Intro

Everyone’s life has a lowest common denominator: problems (death and taxes would have been too obvious).

Without going too far into the philosophical meanderings of the relationship between life and problems, we can say that these are a peculiarity of life, at least as most of us know it. Let us stay on a normal and easily understood context: the working environment.

N.B. As I work in the InfoSec industry, I am referring to this context. But I guess that it’s quite extendable to other domains as well.

Issues, work and colleagues

In the last years, I had seen various approaches towards obstacles. The further I go, the more I realize that everything mainly comes down to two approaches:

  1. Blaming everyone, everytime, everything, everywhere all at once.
  2. Get shit done.

Blaming everyone, everytime, everything, everywhere all at once.

“[…] not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody.” -Rocky Balboa.

In other words, this is when an individual instead of being accountable and tackling the issues, blames everyone. With this approach even the little problem or the “happy problems” (As my friendly sales people like to call them) will be seen as impossible mountains to climb. To be honest, everyone at least one time in their life followed this approach. And, while under certain circumstances (I’d love to understand which) it could be justified, most of the time it is not. If you follow it too much, it will take you down a dangerous path full of: lack of motivation, sadness, unfulfillment or, even worse, apathy.

Sure, you can jump off from a company to another one, to find “perfect team” that will help you be accountable. But, please, stop lying to yourself, stop telling yourself excuses. Because, you would only chase excuses, not the “perfect team”.

And at best, you will enter a loop like the following:

  1. Joining a company.
  2. Gaining initial situational awareness.
  3. Facing the first issues and difficulties.
  4. Trying resolving them.
  5. Failing to be resilient against the “trial and error” phase to solve the issues.
  6. Blaming others.
  7. Isolating from the herd.
  8. Be laid off/leave the company.
  9. GOTO 1.

The only thing you will find, it’s the void, which will slowly devour you from the inside.

Get shit done (Italians read -> Prendi la pala e inizia a spalare la merda)

“Prendi la pala e inizia a spalare la merda.”, it literally means “take the shovel and start shoveling the shit”, I guess that “get shit done” it’s the most accurate translation, probably due to the presence of the term “shit”. Well, that’s not the point, we’re not on wordreference.com. Let’s get back to the main topic: shoveling shit. This approach is as straightforward as it is difficult to accept and adopt, so I don’t want to write thousands of words. It is enough to say that the issues which could have a big impacting on you and your team, usually are the same issues most of people would try to avoid. Well, from my point of view, avoiding issues will put them temporarily away. They will return sooner or later, and they will hit you harder than before.

How should I deal with an issue?

This is a big question for which I believe I have only a partial answer, which could be defined as follows:

  1. Clarify ownership.
  2. Do not rush into tackling the issue.
  3. Define a plan.
  4. Update, update, and update.

Clarify ownership

  • Ask if anyone needs support dealing with it; sometimes others just need help from someone else.
  • If no one wants to take it on, or if there is no owner, offer or assume ownership of the solution. Be aware that people who solve things aren’t always welcomed in every environment, but that’s another topic. If you find yourself in a company like that, consider looking for a better place.

Do not rush into tackling the issue

First, gain situational awareness around it:

  • What is the root cause? Before attempting a solution, it’s essential to have a precise idea of what caused the issue.
  • Why does it exist? Often, an issue arises when the initial requirements are unmet. Go back to the origins and understand what the team was trying to solve or accomplish.

Define a plan

Once ownership, origins, goals, and expected results are clear, it’s time to define a plan. Keep it simple:

  • Divide et impera: From the big picture, break the problem into segments that can be analyzed and solved separately.
  • Define expected results: For each segment, note the output you expect to achieve. This will help you stay on track.
  • Define involved people: For each segment, identify who needs to be involved and in what capacity.
  • Define due dates: “If it’s not scheduled, it doesn’t exist” — something I often say with my colleagues. It may sound harsh, but it’s true. Set due dates to avoid going blind into a problem. This will keep you on track and help you organize the workload. But remember, you don’t need to obsess over dates; life happens, and it’s okay if things change. In such cases, notify those involved so they aren’t waiting for something that won’t happen.

Update, update, and update

Most of the time, you are solving problems not only for yourself but for others (colleagues, partners, customers). When working on something that impacts others, keep them updated on progress and next steps. As far as I know, people can’t read minds, so it’s always better to keep everyone informed. Many misunderstandings arise from a lack of communication — don’t fall into that trap.

Closing thought

Do I always have to solve problems? I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone does. It comes down to your sensitivity to the context, which will help you decide what to do. Remember, you don’t always have to say “Yes” or “No.” Assess the situation, and if you feel you need to act, go for it and solve the issue. At the end of the day, it’s all about doing or not doing.

So, be the Mr. Wolf the world needs — the one who “solves problems.” mrwolf

If you’re interested in this topic, I suggest reading the following books:

  • “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni.
  • “Engineers Survival Guide: Advice, tactics, and tricks After a decade of working at Facebook, Snapchat, and Microsoft” by Merih Taze.
  • “Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell” by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle.