The "Rhino Crew" and the Endless Bug Fight
Date Published
What if your team’s hero squad is actually hiding the real problem?
Some time ago, I wrote about the "Fixes that Fail" archetype – a pattern from Systems Thinking: A fix, effective in the short term, has unforeseen long-term consequences which may require even more use of the same fix.
Today, I want to show you how "Fixes that Fail" is often just one piece of a larger, more complex puzzle - the "Shifting the Burden" archetype. Let's revisit an old story to explain.
I was once on a team getting hit by a ton of bugs. We'd fix them, the client would quiet down... for a moment. Then, BAM! A new urgent bug, high priority, all hands on deck! We'd throw our best people at it, fix it fast, and sigh with relief. Short-term win, right?
As you may guess, the bugs kept coming back. Over and over. Our team was constantly pulled away from their main work, morale was sinking. During our inspection and adaptation meetings (thank goodness for those!), some great ideas came up: let's track bug resolution, track root causes in tickets, analyze trends. We might find some real insights and then decide on the actions.
Guess what the decision was? "No time for that! We need to deliver. Someone will just have to check those fields periodically. We don't have people and time for that." And off we rushed to the next deliverable.
We couldn't run forever. The bugs kept escalating, customer complaints became louder, everything became urgent, super high priority, critical... but new features still needed building! Bugs vs. features? What to do?! We were stuck.
The "solution"? We created a new team - the Rhino Crew!
An unstoppable force, pushing through obstacles, fixing ALL the bugs. A team of superheroes! Everyone applauded them: "Ahh, those are the Rhino team - they're addressing all customer issues!"
Honestly, at that moment, it felt reasonable. The escalation was insane. My suggestion to focus and address the product quality was just ignored as the pressure was too high and we had to take an immediate action.
Now, over time, diving deep into this archetype, I see how differently that situation could have been resolved. Well, the resolution is still to address the quality, the arguments would be totally different - as after spotting the pattern, recognizing it, seeing how we came to this point and showing the impact over time might have had a different outcome. It's fascinating how we often barely consider the hidden costs of our "fixes."
This constant reliance on "best people to fix bugs ASAP" often creates a vicious cycle. If it's a one-time emergency, it's acceptable. But when it becomes a way of working, it leads to key people being overloaded, knowledge stuck in silos, artificial bottlenecks, and no knowledge spreading – because any other approach feels time-consuming when you're always in a rush.
The "Rhino Crew" scenario is a perfect example of the "Shifting the Burden" archetype in action. This is a common pattern in Systems Thinking that shows how systems often choose quick, easy fixes instead of tackling the deeper, fundamental cause of a problem.
Shifting The Burden Archetype
Here's how it works:
Problem Symptom: This is what you first notice - the visible issue: e.g. bugs overwhelming the team.
Symptomatic Solution (The Quick Fix): The fast, obvious way to make the symptom go away - for now. It eases the pain but doesn't solve the core problem. This is where "Fixes that Fail" come into play: e.g. the initial quick bug fixes, and later, creating the Rhino Crew.
Fundamental Solution: The deeper, often harder work that removes the cause of the problem. This is the real, lasting fix: e.g. addressing the underlying product quality issues and poor development practices.
In "Shifting the Burden," two Balancing Loops are at play:
️The Quick Fix Loop: ️Acts fast to reduce the symptom. Because it works quickly, people keep using it. It brings immediate, but temporary, relief.
️The Fundamental Fix Loop: Works on the root cause. It's slower and often needs more effort, so it's easy to push aside, especially under pressure.
And then, there's the Reinforcing Loop (Side Effect Loop): Over time, relying on the quick fix actually makes the system weaker at solving the real cause. The more you use the quick fix, the harder it becomes to apply the true, lasting solution later. It's like building a muscle - if you don't use it, you lose it! The burden of the original problem is shifted to the symptomatic solution, and the capacity to solve the fundamental problem erodes.
Recognizing the pattern is only half the battle. Breaking it requires a structured approach.
The problem is bigger than just addressing customer complaints; low quality is a fundamental issue
Identify the recurring problem. ️Don't just deal with individual fires. Look for patterns, common themes, and issues that keep popping up. This helps you see the true scope.
Map every quick fix so far. Understand what temporary solutions have been applied. This reveals the "quick fix loops" that might be preventing real change.
Find who else is affected. Problems rarely stay in one silo. Understanding the broader impact helps build a shared understanding and gather diverse perspectives on the problem.
Seek the fundamental solution. This is about addressing the root cause, not just the symptom. It requires deeper analysis to find what's truly driving the problem.
Map side effects of fixes. ️Every action has consequences. See how those quick fixes might be undermining your ability to implement lasting solutions over time.
Link symptoms to root loops. Connect the visible problems back to the underlying patterns and structures causing them. This helps understand how organizational "walls" or team silos might be perpetuating the issues.
Spot high-leverage actions. ️These are the interventions that, with minimal effort, can create significant, lasting change. They help create shared understanding and shift focus from blame games to collaborative problem-solving.
Solving complex problems isn't easy. It requires applying different types of thinking to understand the problem first, then deciding on the steps. This demands time, effort, and continuous work.
The initial quick fixes, without proper root cause analysis, are "Fixes that Fail." And creating the "Rhino Crew" is a prime example of "Shifting the Burden" – being trapped by quick fixes until it seems the only way out is to shift the responsibility, rather than understanding the root cause of poor quality.
The original development team that produced the code never received that crucial feedback, continuing to deliver new features while quality issues were endlessly "addressed by "Rhinos".
"Shifting the Burden" can be tricky to spot because we're often under pressure, focused on quick wins. But once you recognize it, it's a powerful lens.
When you encounter a recurring problem, ask yourself:
️What is the real problem here?
Are we just using a quick fix, or are we enabling a deeper problem to silently grow?
What would truly happen if we focused on the root cause instead of just managing symptoms?
Systems thinkers use this archetype to reveal hidden patterns that drain time, money, and energy. We help teams choose long-term, sustainable fixes over temporary band-aids.
The quick fix is tempting because it works fast. The root solution is better because it works for good. Both approaches have costs, but only one offers true, lasting value.
Next time you're cheering on a team of heroes, ask: what’s the system behind the fire? That’s where the real work begins.