The Difference Between a Challenge and a Problem
Sometimes, you’re just in the soup.
One of the things I promised myself when I became a consultant was that I would never conceal the challenges in my own companies.
And we are facing challenges right now.
It’s funny, though. You wouldn’t know it on paper. Both the consulting company and the commercial painting company are up in revenue and profitability from last year. By the numbers, things look great.
Under the hood, though…our team is going through it.
Medical challenges. Maternity leaves. Retirements. Cross-country moves. New jobs.
(And one customer with a *large* outstanding invoice.)
Many of these events - not all, but many, are important life milestones for our team. I am extremely happy for each of them.
Happening all together, all at once—it does create some challenges for us as a business.
What we’re facing right now is essentially a set of unsolvable problems. In many cases, they aren’t problems at all, just circumstances that the business has to deal with.
But they aren’t signals that something is off with our strategy.
It’s simply a time when we need to acknowledge: things will be hectic, maybe a little chaotic, for a while, and then they’ll get better.
Beyond that, there’s not a whole lot to fix. The business isn’t broken.
It’s more everything happening. Everywhere. All at once.
As a business leader, it’s important that you can tell the difference.
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Sooooo….how are we actually meeting this moment?
First, we’re being clear and upfront about the situation. This is one of those periods where the team just has to work harder. If you’ve created the right culture, brought the right people on board, and have the right compensation and incentive structure, you can rely on the trust and goodwill you’ve built for a moment like this one.
Second, we’re not wasting time solving unsolvable issues. I see this often with clients. They spend several hours discussing a pressing problem, until a team member finally says, “It is what it is. We need to deal with it.” Everyone agrees, and the team moves on. Instead of going into solution mode, spend more time understanding the circumstances you’re in. How long do you expect to be in this situation? If the timeline extends, what happens?
Third, we’re looking for patterns. This isn’t my first rodeo, and I’ve encountered just about every possible business scenario at least once before. What has worked for me in the past; what has worked for my clients? How can I learn from those experiences to make smarter decisions in the present?
Fourth, we’re slowing down. When everything seems to be coming at you faster, don’t try to keep pace. Anxiety and stress can cause knee-jerk reactions. Instead, we’re more deliberate about our attention, time, and resources. We’re identifying our primary areas of focus and…staying focused on them.
Finally, I’m ever so slightly taking my foot off the gas. Not everyone is obsessed with growing their company—but I am. So my instinct is to continually push the business toward better performance. Right now, though…I’m easing off. I recognize that the team isn’t in a position to respond the way they usually do. So I’m giving myself, and the company at large, some grace.
We won’t be in this position forever. In fact, by the time you read this, our circumstances may have already changed. But I wanted to capture for you how it felt, to be in the middle of a difficult moment that isn’t really a problem to be solved.
