What Are You Going To Do About It?
The question isn’t: Will there be problems?
The question is: When you notice a problem, what are you going to do about it?
Paths to consider:
Taking Action To Fix A Problem
Empowers you
Makes the problem your responsibility (even if it’s not your fault)
Problem gets solved
Life is better for you, your team, and your guests
Complaining About A Problem
Strips you of your agency
Makes the problem someone else's responsibility
Problem still exists
Life hasn’t changed for you or anyone around you
I’ve been guilty of being the complainer in the past, and while complaining gives the illusion of productivity in the short term, it’s not a great strategy for making things better.
Sometimes ignoring the problem is the best solution for the time being. Multiple problems always exist and some need to be actively ignored so we can focus on what’s most important.
So while noting, logging, and ignoring is a viable option, simply complaining without offering a path to improvement is selling yourself short.
We all have blind spots so a certain amount of truth-telling is necessary to improve, but if you only ever bring problems to the table and not solutions, you might be the one with the biggest problem.