How to End the Frustration of Recurring Problems
Frustrated leaders complain about having the same conversation. “We’ve talked about this problem over and over.”
Repetition creates the path of least resistance like rivers eventually wear channels in stone.
Pattern reflection:
Tell me the things you repeatedly do and I’ll tell you who you are and where you’re going. Aristotle put it this way, “We are what we repeatedly do.”
Reflect on repetition if you aspire to end self-defeat, self-sabotage, and stagnation.
- What actions/behaviors do you repeatedly engage in? “I repeatedly engage in…”
- What emotions do you repeatedly experience? “I frequently feel…”
- What frustration consistently intrudes into your interactions? “I feel frustrated when …”
- What thought patterns do you notice in yourself? “I repeatedly think about…”
- Who are you repeatedly interacting with? “I spend most of my time with…”
Action, emotion, thought, and connection explain who you are and where you’re going.
Pattern recognition:
Unnoticed patterns take you places you don’t want to go.
What’s obvious when a problem – you’re trying to fix – persists? It’s obvious the fix doesn’t work. The ability to move forward includes the courage to acknowledge that pedaling harder won’t work.
Pattern recognition makes room for new solutions. Pedaling harder doesn’t magically transform ineffective solutions into desired results.
Pattern recognition is the ability to end ineffective behaviors.
If you repeatedly have the same conversation about the same problem, YOU are the problem.
Patterns to notice:
#1. Repeated conversation.
We’re having this conversation for the third time. What will we do today to be sure we aren’t having the same conversation next week?
#2. Recurring frustration.
- What do you want that you aren’t getting?
- What are you trying to control that you can’t control?
- What would you like to try to end this recurring frustration?
- What will you stop doing?
Negative patterns produce predictable disappointment.
What negative patterns might leaders fall into?
How might leaders address recurring problems?
Bonus material:
7 Ways to Break Destructive Patterns (Leadership Freak)
Atomic Habits (James Clear)
Overcoming Pattern Behaviors (Extraordinary Conversations)
What negative patterns might leaders fall into? Allowing faults to continue, they need addressed. “Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can fix today”. Figuring someone else will fix it, who’s job is it? Fearful of failure.
How might leaders address recurring problems? Identify the source, and proceed with a solution. We tend to put things off, when the are problems they will fester if we don’t address them, provided we have the authority to fix them. If the item is on your watch address it! All the words do nothing until “we take action”.
Tomorrow is not guaranteed so address it today.
Thanks Tim. Your comment makes me want to wrestle the elephant.
Dan, LOL, at least “Atom Ant”! 🙂
The next question to ask is if the reason why repeated patterns occur is because of an environment factors that leadership cannot address: one cannot lead when the followers have opposing agendas. In the final analysis, leadership is building a human relationship between the leader and his or her followers, and many times there is no fit between the goals of the leader and the goals of the followers, such fit creates the environment for robust production. But then it is also a leader who recognizes when it is time to leave the organization when there is no leadership environment to build and seek leadership opportunities else where.
Thanks Victoria. Yes, there are unchangeable environmental factors in many situations. Moving within an organization or moving out is useful if patterns won’t change. Of course, be sure to check for outside opportunities before you leave your current one.
Leaders are often blind to both their strengths and weaknesses. If a leader is frustrated at repeated patterns of behaviors perhaps its time to analyze their approach. Self-awareness can be confronting and it can also be enlightening.
Thanks Carolyn. Yes, self-awareness is more than exciting self-discovery. Sometimes we see things we don’t like. That’s when courage, commitment, authenticity, and humility come into play. There have been several times in my experience that I’ve seen things I haven’t liked about myself.
BTW. The experience of seeing something in ourselves that is uncomfortable is one reason humility makes sense. If it happened in the past, it may happen again. What if I’m the problem?
You can get recurring problems sometimes simply as a result of what you are trying to do: you often hit problems repeatedly because you are at the bleeding edge of the technology/at the limit of what equipment can achieve: think F1 racing cars. In this case, you find that it’s actually lots of different problems to lead to a single, similar symptom. Here, I look to improve, mitigate and adjust my level of acceptance – every F1 team blows an engine once in a while!
The other, much worse type of recurring problem is the one where you repeatedly hit the wall of the process that simply doesn’t work properly but you are bound to follow. Logically, you redesign the process so it does work. But sometimes, it’s simply about the process, and nothing to do with the outcome, and you get stuck with it.
Thanks Mitch. Just a not to say how useful I find the sentence, “… every F1 team blows an engine once in a while!”
You could say, if you aren’t blowing an engine once in a while, maybe you aren’t reaching high enough.
Dan
Today’s post is so timely and goes beyond the office. I’m so very struck be the pattern recognition statements and patterns to notice. We are seeing the effects of these concepts playing out on our streets. This is so haunting -” If you repeatedly have the same conversation about the same problem, YOU are the problem.”
Hopefully these principles can be taken forward in our communities as well
Thanks Lyndie. It’s exciting to me that leadership principles often have universal application. It seems that leadership and life are connected.