“The propensity to jump quickly on a solution before fully understanding the exact problem to be solved.”
—Bryk, Gomez, Grunow & LeMahieu, 2015, p. 24
That quote from Learning to Improve stops me in my tracks every time—no matter how many times I read it.
Because it’s everywhere.
In literacy leadership meetings.
In curriculum adoption decisions.
In schools chasing fast wins without understanding why things aren’t sticking.
It even has a name: solutionitis.
We act before we analyze.
We buy before we ask.
We solve… before we’ve even named the problem.
The authors suggest this happens in education more than in any other profession. And after 30 years in classrooms and districts, I agree.