This one has been coming up a lot in sessions lately. That is always a good sign that it is time to share it with everyone. You should find this very helpful in creating context and taking some pressure off when your team is dealing with one of those big, nagging business issues.
It is a great lesson I learned from my Dad, who is a very successful entrepreneur and one of my greatest mentors. In solving an issue, he teaches that you have only three options: you can live with it, end it, or change it. There are no other choices. With this understanding, you must decide which of the three it’s going to be. If you can no longer live with the issue, you have two options: change it or end it. If you don’t have the wherewithal to do this, then agree to live with it and stop complaining. Living with it should, however, be the last resort.
Right now you might be struggling with a tough business decision: an employee concern; a painful customer problem or a scary finance issue. If so, start your next meeting by creating the context around the issue for the team – make sure everyone is clear as to what the real issue is and it’s possible impact on the company – and then pick one of the three options.
Let me know how it goes.