The Real Reason Your Problem Isn’t Getting Fixed!

Hey,

Quick story from something that should have been simple… but wasn’t.

I’ve had this power bank for years. It’s been solid. Never really had an issue with it.

But lately, I’ve been doing more long flights — 12 to 15 hours — and I kept running into the same problem.

The outlet on the plane would stop working.
My laptop would die.
And suddenly, everything I planned to get done… gone.

So I thought, no problem, I’ve got my power bank.

Except… it didn’t work.

Sometimes it would charge. Most times, nothing.

So naturally, I assumed:

“This thing is old. I just need a better one.”

I went out and bought a new power bank — 140 watts. Way more powerful than my laptop needs.

I get home. Plug it in.

Still doesn’t work.

At this point I’m thinking, what is going on?

Then it hit me…

Maybe it’s not the power bank.
Maybe it’s the cable.

So I go online, start looking at cables, and notice something I had never even considered before:

Cables have watt ratings.

I grab one rated for 140 watts.

Cost me $4.

Plug it in…

It works. Perfectly.

Then I try it with my old power bank.

It works too.

So the entire time…
I didn’t have a power bank problem.

I had a cable problem.

I spent $150 trying to fix the wrong thing…
when all I needed was a $4 solution.

Here’s the real question:

How often do we do this in our business or life?

We see a problem.
We assume we know the cause.
And we jump straight into fixing it…

Without actually understanding what’s really broken.

We end up solving the symptom, not the root.

This is why I keep coming back to something called the Theory of Constraints.

Simple idea:

There’s usually one root problem — one bottleneck — that, if you solve it, everything else gets easier.

But most people don’t take the time to find it.

Quick example.

A doctor I worked with once said:

“I need more leads.”

Sounds reasonable, right?

But when we actually looked at the numbers…

They already had enough leads.

The real issue?

Their close rate was terrible.

If they had just improved that — even slightly — they would’ve hit their revenue goals.

They didn’t need more leads.

They needed to fix what was already in front of them.

So here’s something worth thinking about:

What’s the “$4 cable” problem in your world right now?

The thing that seems small…
but might actually fix everything else?

If this hits, I’d love to hear from you.

Just hit reply and tell me:
What problem are you trying to solve right now?

Happy to take a look with you.

And if you want the full breakdown of this story + how I think through problems like this, you can watch the full video, and subscribe if you want more like this.

Worth checking out 👀

A few things I thought you might find useful this week:

• Let’s connect: My LinkedIn profile 🌐
• A book worth your time: The Delegation Trap 📚
• What we’re building: A look at what we’re working on with AI 🤖
• Currently reading: The book on my nightstand right now 📖
• Tool I’ve been using: Super helpful if you want to rank locally without overcomplicating SEO 🛠️

Quick one, if you’re a physician… 👨‍⚕️

I’ve been building something called AiM (AI & Marketing) Rounds. it’s a space for real conversations, not surface-level but honest discussions about growth, ai, and what’s actually happening inside practices.

If that feels relevant to you, just reply “JOIN AIM” and I’ll send you the WhatsApp community link.

Simple as that. 😉

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Just hit reply and be honest:

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Your reply actually shape what I send next.

Appreciate you being here.

Talk soon,
Atiba