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Despite having accumulated a significant wealth of experience over a quarter of a century in the global business arena, I am constantly astonished at the startling parallels between the behaviors of top-tier executives at IBM and my fledgling entrepreneur children. Each group, while separated by leagues in terms of professional exposure and business acumen, persistently clings to a concerning pattern of problem-solving.

My children routinely present me with the intricacies of their startup challenges. As a dutiful father and mentor, I navigate the labyrinth of their predicaments, dissecting the root causes, and assisting them in exploring feasible solutions. The result? They leave our discussions seemingly invigorated, enlightened even, only to return weeks or months later, brandishing the same issues.

What hinders them from actualizing the very solutions we painstakingly identified together? Their response is either their preoccupation with other aspects of life or, rather frustratingly, they found more alluring solutions elsewhere. The cyclic recurrence of this phenomenon could well serve as a case study in Einstein’s definition of insanity - doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.

More disconcerting, however, is the similar pattern I've observed in the C-suite corridors at IBM. There I am, requested to dive into the tangled roots of contractual issues, painstakingly unraveling the knots, and presenting meticulously crafted solutions. But these are often met with tepid reception.

Why, you may ask? A myriad of baffling reasons: either they choose not to implement the solution at all, cherry-pick elements to suit their preferences, or simply opt for a 'more palatable' solution. As if caught in a disheartening déjà vu, weeks or months later, I am summoned to grapple with the same issues.

Both scenarios reveal an unsettling flaw in our current establishment's approach to problem-solving, reflecting a predilection for immediate comfort over long-term resolution. I posit we urgently need to challenge this status quo, lest we remain caught in this seemingly endless cycle of redundancy.

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