"Everything but the problem"

"Everything but the problem" is a phrase I came up with several years ago for when people are so in denial that they can only see everything/everyone else as the problem (and spend so much time on those things) instead of addressing the real problem. Funny thing is that when (if) they start addressing the actual problem all or most of the other perceived problems quickly dissipate. Yet instead so much time and energy is spent and wasted instead on solving every problem except the actual problem.

So simple. So obvious. So often missed.