Blue Elevator Blog

The Great Illusion

In life and in business, we often notice the symptoms before the causes.  Symptoms are by-products.  They are not causes.  And though symptoms will make you miserable, they are not causational.

Fever is a sign of infection.  Where is the infection?  Smoke is a sign of fire.  What is on fire?  Those are the real questions.

In business, a lack of sales is a sign that something is amiss.  The lack of sales is a symptom.  The inability of an organization to retain top talent is a sign that something is wrong.  This high attrition rate is a symptom.

The Great Illusion

That’s what I will call it.  Capitalized, not out of respect, but for its preponderance.  Capitalized because, undoubtedly, the impostor has been deceiving countless victims for centuries, even millennia?

The Great Illusion wreaks a lot of havoc in business and organizations.  The reason?  The majority of time, here’s what happens:

1. Realization.  An organization begins to realize something isn’t right.  It could be a plateau, a drop in sales, high employee turnover, enrollment dropping, etc.  Insert here any organization and any malady you want.
2. Avoidance.  The next step involves trying to ignore the issue.  Insert here any possible rationalization.  The sales decline is probably just temporary.  The staff and/or management that resigned were troublemakers, anyway.  Organizations tend to stay in this mode as long as possible.
3. Symptom Management.  This next step is usually precipitated by a significant event.  Insert here any negative thing you don’t want to experience.  Increased pressure by the Board of Directors.  The resignation of a CEO.  The organization’s inability to cover payroll.  Massive attrition or employee retention issues.  The loss of venture capital backing.  The loss of a line of credit.  The fever didn’t go away.  And the sales decline wasn’t so temporary after all.  And it is here where The Great Illusion takes place.  Symptom management.

The Great Illusion involves the careful, steady, and focused effort on symptom management.  That is, trying to break the fever.  It could be a cool wash cloth on the forehead.  It might be sending your staff to a seminar titled “Why Everything is OK, Even Though Things Suck.”   But, alas, the organization is faced with the prospect of having to address the symptoms that just. don’t. go. away.

The majority of time, in my experience, this is what I have observed.  Organizations, after a decent period of denial, will begin to mete out their new normal by vacillating between equal measures of symptom denial and symptom management.

God-willing, it’s time to make The Great Illusion – the great illusion.  That is, relegate it to the lowercase and diminutive position that it deserves.

Felling The Giant

It’s time to fell the giant.  Just say ‘no’ to The Great Illusion.

In life and in business, there is rarely a time when problems shouldn’t just be faced – and faced head-on.

And it’s just as simple as that.  And no, simple isn’t easy.  It’s hard.  It’s hard to confront the reality of your existence.  An existence that’s difficult and may be plagued by a whole host of symptoms.  It’s hard to continually fight the symptoms that are making your life and organizational existence miserable.  And, it becomes even harder the longer you wait.  It’s hard to face the giant.

But behind every illusory symptom is a definitive cause.  Root out the cause.  Figure out what’s causing the symptom.  Then, God-willing, fix the cause.  Fix it once.  Fix it for all.  Until next time.

In life and business, you will experience difficulty.  We are in a constant state of entropy.  Accordingly, dealing with symptoms (and root causes) must become your new normal.  Here is a trustworthy saying …

“Mortals, born of woman, are of few of days and full of trouble.” – Job 14:1

There you have it in black and white.  Or, at least, italics and bold.

Innovate™

It was a stone that David used to fell the giant, Goliath.

In business, you need to Innovate™.  Innovation is the stone you will use to conquer The Great Illusion.  Innovation is the antidote.

[At Blue Elevator™, we work with clients within the context of our Innovate™, Accelerate™, and Replicate™ consulting continuum].

So, the next time you notice something isn’t right, be encouraged to follow these steps:

1. Realize.  Take full note of whatever you believe the symptoms are.  A sales decline?  High turnover?  Whatever the case, document it.  Identify it.  Describe it.  Also, realize that you are not alone.
2. Accept.  Instead of denying it, accept it.  Sales are down.  People are quitting left and right.  Customers aren’t raving about you.  Accept it.  Own it.
3. Solve.  Be encouraged to investigate the symptoms and find the root causes.  Then, Innovate™ a solution to the problem (not the symptoms).  Implement the solution.  Then, measure the results to make sure the symptoms disappear.

Notice the one word descriptors in the above sequences.

• The words in the “typical” sequence are passive.  Realization.  Avoidance.  Symptom Management.  There is no ownership.
• The words in the “suggested” sequence are action-oriented.  Realize.  Accept.  Solve.  There is complete ownership here.

Conclusion

No one likes problems.  We all want blue skies and rainbows and sunbeams from heaven (an old lyric).  But, there are many problems in life and business.

Be encouraged to find and fix the real problems.  Don’t waste time managing symptoms.  Find the root cause.  And Innovate™ the solution.

Contact us!  We’d love to offer you a message of hope and maybe even offer some encouragement along the way.

You might also find encouragement in this article: Problem Solving in Business.