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Nightmare on Main Street: If Your Boss Says This, Run

Nightmare on Main Street: If Your Boss Says This, Run

Should this cursed command ever cross your leader’s lips, just know you can call me to wake you up from that nightmare

October 29, 2022

A superior once said this phrase to me, and even in that young, ignorant state of my career, I thought it was a horrific way to lead.

I assumed it was a one-off, but over the years I’ve seen bad leaders continue to utter the nightmarish words. Friends have told me of their bosses who mouth the bloodcurdling platitude, and I’ve told them to wake up and run.

Should this cursed command ever cross your leader’s lips, just know you can call me to wake you up from that nightmare. I will be happy to slap you and assure you it’s time to run from a culture damned to hell.

The phrase of terror?

“Don’t bring me problems. Bring me solutions.”

Surface level leadership

This is one of those phrases that comes from managers, not leaders.

Managers keep people in line and strive to keep friction low. When team members bring problems, a manager sees it as their job to tell an employee to go away and fix it because problems are an insult to their ego. They want the perception that things are going swell. These managers tend to get angry when their team speaks up, and they generally swat at any troubling news as if it were flies at your run-of-the-mill-aging-dead-body scene from your favorite B-horror movie.

These managers focus on maintaining pretty facades instead of building an infrastructure that can support the weight of adversity. They create ecosystems that only bring forward good news and hide problems. This will create a risk averse culture every time, because team members quickly learn those who make problems known get thrown overboard.

Imagine the irony and ignorance of being on a sinking ship and chastising the only person brave enough to tell you the location of the hole in the boat.

Man, this really is a nightmare story.

“Don’t bring me problems” people tend to have the same narratives of horror in their plots:

• Teammates hide problems and only bring you good news, creating a false perception of the company.

• Pending disasters don’t surface early enough for easy fixes. Instead they’re swept away from the surface, where other team members could have helped solve the problem.

• Instead of a culture of risk taking creative problem solvers, you create a culture of fear.

• When people do try to solve problems, they’re operating in a vacuum and often with incorrect assumptions because they don’t have input from other contributors who could bring perspective to the problem.

• These managers create a “not my job” mentality because team members who observe problems outside of their exact role never speak up. There is no reward for helping the company, only the horror of a public shakedown.

It’s a mindset shift

When I decide to write something, I generally want to know that the topic hasn’t been overplayed. I like bringing topics forward that haven’t been discussed in great detail. I felt this one was nuanced enough, but my research did find an interesting piece of commentary by Vinita Bansal.

Vinita brought to my attention the work of world-renowned Stanford University psychologist, Carol Dweck. Carol has spent decades researching achievement and success, and she has some interesting thoughts around the difference in a “bring me solutions” manager and someone who thrives in problem solving. Carol identifies the two mindsets as “fixed mindset” and “growth mindset.” Vinita writes about this at length, which you can read here.

For today, I am showcasing her breakdown of Dr. Dweck’s work:

Fixed mindset is limiting

Talents, abilities and intelligence is fixed, it’s who we are
Run from error, do not engage with it with a desire to look smart
Avoid challenges
Give up easily
Feel threatened by the success of others
Ignore negative feedback even though it may be highly relevant and useful
Avoid new experiences with fear of failure
Look for people who can reinforce their self esteem
Focus on the outcome since they consider results as their identity
Can lead to cheating and deception

Growth mindset is freedom

Talents, abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and practice
Engage deeply and process the error with a desire to correct the error
Embrace challenges
Persevere in the face of failures and setbacks
Find inspiration in others success
Accept criticism as a way to learn
Embrace novelty with a desire to master new skills
Look for people who challenge them to grow
Focus on the process and learning without worrying about the outcome
Leads to collaboration and innovation

I usually want to have my own spin or a unique perspective on anything I write about, but I love the breakdown here, which is why I share it with direct attributions.

Leaders, if you ever find yourself uttering the horrific phrase of “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions” just know you are promoting a fixed mindset that is limiting your team’s ability to grow, thrive and succeed.

You are managing based on what is best for your ego in the short term vs. leading selflessly towards an outcome and future that is best for the team, and therefore the company. And worst of all, you are building a team who praises your own ego, which is the shallowest form of leadership.

How to encourage your team to bring you problems, even if they don’t have solutions:

1) Focus on flat operations vs. hierarchy

Hierarchy is generally overrated for business—most of us aren’t saving lives. I completely understand that you need the formality of an org chart, but most companies overcomplicate this and actually create more problems than solutions purely in how hard they strain to keep managers in charge. Strict hierarchies create a caste system that is completely embodying a fixed mindset. Instead, build a culture where anyone can speak up at any time, to anyone. You’ll be on your way from siloed information to collaboration and creative problem solving.

2) Hire people who will tell you you’re wrong

I’ve worked with several leaders who liked to hire people who listen to them instead of looking for smart people who can bring great ideas to the team. Leaders, you have to hire people who are not afraid to disagree with you, and this is going to take a cultural shift. I write about this often, but if you want a recent post about the importance of culture, check this one out. In short, don’t hire a bunch of yes men/women.

3) Stop leading in with asking “Whose fault is it?”

When our team screws something up, I do not really care who did it. Sure, we have to figure it out what happened so we can make sure we try to fix the problem, but I don’t create witch hunts to persecute someone for screwing up. Managers who want solutions not problems are often the same people who chastise their team for making mistakes. It’s no way to lead, and it’s a guaranteed way to make your talent polish up their resumes.