John walks into your shop in hopes you can fix the issues their old reliable 200,000 mile vehicle is exhibiting. You perform an extensive inspection and discover that many components have been neglected over the years. The quote gets written and the customer is in shock. The suspension, brake system, and engine all need significant work. For years this customer had been band-aiding the issues that arrose. The act of saving a few bucks before has morphed into a huge repair bill. 

John is made up, but as a repair facility or any other business you have likely met many John’s over the years. John exists as an individual, as a company, as a system or process that almost works. John almost gets the job done, he makes things work good enough even if it’s not ideal, efficient, or even safe. 

My husband’s employer requires a water filtration system in order to service its patrons. While I don’t understand most of the technical terminology, I understand that it’s broken, and rather than replace the machinery at a high dollar cost, employees have been designated to “baby-sit” the system from three in the morning until late in the evening. The overtime is great, the two a.m. alarm is not. 

The lack of proper repair is not only causing a tired husband, but also puts the company’s customers at potential risk, and is draining the rest of the team. They knew they were utilizing an outdated system that would eventually be unrepairable, yet it worked well enough. 

Until it didn’t.

Fix it. Or at the very least create a plan to fix it. 

Everyday we encounter bandaids. Workarounds to get the job done.  Half assed fixes to larger problems. While the time to prepare for unanticipated costs and human capital is understandable, the lack of action is unacceptable. 

What can you do as a leader to ensure proper resolutions and leave the band-aids in the first aid kit? 

Listen: Are your employees complaining their job is harder than it should be because something doesn’t work quite right? They likely aren’t just whining to hear their own cries. They are on the front lines and working through a broken system or process that impacts their quality of work. While the 10,000 foot view may make the gripe appear miniscule, it doesn’t make it any less real. 

Inspect: Take what you are hearing and get dirty. Do the job. Shadow an employee. Get a real life understanding of what the problem is and how it affects not just that individual, but potentially the business as a whole. Time is money and if we are allowing our workforce to fumble through broken systems, gaps in process, and missing tools and parts, we are losing more capital than the books reflect.

Prepare: What if our CRM breaks? What if we can’t process customer payments? What if the lift, or hotflush machine breaks? What is the back up plan to keep going at the most normal pace possible. Playing the what if game has led me to more than a few panic attacks, however it has also saved my butt a time or two. Have a plan to not just get through, but to get ahead. 

With no final plans to correct the filtration system, my husband will continue to wake at ridiculous hours of the night. I will try to remain understanding and as nice as possible. Hopefully, the company will rip off the bandaid and do the job right sooner than later. 

At least the additional overtime is right before Christmas. Here’s to something shiny under the tree, even if the wrapping will look like tattered gauze.