The Fix-it Syndrome
by Miki Saxon
An interesting post from Steven Vannoy and Craig Ross talks about the need of so many to “fix it” no matter what ‘it’ is, but especially when it comes to other people’s actions. They offer the ‘4 A’s— awareness; acceptance; ask; acknowledge’—as a more successful approach when change is needed. Good stuff and well worth reading.
But before you put it into practice take a step back and ask yourself this question.
Is my goal to help X change for the better or help X to do it the way I do it?
Think of all the times you’ve made suggestions to someone on a different/better way to do something when, in fact, the different/better way was the way you do it.
The fix-it syndrome lives in all of us, especially managers and in most cases people are honestly trying to help. It’s not a case of ‘my way or the highway’, just the feeling that their approach is the best one around.
And it is—for them.
So next time you want to fix-it be sure that what you’re fixing is really an improvement and not just the difference between your way and a different way.
Image credit: sxc.hu
