Don’t Pass Me The Monkey!

Musings from Dennis #69: Ever since that ominous week 35 years ago (#67), I became accustomed to expect and anticipate issues and problems to be part of any project over the years – and to actively and consciously source for solutions instead of passing it on – something I have learned to cultivate and improve on over the years. I recall visiting a Disney CP office in another market and seeing a document left at the MD’s table by his Marketing Manager with her handwriting at the top: “Boss, so we have a problem. What do YOU want to do about it?”. My own boss had been reminding me throughout the decade plus I was reporting to him “Dennis don’t pass me the monkey on your back, ok?” Problem solving needs to be a core attribute and skill set of any senior management person. Things will not always go our way and when that happens, are you going to be handling that monkey or pass it along? Isn’t this a hallmark of leadership in all of us who aspire to be one? I had a marketing executive direct report who sincerely wanted to climb up the corporate ladder and he made it known to all but when it came to solving a work issue, he was stuck. And always so but yet not trying to think of solutions. This does not have to be the case when one puts on a mindset change of a strong sense of ownership. Now, when my team and I face challenges, the immediate action plan would be to think of some solution options no matter how workable or not, and then bring into a team discussion on how best to solve it. I will begin to share stories of project problems over the next musings I faced over the years and how these were overcome. Many extremely unpleasant!