Leaders or managers find themselves constantly confronted with riddles. One can also call them conundrums.

In dealing with a situation they find themselves confronted with a problem that can’t be solved. And yet, they have to find a way to execute on it.

Some things in an organization can be measured, but most of the intangible elements of an organization can’t. There for example is no easy way to measure culture. And while some try to measure satisfaction, for example, they usually find themselves confronted with a result that is only one perspective of many. They thus have to make choices on what they measure and what they “guess.”

Or take one of the problems I’m most often seeing coachees confronted with: time and its pressure. It’s a problem almost everyone is confronted with, but leaders and managers might be more subject to it than others. They see the need to act proactively as well as to react to incoming stimulations. But they have to juggle it with the necessity to plan, strategize, think, and think ahead. If they do too much thinking, they’ll find it a heavy load and may find themselves somewhat stuck. Acting on the other hand is light or often easy. But if they do too much acting, they’ll find their time dispersed all over and may find themselves lost in activity.

There are more conundrums available. But they are not only available, they actually are inescapable.

Thus, the task isn’t to find the solution.

It is to find a solution that works.