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Small Problem VS Big Problem

I've come to notice that too much of my time and energy is spent worrying about small problems in business:  among them being an intern not working hard enough, a small feature taking too long to build, a job candidate not working out, and other similar topics that don't have any meaningful impact on the future of inDinero.  Yet they seem to consume a disproportionate amount of my mind space, because these small issues stack up.

On the flip side, there are big problems that I should be spending 100% of my time thinking about:  Improving customer satisfaction, polishing product, hiring/retaining key hires, and making sure there's enough cash in the bank.  Most other topics are probably small, relatively meaningless, and should be ignored as quickly as possible.  

Whenever you're down about something, just ask yourself:  small problem or big problem?

 

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6 Comments

Jul 17, 2011
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Jul 19, 2011
cliveb said...
Small Problem or Big Problem is good executive decision making.

I remember having beer with the CEO. I was over whelmed with small stuff getting in the way of product design, that I need to feed to the dev team. He told me knowing what to ignore was key. But it still took discipline to learn to ignore small problems.

Jul 22, 2011
Mark said...
You have too much time on your hands. Let the grunts handle the unimportant things.
Jul 26, 2011
Derek Capo said...
I just found this blog today after having seen some videos of you from Gurmo media, etc. I would like to chime in on this topic because I have also had the same problem. What i would do is create a to do list and then prioritize by important and deadline and then focus on the most pertinent and important things first. The top of the category would be customer service focused stuff, marketing etc and then at the bottom of the list would be ideas that could wait a while to be done OR can be delegated to some other people in the future, whether an intern or not. Unfortunately, people like you and I are very hands on and we think that is we want to be involved in these little things because we feel it is important to show the influence because we naturally worry that it could lead to bigger problems or lost opportunities.

I also read your post on politics and unfortunately this will never go away. We do it on an every day basis when we post facebook status updates (i don't think you would put...I HATE SO AND SO TODAY BECAUSE THEY BLEW A NASTY FART) yet it effects us more when it involves a team environment.

My business islocated In China and the people here seek leadership to the point where sometimes you have to sit down with them and tell them what to do step by step, as if they didn't have the ability to think on their own. This has changed over time but the politics are inevitable. All you can do is learn to manage the ego's of the people who are most important for your organization and get what you can to make sure the environment is happy enough for them to be motivated to work hard and grow the company, etc.

I also had to fire someone the other day and she was an OK worker and everybody liked her but she didn't fit our culture and since we had two new hires coming I felt it was the smart move to remove her so that she would not influence the other people. Yes, you are the CEO and if you give people tasks and they continuously mess up there is NO REASON for you to have to ask everyone what they "think" it should be one other person (COO) to be aware of the problem. The best tactic I think it to make sure you have a 3 warning system, so that they employee knows where they stand and there is no surprise from the employee when they do get fired and you feel better knowing you did the right thing.

In regards to interns and new workers. I never usually hire someone full time at first. I always give them tests as interns and part-time staff and analyze how they work and how many hours they put in and how they interact with the team and customers. After a certain amount of time I give them a full-time job. Lower pay = more flexibility in hours and days off, higher pay is more concrete with job duties, weekly reports, etc. This may be something you want to work on, ?!?!?! I don't know...just feel like i can give back into this.

Jessica, I think what you are doing is a great thing. I think that part of the problems you are havign is because you grew up pretty fast. I mean i learned to do some of this stuff in college managing egos and politics being in student organizations on a larger level. Nevertheless, I am more than open to talk to you when you have time on Skype, etc so that you can vent your frustration etc. and then pick yourself back up and get back to work!

Jul 26, 2011
Jessica M said...
Hey Derek, thanks for the thoughtful comment.  I like what you do when it comes to hiring:  bring them on as part-time or contract before giving them a full-time offer so that there are no surprises.  Also good to have the warning system in place so people know exactly where they stand when they're gone.
Jul 26, 2011
Derek Capo said...
No problem! Glad I was able to help in some way. :)

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