WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

At a recent Teambuilding workshop I asked the small team what kept them awake nights. One person replied that it was the fact of reporting to 2 bosses. Everyone sat up at the prospect of chewing on this juicy morsel. But after some careful digging, it transpired that the fact of having 2 bosses wasn't in itself an issue... in fact it all worked quite well.
So why had it been raised?
Answer: 'because I didn't want to be left out not having a problem to share'.
Now what's the problem?

OTHER PEOPLE!

I ran a Creative Problem Solving workshop the other day. After some work it transpired that the team's real problem was the boss, who was not present. But on further examination this was a smokescreen - the real problem was that the boss didn't do or say what the team wanted. Already we'd moved away from the person to the behaviour. Then it became clear that the boss's negative behaviour was a response to the team's behaviour - so the real problem became the relationship. Now relationships need 2 parties - 2 to tango. So the emphasis shifted from one person's personality to a network of relationships.
And the question changed from: how can we change our boss's behaviour? to: how can we work within these constraints to get what we want?