Unintended Consequences

 Not Getting the Results You Want? Maybe Your Fixes are Faltering

“Okay, that’s what we’re going to do then. Thank you everyone for your input. I’ve gotta run to another meeting. Keep me posted on how things go.”

Tony shut down his video call and logged on to his next meeting. He was proud that he and his team had been able to come up with a quick solution to avert the impending crisis. But two weeks later, they were meeting again. They needed to find a solution to the unintended consequence of their quick fix.

Can you relate to this? We live in a fast-paced world where the pressure for quick solutions is intense. At the same time, we often run into unintended consequences that take us by surprise. Three common leadership activities have great potential to falter: delegation, managing conflict, and dealing with crisis situations.

Quick Fixes and Cat Treats

Are you guilty of taking a “ready, fire, aim” approach to the problems you face? It’s not uncommon, especially when you experience strong pressure to find solutions quickly.  Being solution-oriented is a good thing but that’s often equated with taking action without really understanding the nature of the problem.

The thing is­—and you’ve probably experienced this—when we jump to solutions too quickly, we might make the problem go away in the short run. Unfortunately, it often comes back again, along with a whole host of unintended consequences that make matters even worse.