that remains are complex or difficult solutions.
- Often the first solution that comes to mind doesn’t fix the problem. If you are willing to stay in that uncomfortable groan zone for awhile longer, you’ll come up with a better solution. (By better, I mean less costly or more effective, or both.)
- Harvesting the low hanging fruit costs your organization more in the long run. If your easy and quick solutions don’t fix the problem, time and money have been spent and you still have to seriously and sytematically address the problem to find solutions.
Instead of grabbing for the low hanging fruit, try this:
- Use a formal root cause analysis (RCA) methodology. I’ve used Apollo Root Cause analysis very successfully. http://www.apollorca.com
- When the first potential solution is put forward, ask the group to think about how this might go wrong, what part of the problem it leaves unaddressed, or any other question that causes everyone to think further rather than grab the first low hanging fruit they find. The idea is to slow down and consider a bit more carefully.
- Brainstorm many possible solutions, then review each suggestion to see how well it addresses the problem, without introducing any other problems. These other problems are sometimes called ‘unintended consequences’. While unintended consequences might be good ones (it’s what we call serendipity — when you find something wonderful while looking for something else), most often the unintended consequences are problems that your ‘solution’ has created elsewhere in the system.
It’s not always a good service to the organization to harvest the low hanging fruit. The temptation to settle for ‘quick wins’ and easy solutions is not always (or even usually) the best thing in the long term.