I’m fine.

I'm fine. It's fine. Everything's fine.

We all have a phrase or two that we repeat to ourselves when things aren't going the way we'd envisioned. <Deep breath in> "I'm fine; it's fine; everything's fine."

It's easy to distract ourselves to provide momentary relief. Maybe we quickly wrap up the meeting and "table the discussion for now." Lots to do, ya know—certainly not enough time for "this" today—quickly followed by a secret relief sigh.

Perhaps we schedule a future date to "dig deep" on the topic, but... we put it off until next quarter. After all, we have that big project focus right now. Maybe we pull out some chocolate to munch on, or we begin to doodle in the corner of our paper to provide distraction from that uneasy feeling—the feeling that creeps up on us when we see the same problem or complaint from the team on the agenda again. <Deep breath> "I'm fine. It's fine. Everything's fine."

If we continue to worry about or have a concern over something, we're not fine. If a problem keeps coming up week after week, quarter after quarter, or year after year, it's not fine. If we find ourselves chalking something up to, "that's just how business is," or "not my circus, not my monkeys," or the easiest one of all, "that's what I pay them to handle"—everything is not fine.

Your team needs clarity, consistency, and care. They deserve it. And so do you! How much time is wasted (yours and your team's) by discussing the same things? Same issue, different day; same challenge, different name. Package it however you'd like—it's still the same thing. Your team isn't fooled, so don't fool yourself. Get serious about reclaiming your time and creating clarity, consistency, and care for your team. Let's talk!