The Messy Issue

Can we make it go away?

Not so long ago I worked with an organization that wanted a big, comprehensive assessment to launch them into organizational improvements. Sure, I noted strengths, but the challenges were there too. The board president – aware of some of the issues but previously unaware of the causes – wanted to bury the assessment. His second suggestion was to share the report with board and staff – but only after I pulled out pieces he thought would hurt morale.

The interesting part was that MY SOURCE on the challenges was interviews with board and staff – precisely who he wanted to shield from the findings. Everyone already individually knew these challenges, but they hadn’t been collectively surfaced. And if we didn’t, certainly nothing was going to get better.

Most organizations have at least one puddle issue – something messy and icky that they are inadvertently traipsing through all the time because they are scared to face it and clean it up. And the longer it goes unaddressed, the more it spreads.

We all know that ignoring things does not make them go away, but it’s also very human to find ways of perpetually putting off sticky issues. So how can a leader ease into addressing challenges?

-          Name it. Is it a challenge you can share with your board? Full staff? Your leadership team? Ignoring it tells your team you don’t know or you don’t care. It’s amazing how much solidarity can be built in just owning that there is an issue and letting your team know you are aware and eager to address the matter.

-          Identify a first step. Engage your team (board/staff/leadership) in identifying one initial step that can get you on the road to where you need to be. You don’t have to solve it all at once.

-          Make a move. You’ve identified that first step – now it’s time to take it. Whether it’s outsourcing support, calling for a staff meeting, engaging the board, making the budget request -- act.

-          Regroup. Report back to your team. Hold yourselves accountable to progress, and assure your team that things are moving forward. Define your next step and correct course as needed.

So how did it go with the client? In the end, with significant resistance, he agreed to have me present on the issues. He warned me the room would be really tense for that presentation, and that people would not participate. Well, guess what? The room was very tense from the very moment people trickled in.

The tension was there because it was rooted in their existing culture – not in my articulating issues. And when I brought those challenges to the surface? There was some hesitation, but then a whole lot of cathartic conversation and most importantly, identification of feasible solutions. In a four-hour period, we figured out how to clean up the puddle everyone had been trying to ignore for years. The feedback regarding the meeting was exceedingly positive, the intractable felt solvable, and even the board president was very pleased.

Morale isn’t hurt by naming what everyone knows to be true. Naming it lets us get on the same team in identifying solutions and cleaning the mess.