Real leaders don’t fix fires, they design systems that don’t burn....
Fix It So It Stays Fixed Written by Dave Machovsky | Mindset Innovations Consulting
There’s a Pattern Behind Your Problems.
You Just Haven’t Spotted It Yet.
We’ve all seen it. That one problem that keeps showing up like a bad penny.
You put energy into fixing it. You gather the team. You change a few steps. You post a sign. You announce the expectation.
And then....BAM.....it’s back again.
Let me be blunt:
If your team “fixes” a problem more than once, it wasn’t fixed the first time. It was paused.
The Fix vs. The Foundation
A fix removes the symptom. A system prevents the return.
And if your fix depends on:
One person remembering
Someone “doing the right thing”
Hoping the shift reads the note
A whiteboard being up to date
...then you don’t have a system. You have a wish.
7 Golden Nuggets from the Field: Fix It Right the First Time
1. The Environment Beats the Individual
“You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear
A high performer in a low-functioning system will eventually burn out or bail out.
So, ask yourself:
Does your environment make the right behavior easier?
Do your physical spaces, visual cues, and process flow reduce confusion?
Or do they increase the burden on humans to “do it right every time”?
2. Drift Is Natural - Guardrails Aren’t
Processes don’t stay tight. People don’t stay sharp. Attention doesn’t stay high.
So, stop expecting “discipline” to hold the line forever.
Every high-performing system has built-in pullbacks - systems that automatically pull the process back into alignment when it starts to drift.
Examples:
Visual controls
Go/no-go checkpoints
Escalation triggers
In-process coaching
3. Learn to Spot the “Failure Moment”
Every recurring problem has a moment it begins ..... a point where a tiny miss cascades into a big issue.
And that moment is almost always:
Silent
Unnoticed
Unaddressed
Your job is to study the moment before the failure.
Ask:
What should have caught this?
What missed it?
What do we need to put in place to never miss it again?
4. Build for New Hires - Not Veterans
If your system only works because Steve’s been here 22 years… you don’t have a system. You have Steve.
Great systems are built for the person who just got hired .... not the one who’s been around forever.
Design your tools, checklists, and expectations with the assumption that someone new is using them next week.
5. Solve Forward - Not Just Backward
Yes, we use root cause. Yes, we do 5-Why and fishbones. But once you understand the “why,” ask a better question:
“How do we make sure this doesn’t become a new version of the same problem six months from now?”
Because often, people change one part of a broken system and accidentally create a new weakness.
This is why system thinking matters more than blame hunting.
6. Respect Human Error ......Design for It
Mistakes happen. Humans forget. People miss steps.
Don’t shame it. Design for it.
What if your next process actually assumed someone would forget the critical step…and made it impossible to continue without catching it?
That’s what poka-yoke (error-proofing) is all about.
You can’t coach your way out of a broken system. You have to build in protection.
7. The Real Test of a Fix: Does It Last?
Here’s how you know if your fix was real:
Is it still working 3 months later?
Did someone else own it successfully without you?
Did the team start trusting the process more - or resenting it?
The measure of success isn’t just a solved problem. It’s a transferred solution. One that can outlive your oversight.
Leadership Bonus: Questions I Ask My Clients
Here are five questions I use during Problem Solving coaching to draw out real, foundational change:
What system failure allowed this to happen - not just who missed it?
What would 5 more problems like this cost you?
What does this process expect people to guess?
Where is this problem being enabled silently?
If I joined your team today, how would I be trained not to cause this?
If you want to transform your team’s mindset - teach them to ask these questions before things break.
Try This
Pick a repeat problem in your shop, office, or team.
Now walk it backward and ask:
What system let this happen?
What step created silence or confusion?
What would make this unmissable next time?
Then? Sketch the fix. Run a pilot. Debrief the results. Lock it in.
That’s what real leadership looks like.
