Bring Problems, Not Solutions

The other day, a friend of mine mentioned that they thought they’d discovered a problem with the sorting machine at their local Post Office which might have explained why they had so much mail getting mis-delivered. It appeared that the machine might be transposing two letters in the address and sorting the mail incorrectly. They were wrestling with whether or not to contact the Post Office about this because, they said, they hate to point out problems when they can’t offer solutions.

I feel like I run into this attitude a lot: the attitude that we should offer solutions when we point out problems or else keep quiet. In fact, just a few days later I read a post by Chris Coyier about the problems with search companies replacing search results with “word smoothies” from large language models (LLMs) in which he felt compelled to offer solutions to the problems he called out. Chris cited a recent article by Manuel Moreale called Criticising is the easy part.

I think this attitude is pernicious and we need to stop insisting that people, “bring solutions, not problems.”

Just to be clear, my issue here is not with my friend or Chris Coyier for feeling compelled to offer solutions. My issue here is with all the people who insist that it’s not ok to offer criticism or raise issues without also offering a solution to the problem. We should not be shaming people into silence about problems they have simply because they can’t offer a solution. More often than not, it’s not their job to have a solution.

I am not a doctor

Suppose your doctor prescribes you a medication for one reason or another. You suffer some side effects from the medication. Is it your job to go to your doctor and suggest alternate prescriptions or else keep quiet and continue suffering the side effects of your prescription?

Of-fucking-course not!

You go to your doctor and describe the side effects and work with them to find a way forward. Maybe they add some prescriptions to help manage the side effects, or maybe they give you a different prescription. Maybe they can suggest some lifestyle changes that might obviate the need for the medication in the first place. But nobody expects you to offer solutions to your doctor. You’re not a medical expert. Your only responsibility in this situation is to describe your problems to your doctor as honestly and accurately as you can so that they can use their expertise to help you.

Why is it any different in any other situation?

Criticizing is not, in fact, easy

I think there’s an important distinction to be made between “criticism” and “complaint.” Complaining is what my toddler does when he doesn’t like his lunch; he doesn’t criticize my cooking, he just tells me he doesn’t like the food or doesn’t want to eat it or it’s “not good.” Telling someone they’re a lousy cook is not criticism, it’s just insulting. Telling someone you don’t like spicy food is just a statement of fact. Telling someone you think this dish is so spicy that it masks all of the other flavors is criticism.

Criticism is thoughtful. It requires reflection, perhaps self-awareness, and maybe some domain expertise to identify and articulate a problem. If you disagree with the distinction I make between criticism and complaint, you can call what I’m talking about “constructive criticism.” Whatever you want to call it, it is not easy to provide because there is more to criticism than just, “I don’t like this thing,” or, “this thing is bad.” Criticism identifies and articulates merits and flaws. It provides a foundation upon which decisions can be taken (or not).

Having said that, it’s also important to realize that criticism is not always warranted. Coming back to the Post Office example, pointing out that a machine may be broken or buggy is simply a statement of fact. It’s not a criticism. It’s not a complaint. This is often just as helpful as criticism, because you won’t know you need to fix something if you are unaware that it’s even broken.

You are an expert in your own experiences

I say that this attitude about “bringing solutions, not problems” is pernicious because I encounter it often in the course of conducting user research when I’m designing software. People will feel guilty telling me about the problems they have because they don’t have any idea how to fix the problem, so they just won’t say anything. But the whole point of the research is to understand what problems you face so that I can try to address them in my designs. You’re not the designer, it’s not your responsibility to design the software.

What’s more, even if you do have an idea of how this problem could be solved (and I do want to hear your ideas), you may not have the same context I have. It’s possible that the solution you devised to fix your problem will exacerbate another person’s problem, of which you are understandably unaware (again, conducting user research like this is my responsibility).

In order to design a solution that reconciles the variety of problems different people face, I need to understand the variety of problems that exist. If the only thing you’ll tell me is your solution to an unspecified problem because you don’t want to seem overly negative, then I do not have the information I need to do my job. Much the same way that if you only ask your doctor for prescriptions without describing your symptoms, they cannot do their job.

So, no, you don’t have to bring solutions with your problems. It is absolutely ok to offer criticism or point out problems and leave it at that. Please don’t feel guilty about raising your concerns or pointing out that something isn’t working. We do not, individually, have the responsibility or the wherewithal to fix every problem we encounter, but that does not mean we have to keep quiet.

If you are offering criticism or pointing out problems because you genuinely want to see something improve, then you are acting in good faith, and that is enough.