It can be easy to ignore problems in your organization. But there are lots of them that are like weeds, where one won’t destroy your organization, but before long, they can collectively dominate your front lawn.
Usually we wait to tackle these challenges. It’s just easier to do nothing. Stop doing nothing because you’re probably underestimating the impact of these “little problems.”
Let’s go into the laundry room for a hypothetical load. You’ve transferred your wet clothes from the washer to the dryer. They’ve been drying for a while and are almost finished.
It’s then that you notice a wet sock on the floor. It must have fallen out of your arms when you were moving things to the dryer.
You decide to throw it in with the rest of the clothes in the dryer. It seems like an action that makes sense. You’d think the dry, warm clothes would help make the sock dry.
But the opposite thing happens. Eventually the sock will dry out but not before it makes most of the other clothes wet. One wet sock lengthens the entire drying cycle.
Problems in your workplace are like wet socks. They rarely exist in isolation and instead of making things wet, they distract people from their goals.
To Clear the Path to increased productivity, train yourself to address problems promptly. Otherwise all you’re doing is adding wet socks to your laundry.
Here’s a holiday message for retailers that seems to fit every year:
