The High Cost of Not Knowing: Why Pinpointing Problems Is Half the Battle

by Jean-Eric Plamondon | 5 Apr, 2025 | Metrics and KPIs

The short answer: Pinpointing a problem is half the battle because before you can fix the leak, you need to find the leak. When owners can’t say where the problem lies, that ambiguity is costly: it drains time, energy and morale. Without clarity about the real issue, leaders make poor decisions and waste money solving the wrong problems.

In the world of business, we often celebrate problem-solving.

We glamorize the fix, the solution, the quick win.

But what’s rarely talked about—and often overlooked—is the tremendous value of simply knowing where the problem is.

Because before you can fix the leak, you need to find the leak.

“I have no idea where to start.”

Many business owners operate in a state of vague unease.

Things aren’t going as planned. Numbers aren’t where they should be. Teams are underperforming and pointing fingers at each other.

But when asked where the problem lies, they can only shrug: “I don’t even know where to start.”

That ambiguity is costly. It drains time, energy, and morale.

Without clarity about what the real issue is, leaders make poor decisions and waste money solving the wrong problems.

A client fired two employees before discovering the real culprit who was stealing from the cash register. The cost wasn’t just the money lost, but the trust eroded and the reputations damaged.

Knowing the true source of an issue changes everything.

The moment a business starts tracking performance with a dashboard—whether it’s financial, operational, or team-related—is the moment the fog starts to lift.

It’s not about achieving perfection. Or a utopian business that never has any problems.

It’s about being able to say: “There. That’s the issue.”

One case illustrates this perfectly.

A client had been struggling for years. The business was growing, but wasn’t running smoothly, and leadership couldn’t figure out why. After implementing systems and analyzing performance data, the problem became obvious: one employee wasn’t doing their job. They replaced them, and within weeks, the team started functioning again.

That person had been in the role for nearly 8 years. That’s nearly a decade of inefficiency, frustration, and lost revenue. All because no one could see the issue clearly.

Another business owner shared that after months of delay, his finance consultant finally presented a dashboard. They immediately spotted a major oversight. A $7,500 invoice had never been sent. It had been sitting in a draft state for three and a half months.

That’s the power of a dashboard. Not to prevent every error, but to reveal them quickly.

When you know where things are off, you can start fixing them fast.

Some clients expect that once they hire a consultant or implement new systems, all problems will vanish.

But business doesn’t work like that.

Problems will always exist. (or what I call better problems will emerge)

Growth introduces new challenges. Market conditions shift. People make mistakes.

The goal isn’t a problem-free business. It’s a problem-visible business.

It’s about shifting from “We know something’s wrong, but we don’t know what” to “We have a leak in the roof. Let’s get a ladder and fix it.”

Because here’s the thing: there’s no such thing as a roof that never leaks. Over time, materials wear down, weather hits hard, and small cracks form.

But that doesn’t mean you stop building roofs.

It means you build systems that help you see when something’s wrong before it becomes a major structural failure.

Because when you know, you can act. You can prioritize. You can solve small problems before they turn into big ones.

Because the real cost in business isn’t the problems you know about.

It’s the ones you don’t.

Common questions

Why is knowing where the problem is so valuable?

Before you can fix the leak, you need to find the leak. When you know where things are off, you can start fixing them fast. You can act, prioritize and solve small problems before they turn into big ones.

What does not knowing the real problem cost a business?

It drains time, energy and morale, and leaders make poor decisions and waste money solving the wrong problems. For example, one client fired two employees before discovering the real culprit, who was stealing from the cash register. The cost included the money lost, plus the trust eroded and the reputations damaged.

How long can a problem go unnoticed in a business?

In one client’s business, it was nearly 8 years. The business was growing but wasn’t running smoothly, and leadership couldn’t figure out why until systems and performance data showed that one employee wasn’t doing their job. They replaced them, and within weeks the team started functioning again.

How does a dashboard help find problems?

The moment a business starts tracking performance with a dashboard is the moment the fog starts to lift. Its value is in revealing errors quickly. One business owner’s finance consultant presented a dashboard, and they immediately spotted a $7,500 invoice that had been sitting in draft, never sent, for three and a half months.