Avoid problems.

Bob’s technical skills earned him a promotion. Unfortunately, his problem-solving skills were sadly lacking. His inability to watch for and deal with potential difficulties often meant minor issues became hair-on-fire emergencies.

Taking care of issues before they become difficult and expensive saves wear and tear on people and organizations. Unaddressed problems may become more complicated causing further damage and requiring more resources to fix.

What do you do when an employee comes to you with a complaint? Do you laugh it off and hope it will take care of itself? Do you visit with front line employees on a regular basis? Those are the people who will alert you if there is an issue with production. How often do you check on the health of your company?

The best approach to forestalling problems before they become emergencies is to build a little extra time (and money) into every day to evaluate your organization. You’ll have the resources to resolve problems while they’re still small. Waiting until a problem is a screaming emergency usually means redirecting valuable limited resources to get back on track.

In the words of Seth Godin, “Action is almost always cheaper now than it is later.”

Hopefully Bob will learn that lesson before he does more damage.

The road is easier together,

Linda Laitala, President
Raven Performance Group