Do Something

One of the earliest business rules I can recall that made a HUGE difference in my professional style was...

Never present a problem to your boss without having a suggested solution ready. Don't be part of the problem, be part of the solution.

In their book, Why People Business People Speak Like Idiots, Fugere, Hardaway & Washawsky take this lesson further. They call it... Do Something.

Here's an excerpt of the passage...

"...Never present a problem without actually doing something that represents a positive step to fix it. Even if it's nothing more than scheduling a trip to visit the disgruntled customer, do something. Show momentum toward and answer, even if you don't know what the answer is. There's a difference between bad news with signs of hope and bad news presented from the deepest pits of despair. You don't want to be the happy messenger, but it's not much better to be the hopeless prophet of doom."

For those passionate professionals wondering how they can position themselves for the next role at their organization this is one of those priceless tips.

For more tips on being better at your job, I highly recommend the book The Unofficial Guide to Power Managing by Alan Weiss. We've mentioned this before on Brand Autopsy... This book is so good you won't want to tell your co-workers you're reading it.

Comments

[Brian Lockwood]

Great post - I linked to it and added some of my own thoughts. this is a pretty killer BLOG - keep it up

http://www.apexsql.com/blog/2005/07/code-pink.htm

[Marketing tips blog]

I agree...great post. I'll have to post a link a bit later. I wish more people would take that advice.

[Bryan Ong]

This is one thing that we have to embed in our head always. Not only should it be applied in business but also in all areas of our lives. Nice post and had made a posting here: http://bryanong.blogspot.com/2005/08/never-present-problem-without-solution.html

bryan