Business realism means not having to bend over backwards to get things done.

"Hit the ground running," "action-oriented,"  and "bias for action" are buzzwords you hear to describe the attributes of high-performing individuals.  Rarely do you see "thoughtful planner," "careful researcher," or "reflective and holistic"  as desired skills on a job description. As a management consultant in operations improvement, I am often brought in to solve a particular problem, like poor customer service or an inability to execute initiatives, and usually find that the problem they want to solve is actually a symptom of another, broader problem.

Typically, a client will want me to skip the upfront analytics and jump right to the problem-solving workshops. This is because they want results as quickly as possible. I understand this urge, but it's this desire for quick results that's ruining the performance of many organizations. Instead of taking the time to understand the situation, companies apply fixes to address the symptoms.  Unfortunately, not only do these fixes not solve the problem, they usually have a series of unintended consequences that result in more problems.

Corporations are not alone in this mindset. You can see that our government struggles with this same desire for new laws and regulation without real knowledge of the problems being addressed.  Getting real is about taking the time to learn and understand the problems we have and using a thoughtful approach to addressing their root causes. Once we eliminate the knee-jerk reactions we have to every issue, we might be able to stop bending over backwards to get things done.

Read more about solving the symptoms and classic vicious cycles.