Problem Dissolution

Definition

Dissolution is a four-level framework for addressing problems and messes. Absolution ignores the problem and hopes it goes away. Resolution finds a "good enough" outcome through clinical judgment and trial-and-error. Solution applies research and analysis to find the optimal outcome. Dissolution redesigns the system or its environment so the problem ceases to exist and enables performance better than the best currently possible. Only dissolution opens improvement beyond a system's current ceiling.

In the Book

Ackoff defines the four approaches in Chapter 1 starting around page 618. Absolution is managing by default. Resolution uses "common sense" and past experience. Solution applies "management science" and quantitative optimization. But dissolution, he writes, "redesigns either the entity that has the problem or mess, or its environment, in such a way as to eliminate the problem or mess and enable the system involved to do better in the future than the best it can do today." His famous matchbook example illustrates the difference: placing the instruction "Close Cover Before Striking" on matchbook covers is a solution; moving the abrasive to the back dissolves the problem. His extended General Electric refrigerator example shows a mess being resolved (salesmen's forecasts), then attempted solution (statistical forecasting), and finally dissolved (reversible doors that open either way). The GE case reveals the power: dissolution "not only eliminated the inventory-mix problem, but was an attractive marketing feature." Similar language throughout shows how dissolution requires idealization—imagining what you'd design if constraints were removed—then working backward to what's actually feasible.

Why It Matters

This framework distinguishes between incremental improvement (resolution and solution) and transformational redesign (dissolution). Most organizations operate at the resolution or solution level, capturing the marginal gains their existing systems allow. Dissolution is available only if you're willing to question the system itself. For any chronic problem—inventory, coordination, quality, scheduling—dissolution asks: what would we redesign to make this problem impossible? This shift from "make it better" to "make it unnecessary" is what separates adaptive organizations from transformative ones.