Treating every problem like it is a crisis...

[DariusCool]

Hi,

A general question to see if anyone else finds themselves reacting to a problem like it is a crisis and then shifting focus to that area of the business for a while only for another problem to shift the focus somewhere else.

Is there a term for this and more importantly how does one go about improving!

 

[Newchodge]

Lack of perspective? \to which the solution would be gaining some perspective.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Hi,

A general question to see if anyone else finds themselves reacting to a problem like it is a crisis and then shifting focus to that area of the business for a while only for another problem to shift the focus somewhere else.

Is there a term for this and more importantly how does one go about improving!

Darius It would have to be a threat to life or something major for me to start flapping around !
This place could blow up but if it blew up when nobody was here I would not worry too much

I think it comes with experience people that have been in business along time and are older have seen it all before . If you look around you and think about other business owners you know it will always be that type of person that keeps their cool.

My attitude now is if there is a problem " Get someone else to sort it out "

 

[BustersDogs]

No, I try to stay as calm as possible. Which is really difficult as I am by nature fiery and angry with a short fuse. If you are finding yourself flapping around in an emotional state, rather than using the thinking side of your brain, I hate to sound like a hippy, but some mindfullness techniques would help.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I found it helped to prioritize things either yearly, monthly or weekly after mulling them over

Customers are fickle things and what may have upset one may not occur again for the next thousand customers, you will never satisfy all so just work on the many that you can

 

[Newchodge]

Many people are poor at risk assessment, but that is what you need to do. Problem A - if I let this problem continue, what are the potntial effects on my customers, my profitability, my reputation and my business. If the potential effects are negligible, then the problem is negligible. Compare with problem B in the same way. If the effects of Problem B are huge, then ignore Problem A and deal with Problem B first.

 

[MikeJ]

Can you remember what you were panicking about last month? Last year?

No, me neither. There are really very few things in life to truly worry about.

 

[Gecko001]

Reacting to problems rather than planning what to do and doing it is simply just not thinking ahead. It is a very inefficient way to work. You will end up working longer hours for less money by developing a habit to just reacting to problems rather than planning ahead.

If there is an "ism" for it, it might be called short-termism.

 

[Mr D]

Figure out problems in advance then figure out counters to them.
In life as much as in business, reacting is not always the best solution.

Problems will crop up, sometimes multiple ones at a time. Planning for them when not in the middle of a problem can work well.

 

[AllUpHere]

Some of us are just built like that. I'm pretty good at planning, and organising / prioritising, but if anything goes wrong a spectator would think the world was about to end.

Everyone who knows me, knows that if a windows update fails, my hosting goes down, or I lose my Wi-Fi connection they just need to stand well clear and wait for me to get it fixed. Talking to me or trying to help when these 'disasters' happen won't help.

 

[MBE2017]

The term is firefighting, and most companies and people do it.

 

[DariusCool]

Thank you all for the advise. I am looking at the possibility that I am just overwhelmed and need to learn to say no!

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Thank you all for the advise. I am looking at the possibility that I am just overwhelmed and need to learn to say no!

Calm down Darius it will be alright !

 

[DavidWH]

A lesson I learnt very quickly, and as a new business is quite difficult to do.

SAY NO!

If it's not worth your time and effort taking on the job don't do it.
A screaming urgent job that the customer forgot about, but going to take all evening to produce. Charge a premium for it, or walk away.

SH!T HAPPENS

Things will go wrong - Don't beat yourself up about it, sit down figure out why, and how to stop it going wrong in future.

An example we used to book installations in, but the customer wouldn't sign off design until the day before, causing mayhem and stress levels to go through the roof. Everyone hated it, quality dropped as there was no time to things had to 'make do'. Even worse was when the customer didn't sign off and you loose a days work, when you could be fitting another customers job. Now we don't book anything until it's approved.

We've had to replace a windscreen on a van, where the customer claimed we broke it, we didn't but couldn't prove either way - All vans we get in now have a condition form completed on arrival and collection.

It's a continuous evolution. I don't get annoyed first time something happens I learn from it, and there shouldn't be a 2nd or 3rd time.

 

[billmccallum1957]

Reacting to problems rather than planning what to do and doing it is simply just not thinking ahead. It is a very inefficient way to work. You will end up working longer hours for less money by developing a habit to just reacting to problems rather than planning ahead.

If there is an "ism" for it, it might be called short-termism.

This is your answer.

Good management is all about developing systems that plan for any (sensible) eventuality.

We never have a crisis, only minor problems that are addressed when they occur.