Here’s something that frustrates me:
I’m in a group. We’re debriefing on something that went wrong. As we get into the roots of the problem, someone says:
“I knew this would happen someday.”
We value “courageous communication” in our company. A great example of courageous communication is when we are willing to surface a potential problem before it becomes a big problem.
There are all sorts of reasons people hold back speaking about problems:
- “It’s not my job.
- “Don’t want to hurt feelings.”
- “I don’t want to be involved.”
- “I might be wrong.”
- “Someone else will handle it eventually.”
You get my drift. A business truism comes from Jamie Dimon, a hall-of-fame bank leader. He says, “Problems don’t age well.”
The sooner we get to a problem and work out solutions, the better we will be. Please do a mental inventory. If you know of something you can see will be a problem tomorrow, how about finding a way to surface that issue today? It will make us a better place.
