A Guide to Better Decision-Making for Higher Education Leaders
"Essential reading for anyone shaping the future of our universities… a book you'll revisit again and again." — Dr. Suzanne Dove, University of Michigan Center for Academic Innovation
New learning models. Structural reforms. AI-powered everything. Vendor pitches that promise growth, efficiency, and transformation. Across colleges and universities, leaders are surrounded by solutions. Yet the same problems persist — declining enrollment, rising costs, political pressure, and eroding public trust.
What if the real problem isn't a lack of solutions? What if it's how decisions get made under pressure?
In The Solution Trap, higher education strategist Dr. Brian Fleming exposes a hidden pattern behind many of the most expensive and disappointing decisions in higher education. Drawing on decades of experience advising colleges and universities, Fleming shows how smart, well-intentioned leaders repeatedly get pulled toward the wrong solutions — not because they're careless, but because of three powerful lures that shape decision-making under pressure.
The book offers a refreshing framework — grounded in human-centered design and improvement science — for pausing, recognizing the cognitive biases driving premature solutions, and defining the right problem before committing to an answer.
A short, free diagnostic from Brian Fleming. Identify the patterns in how you and your team approach decisions — and discover which of the three solution-trap lures might be pulling you toward the wrong answers.
Take the Assessment →If you care about academic innovation — not performative change — read this book. Brian Fleming shows how smart leaders get pulled into the wrong fixes, and how to return to solutions grounded in real needs.Dr. Sean HobsonChief Design Officer, Arizona State University
In an era of immense pressure to adopt the latest educational reforms, The Solution Trap offers essential wisdom: dig deeper and define the problem first. Every leader who wants to make lasting improvements will benefit from this book.Chris GabreliLecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Chair, Massachusetts Board of Higher Education
The Solution Trap is a timely and deeply thoughtful examination of how institutions of higher education mistake motion for understanding. Fleming reminds us that clarity is not hesitation but discipline — and that in an age of acceleration, the hardest leadership act may be to slow down and define the problem before committing to the solution.Dr. David ParkSenior Fellow, Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University
The Solution Trap challenges leaders to pause, recognize the cognitive biases driving premature solutions, and embrace a refreshing framework for navigating the mounting pressures of higher education.Dr. Marie CiniProvost & Chief Academic Officer, University of the People
The Solution Trap pushes leaders to resist the temptation of quick fixes and truly understand the problems at their institutions. It's timely, accessible, and practical.Dr. Kevin McClureDistinguished Professor of College Leadership & Organizational Change, UNC Wilmington; Author of The Caring University
With precision and purpose, Brian Fleming charts a clear path toward transformative change in higher education, revealing how defining the right problem is the essential first step to lasting innovation. An invaluable resource for any leader navigating institutional change.Kristen FoxChief Executive Officer, The Business-Higher Education Forum
Brian Fleming is the founder of Design Futures, a strategic advisory firm that helps colleges and universities, foundations, and education technology organizations make better decisions. He advises institutional leaders on growth strategy, innovation, and organizational transformation — with a particular focus on improving access and outcomes for working adults and underserved learners.
His work blends market insight with practical, institution-ready recommendations, grounded in more than 15 years of leading major initiatives across higher education. He previously served as Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at Project Kitty Hawk in the UNC System, Associate Vice Chancellor for Learning Ecosystem Development at Northeastern University, and Executive Director of the Sandbox Collaborative at Southern New Hampshire University. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Tyton Partners and Eduventures.
Brian holds an Ed.D. in Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University and is a frequent speaker on digital learning, strategic partnerships, and the evolving higher-education landscape.
Higher education faces a crisis of misdirection. Walk into any meeting on any college campus in America, and you'll see it in real time. Someone raises a problem — say, declining enrollment. Almost instantly, someone else proposes a solution. The room nods. It feels like progress. It feels decisive, maybe even innovative.
But beneath the momentum lies a deceptive pattern, one I've seen higher education leaders fall into so often throughout my career that I decided to write a book about it. I call it the Solution Trap — and it's what happens when we mistake the presence of a solution for progress and rush ahead without first defining the problem we're trying to solve.
A trap doesn't usually look threatening. A mouse doesn't see the death snap waiting. It sees a piece of cheese. The best traps hide their true purpose behind something highly desirable. The Solution Trap works the same way. It looks like progress.
Read the full introduction and chapter one — or preview directly on Amazon.
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