Why do problems fester for so long in companies? Why can it take so long for teams, managers, and leaders to work out their shit, by which point you have far fewer options?
Great question! I'm lucky to be part of one of those rare internal team development consultants - there's 4 of us in the company I work for.
It's true that initially people tend to wait until things are on fire to get in touch with us, at which point (as you said) the scope of what can be done is much more limited.
The good news is that once people go through the process and emerge (relatively) unscathed, they tend to come back earlier on. We're even getting more requests where there's no issues, but people want to look ahead and think about how to seize future opportunities.
Sadly, the teams who need it most just don't ask for help, or even worse, they only do when forced by upper management (not a condition of success!).
I think bullets 1 and 2 are more pervasive reasons for why problems fester for long. I would add lack of spine as another pervasive contributing cause.
By "lack of spine", I mean folks unwilling to commit and take ownership of solving an issue but are willing to block others from solving the issue (not merely raise concerns, which is fine).
In non-emergency workforce, I think that almost no employee's life will be in danger if they don't decide on solving an issue. So, saying "who cares? lol" becomes yet another reason contributing cause :)
Great question! I'm lucky to be part of one of those rare internal team development consultants - there's 4 of us in the company I work for.
It's true that initially people tend to wait until things are on fire to get in touch with us, at which point (as you said) the scope of what can be done is much more limited.
The good news is that once people go through the process and emerge (relatively) unscathed, they tend to come back earlier on. We're even getting more requests where there's no issues, but people want to look ahead and think about how to seize future opportunities.
Sadly, the teams who need it most just don't ask for help, or even worse, they only do when forced by upper management (not a condition of success!).
I think bullets 1 and 2 are more pervasive reasons for why problems fester for long. I would add lack of spine as another pervasive contributing cause.
spine is relative. If my life is in danger, I use my spine. If not... who cares? lol
By "lack of spine", I mean folks unwilling to commit and take ownership of solving an issue but are willing to block others from solving the issue (not merely raise concerns, which is fine).
In non-emergency workforce, I think that almost no employee's life will be in danger if they don't decide on solving an issue. So, saying "who cares? lol" becomes yet another reason contributing cause :)