Why do we need to focus on solving problems without asking everyone to be a problem-solver?
I was using Twitter when I came across some of the trending tweets and hashtags on the platform. Most of them were about lockdown or quarantine or the current situation of the virus worldwide. People were discussing the measures taken by governments in different countries to improve the situation. Then, I came across the latest ones taken by the Indian government.
How the nation responded to Modi’s speeches on one-day curfew or switching off the lights across the country? People were in different moods, some made memes on it, some took it very positively, some took it as an opportunity to spread fake news, some took it as a political motive and some just tried to find the rationale behind the action. Of them all, the last group was not treated well by the people who were too lost in jingoism. The people were called out for being pessimistic, non-cooperative and even anti-national to an extent.
This kind of situation is not new. Some time ago, I was at a place where the team had a huge project to execute with a small number of people. There were chaos, stress and a lot of mismanagement going on. Employees were looking up to leaders for support and a meeting was finally arranged to discuss the challenges. Before that, the communication was only flowing in one direction.
The meeting started on a good note with the manager trying to motivate the employees with his past experiences and inspiring stories. Members were listening patiently and then they started to talk about the elephant in the room. The problems most of them were facing and their points of view on the same. However, this was surely not something the leader had on his agenda. So s/he started telling (read: convincing) everyone how stress is good for mental growth, how people are their best forms when they are in chaos and how this situation is very much okay.
To this one asked, all this is good, but can we please try solving for challenges, especially the ones that are affecting many of us. The leader replied, do you have a solution? If yes, let’s discuss it and if not, let’s not talk about the problem and do whatever we are doing. I was much shocked to hear this from a leader I used to admire.
Most of us that problem-solving is a great skill to have, and it is advisable that everyone develops it. But I also believe that people who are not good at them should not be ashamed for figuring out the problems or the loopholes. It is the responsibility of the leader to solve it for them.
Finding loopholes and problems in the right manner is a skill too; else we won’t be having competitions to find the most bugs in a beta version of the application.
A leader (be it a teacher, manager, prime minister or parent) is chosen to represent us and take decisions on our behalf. It is completely okay to ask them why they are not taking necessary measures? Or why they took a particular decision? It is high time we stop shutting up people who question leaders. It is high time we start respecting those asking questions and not trolling them or asking them to do all the things themselves. I chose my minister for a reason, my manager was a manager for a reason. It is high time we focus on solving problems without asking everyone to be a problem-solver.
The manager could have taken all the problems one-by-one and tried to solve them, not single-handedly but with the team. The attitude would have been enough to cheer up the team. The other group asking questions to the leaders could have been answered rather than trolled, they could have been provided with the rationale behind the decisions.
