Detroit was retreating to trucks at the very moment the market started asking for electric ones. It's easy to call that a bad technology bet. It's more useful to read it as a case study in how leaders decide when the future is uncertain—and what that means for anyone scaling a company.

Root cause analysis is just one part of collaborative problem-solving. The next time you see a recurring issue, ask: Have we taken enough time to understand what's really driving this? Or are we just mopping up oil without finding the leak?