Challenge to change

Today's Business Lessons

 

Challenge to change
 

BUSINESS MATTERS (BEYOND THE BOTTOM LINE) 

By Francis J. Kong (The Philippine Star) 

Updated October 06, 2012

We had a faulty pipe in the house. No wonder water was leaking from it. We didn’t have this problem before the remodeling of our house. I’m no plumber, but I suspected that somehow a pipe got busted when the bathroom was being remodeled.

We called the attention of the plumber. He said he would fix it and he did. Three months later, the leak was back. This time we called a different plumber. Guess what he found? The former plumber just tied up the pipes with some cloths and masking tape, eliminating the symptoms without fixing the problem.

He just coped with the problem. He didn’t challenge and solve the problem.

People tend to be better copers than challengers. But before we get on the case of the second-rate plumber, let me just say that the previous statement is true for many of us. And people can be so creative in inventing ways to cope. Take for example how popular “Puwede na ‘yan!” is in business and at work. Here are other ways we just cope, both at the work and in the home:

• We abandon our quality control program and install full time inspectors.

• We cut our training budget, and substitute trainings with local company execs saying the same things to the same audience who is pretending to be interested.

• We complain about how bad our education system is and how young people today refuse to take up responsibility, but then we end up doing our kids’ homework and school projects.

• When it comes to diet and exercise, we buy those magic potions, lotions and notions introduced by informercials. Or we buy two or three different-sized wardrobes because it’s really impossible to stick to a diet.

• The tower rack broke, so we hang our clothes on the doorknobs.

We try to cope more than we challenge the situation.

Challenging the situation to affect positive change requires a tremendous amount of personal conviction and courage. A metaphor of this is a picture of a community leader who catches sight of a steady stream of cars speeding toward a cliff unknowingly – instead of rushing to the top of the cliff (which is very hard to do) and finding a way (it’ll take a great amount of quick thinking) to prevent drivers from driving toward disaster (almost impossible, because the drivers would most likely resist him, maybe even fight back and attack), he calls a fleet of ambulances to stand by at the bottom of the cliff.

It’s easier to cope than to challenge to change.

• IT department is not performing? Outsource it.

• Kids addicted to gambling? There are now efforts to develop a pill to fight it.

• Serial adultery? Go to a rehab facility.

• Can’t get along with the spouse? Get the lawmakers to pass a divorce bill.

• Kids hard to handle? Just let them be.

Yes, it’s easier to cope than to challenge to change. But it doesn’t solve the problem, it even exacerbates it.

Stand up for what is right! Challenge the situation and make things right. Those who lose riches lose much, but those who lose courage lose all. And those who compromise the truth are guilty of the crime itself.

It’s easy to be brave from a distance. But life is not a spectator sports. Someone once said, “The fear of God makes a hero; the fear of man makes a coward.”

So go and challenge to change. This is what great leaders do.