Not Every Problem Is Yours

As an employee in a company, this is easy to understand. It’s a rule that drives thousands of dedicated workers nuts every day — because they refuse to accept it and want to do more than what’s asked of them — but it also lets billions sleep peacefully at night, knowing they’ve done all they should and no less.

But what if you run a small business? What if you’re flying solo? Can the same logic still apply? After all, there is little to no one to hand things off to, and as the founder or head of a company, at the end of the day, every problem is yours, even if less than half of them are your fault.

Then again, not every problem needs to be solved. Some, you can ignore forever without consequences. Others should fall into someone else’s purview but needn’t. If your marketing person can’t do Facebook ads, do you really need to hire someone external? Or can you just grow your business without Facebook ads? Find a way that plays on that person’s strengths. Don’t insist on one that forces them to start fixing weaknesses.

If you’re a solo operator, ask whose problem it would be as if you had a staff of 100 people. Is this an issue that would land all the way down the chain? Then you can probably take care of it later. When someone tells me my website lacks a certain feature, I can think: “Well, that would be a developer’s task. I’m not a developer. Do I want to wear that hat so I can solve this problem? Or should I ask an actual developer? Or will most people be fine without this to begin with?”

Businesses draw lines between people so that everyone can do their job and feel satisfied about their quota. We rarely bother verifying these lines, applying them to our own work, or extending them outside of business hours — but interesting insights appear when we do.

Not every problem is yours. Make sure each challenge stays with who it belongs, even if, often, that’ll mean no one will tackle it at all.

Grab a copy of Nik’s book, 2-Minute Pep Talks.

2-Minute Pep Talks is a collection of 67 jolts of inspiration for more hope, comfort, and love in any situation. With more than two months of daily inspiration across five categories, 2-Minute Pep Talks will make you feel more comfortable in your own skin, remind you to love yourself enough to ask life for what you truly want, and provide you with the world’s scarcest resource: hope. Whether you’re looking for a pick-me-up, new perspectives, or more fuel to accomplish your dreams — if you’re ready to regain that light, passionate, optimistic feeling we all used to possess as children, this book is for you.

AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON!

—

This post was previously published on Niklas Göke’s blog and is republished on Medium.

Subscribe HERE

***

You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:

White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism

Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box

The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer

What We Talk About When We Talk About Men

—

Photo credit: iStock