While it may seem strange, a couple of times a week I go to a 5:45 a.m. spinning class at a gym. I like the instructors and getting exercise at the start of the day.
Recently, there’s been some unexpected buzz in the classes, caused by a mysterious stranger. He’s an elderly man who likes to work out with a towel on his head that’s under a baseball cap. The man apparently doesn’t like the amount of noise coming out of the spinning room. Loud music is played to keep the participants motivated. The room can get hot, so often the door is propped open.
The towel man has closed the door a few times, saying that the music level is too distracting for him as he works out elsewhere in the gym. He doesn’t wear headphones and at the early hour, there’s not a lot of competing noise. While I’ve taken a Switzerland type position in the dispute (I work out early, I don’t argue early), others have reopened the door and expressed their anger with his actions.
Later I realized this is a classic case of an argument where the real problem isn’t being discussed. The root cause of the conflict is that the spinning room isn’t cool enough. If it was, there would be no need to open the door and consequently release more noise into the rest of the facility. The issue isn’t noise or one person putting his own needs ahead of a group. It’s a temperature problem. Keep the room cooler and the argument goes away.
Very often, it’s easy to lock in on one of the products of a dispute, while the true problem goes unnoticed. It happens a lot in organizations where people are working hard, feel overwhelmed, and narrow their focus to their immediate needs. It’s a great recipe for feeling miserable.
But misery doesn’t boost productivity or workplace harmony. It may be impossible to change the root cause of the problem. But acknowledging it may keep you out of some arguments.
