In today’s workplace, if you want to stand out as a valued employee, don’t bring problems to your manager — bring solutions. Why? Because there are too many problems for managers to solve all by themselves; that’s why you were hired. So don’t be part of a problem. Become a solution-generating employee and you’ll increase your value to your manager and to the company.

But, we have finally found that one of the more counterproductive things a manager can say is “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions!” — Why?

Encouraging employees to solve problems is a good thing. But sending out this message doesn’t do it. Instead of promoting accountability, it actually encourages employees to turn a blind eye to problems they see but cannot figure out how to fix. When you say “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions,” what you’re saying, in effect, is “Of all the problems you find, I only want to know about the ones you can solve.”

Identifying problems can be a solo sport, but finding solutions rarely is. If you’re giving people permission to tell you about just those problems they can solve, you’re missing out on many opportunities for improvement. You’re leaving performance boosters on the table simply because the problem and the solution aren’t collocated.

We have to create a culture of accountability that doesn’t limit recognition only to those who find both the problem and its solution. Of course, we want to reward creative problem solving. But we also want to celebrate the person who brings a problem to light, however big or small. That person is as much a part of the solution as the people who actually formulate the fix.

Summing-up: You can’t improve performance if you’re not solving problems, and you can’t solve problems you don’t know about.