Are you a system fixer or an incident fixer?

by Sapphire (March 13, 2008)

I’ve been observing different people’s work styles lately in the hopes of improving my own. One thing I’ve noticed is that when problems happen, some people tend to want to revamp the system in which they happened, and others just want to fix that item and go on. For example, your team has trouble finding a document in a file. After much searching and frustration, you find it in a file you wouldn’t have expected. Some of your team members feel the problem is solved now that this one incident is resolved. Others think someone should come up with a better filing system so these things don’t happen anymore.

I’m a system fixer.

I think the ideal is to be a balance of both. If you never consider revamping your system, you can end up with one that malfunctions more often than it works. But if you tend to treat every problem as a failure of your system, you can get caught up in trying to perfect the system to the point that you never get any work done. That’s me.

Now that I realize it, I can change it. I need to remember that no system works every time. There will always be exceptions. Until there are quite a few exceptions, I should continue with the system I have. When I find myself thinking “There must be a more efficient system for this” I should tell myself to shut up and get back to work. On those rare occasions when it would save more time to revamp the system than to fix the individual incident, it will be so obvious to my little system-obsessed mind that I won’t miss any good opportunities.

What are you? A system fixer or an incident fixer?

Posted in Staying on Track
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