Case study. Enrique liked to be known as the fix-it guy. He prided himself on the ability to swoop in and resolve a crisis, and his coworkers appreciated his ability to quickly put an end to chaos or stop a situation from escalating. But he noticed that he seemed to put the same fires out over and over. He could help solve a problem in the short term, but ultimately, the same things kept coming up. His colleague in another department, Helen, asked Enrique what his process for solving problems was. Enrique couldn’t really tell him. He said he just looked for the most pressing need and took care of it. Helen suggested that he get his team together and brainstorm a list of their most common problems. They could then identify the underlying issues and create plans to solve them permanently, rather than just managing crises as they came up. Enrique thought this sounded like a good idea. When he got his team together, Enrique realized that many of the crises in the team were caused by a lack of communication and a lack of clear goals. He and his team brainstormed ways to create clearer, more open communication and expectations around goals and roles in their work. Within a few weeks, Enrique noticed that he did not have to manage nearly as many crises.
