During challenging times, it’s smart for leaders to identify problems that are acceptably annoying. These are things that irritate you but may not need your full attention.
Annoying behaviors on the job are nothing new and you may feel like it’s your duty to address every one of them. You may want to rethink that philosophy, as you have a limited amount of time to get things done. Usually, it will not be enough. So you have to choose how to invest it.
Here’s an example of an acceptably annoying situation I encountered when I worked in TV news. When you’d be out in the public, doing things like buying groceries or eating in a restaurant, people would often recognize you. They would want to say, “Hi,” to you but they wouldn’t remember your name.
This didn’t stop them from yelling out things like, “Hey, TV guy!” at you.
As someone who worked for a business that relied on good relations with the public, you’d need to stop what you were doing, smile at the person, thank them for watching, and maybe engage in some chit-chat.
While this wasn’t an earth-shattering problem, it always seemed to happen when you wanted to enjoy a quiet moment, unplug from work, or just buy some taco chips in privacy. Ultimately, you had to accept these interruptions as part of the job.
In your business world, you may need to learn to live with those problems that are acceptably annoying. Use these tips to help you live with them:
Can It Be Changed?
A squeaky wheel is easy to repair or replace. But can you easily fix certain situations?
For instance, your sales process may be slowed by random customer actions. The potential customer meant to get back to you but got busy.
Another example sees you need equipment serviced but the technician can’t drop by as soon as you’d like.
These are frustrating situations, where you have no control over the process. Ultimately, worrying about them may distract you from other things.
Some find that while it’s good to have high expectations for others, reality is often a little lower. You may be missing information that provides a legitimate excuse for the annoying behavior.
Is It a Part of Success?
From my TV news example, I realized that it’s better for viewers to have some idea of who you are versus being an unknown. While the interruptions could be unwelcome at times, they were a form of positive feedback.
Eventually, I realized worrying about these interactions took up more time than just saying, “Hello,” and “Thanks for watching.” Plus, I had no interest in becoming a hermit, out of fear of being recognized.
Later, I make an inside joke of the situation by having my email set up as TVGuy@KenOkel.com.
Success sometimes produces less desirable byproducts. Learn to accept these dance partners.
What’s the Price of Acceptably Annoying?
For those who fish, time spent agonizing over the one that got away, is time not spent on getting your next catch. Learn what you can from a situation and then move on to the next opportunity.
Replaying problems, where you’re not in control of the outcome, starts to produce diminishing returns. Can you afford to look back, when you should be focused forward?
Some leaders will focus their frustration, with an acceptably annoying situation, into a potential solution. For instance, to try to maximize performance with customers, some business leaders will share guides that outline how they work best with people.
This kind of roadmap can help set expectations and may even help disqualify time-consuming, low value customers.
The Ten Year Test
Time can give us a wonderful perspective of a frustrating situation. Think about your problems from ten years ago. Were they really worth the amount of worry you gave them?
In the present, consider how much you’ll worry about the annoying issues in ten years time. It’s likely many are like mosquito bites, distracting in the present and forgotten in the long-term.
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