Solving the Right Problem?

Most brands waste energy fixing what’s visible, not what’s true.

New funnel. New copy. New CTA. Same confusion.

But if you don’t solve the actual constraint, you just shift the confusion around.

One of the most overlooked growth levers?

Solving the right problem, first.

It doesn’t cost anything. But it saves everything.

This happens in workshops all the time. The problem on the whiteboard? Usually just a symptom.

Wrong offer.

Wrong audience.

Wrong assumptions.

The team’s spinning. The results stall. Everyone’s tired, but no one’s sure why.

I once worked on a global launch where the team kept revising the low-funnel assets; emails, banners, CTAs, over and over. The campaign underperformed. Fingers pointed. Budget burned. Conversion was the symptom. Misalignment was the cause. The upper-funnel message was misaligned.

The brand lacked meaning.

The CTA never stood a chance.

We optimized the end, but never aligned the beginning.

This happens more than most founders care to admit. It feels easier to refine than to rethink. Easier to react than to slow down and name the real issue.

But when you do, everything moves faster. The work finally works.

Solving the right problem is a growth strategy.

You just have to be honest enough to do it.

Sometimes brand therapy is about asking fewer questions, better.

Reflections to work through:

Are we optimizing a system that’s pointed at the wrong outcome?

What misalignment is costing us trust, time, or traction?

If we could only fix one thing this quarter, what would make everything else clearer?

Looking to solve the right problem? 

Let’s talk.

Ian Adams, Founder the little red sofa

Before founding the little red sofa, I led strategy and creative for brands like Jeep, HSBC, and Unilever at top global agencies and in-house teams across 8 countries. Now I work with founders to turn brand clarity into sustainable growth.