Every Business Problem Is a Human Problem in Disguise

Oct 6

OCTOBER 6, 2025

Missed targets, broken systems, stalled innovation… they all trace back to alignment, trust, accountability, and our willingness to face discomfort. Until we deal with the human side, business challenges won’t get solved.

Next time you hit a wall, don’t just ask what’s broken, ask who needs to be supported, challenged, or aligned.

Last week I was in Budapest with leaders from all over the world. A day later I was in the Rockies for a retreat. The day after that was a keynote in Columbus, OH and then back to Denver for another keynote.

Different markets. Different industries. Different languages.

And yet the same pattern kept surfacing:

Every business problem is a human problem in disguise.

We like to think it’s the numbers.

Missed sales targets? Must be a pipeline issue.
Operational breakdowns? Probably a system glitch.
Struggling with innovation? Clearly, we need new technology.

But let’s be honest… those are surface-level symptoms.

Underneath it all, sales challenges are usually about motivation, trust, or alignment.

Operational breakdowns almost always come back to communication and accountability.

Innovation stalls not because of tools but because people are afraid to step into the unknown.

At the core, it always comes back to us. And research backs it up.

A Gallup study found that 70% of team engagement is directly tied to the manager. What does that mean? It means that culture, trust, and leadership account for most of what drives performance, not external systems.

McKinsey reports that 70% of organizational transformations fail, and the top reason isn’t strategy… it’s “people-related challenges,” like resistance to change or lack of leadership alignment.

We can throw dashboards, AI, or new processes at problems all day long. But until we deal with what’s underneath: the fears, the avoidance, the misalignment, the lack of trust, we’ll just keep fixing symptoms while the root cause festers.

By the way, we just launched this new quiz – to surface what unconsciously might be in your way. Our personal avoidance becomes organizational stagnation. If you check it out, let me know where you land.

Now, here’s the thing I’ll leave you with.

The organizations that grow regardless of the circumstances aren’t the ones with the flashiest tech or the cleverest strategies… they’re the ones willing to face the human challenges head-on. No Matter What.

Key Idea

Every business problem is a human problem in disguise. Missed targets, broken systems, stalled innovation… they all trace back to alignment, trust, accountability, and our willingness to face discomfort. Until we deal with the human side, business challenges won’t get solved.

Takeaway

Next time you hit a wall, don’t just ask what’s broken, ask who needs to be supported, challenged, or aligned.

Build your Movement

What’s the human challenge beneath the biggest business challenge you’re facing right now?