i-TFTD #96

#96-1. We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.
-Anon

#96-2. One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.
-Arnold Glasow

#96-3. Happy moments, praise GOD.
Difficult moments, seek GOD.
Quiet moments, worship GOD.
Painful moments, trust GOD.
Every moment, thank GOD.
-Anon

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We all have heard the cliché, "Problem and opportunity are two sides of the same coin," but do we approach a situation looking like a problem in the same way as we approach one looking like an opportunity? Could we train ourselves to do that?

The second one is true. I think two organizational practices act as opposing forces to encourage such behavior: one is the tendency to idolize crisis handlers and the other is that the chances of recognition for someone who prevented a crisis are low when it is not apparent that the preventive step taken on a small-looking problem actually prevented a crisis. Think of how many heroic stories you have heard of someone who worked to turn around on a disastrous project and how many stories you have heard of someone who brilliantly identified a potential problem. A proportion of time spent on recognizing and rewarding crisis managers should be spent on identifying the crisis creators.

For those who do believe in some kind of universal superconsciousness, the first and last are good reminders. The other three occur spontaneously.