Sounds cliched right?  Well it is.

I am constantly amazed by the paradigm shift in some people’s contribution to a problem when they are the tasked as the owner of it vs when they are now a bystander looking in, i.e., part of the gallery.

Sure being the owner of a problem, a particularly critical one, is not always fun, but it is work that has to be done and someone needs to take the lead and own it.  I’ve seen time and time again people wilt under this ownership, not wanting to offer up any ideas or solutions to the problems and getting lost in the process of solving the problem or worse the blame game of others not solving the problem, essentially hiding from it until it goes away.

The circle goes on with one excuse after the other.

Shift these people to the gallery and all of a sudden, a hundred, thousand, million ideas spring forth – the box has been teared down and people are thinking and coming up with ideas.

The difference – when you are part of the gallery failure is not directly reflected upon you, but when you are the owner failure is – or rather you perceive it to be.  And this is where the real shift must occur, trying something, falling down, getting back up is infinitely better then never trying at all.  People respect, admire the efforts, the persistence and attempts to solve the problem.

So next time you have a problem on your plate that is particularly dicey – don’t wilt, handle the ownership, make it yours, take it and run with it, don’t hide from it, and don’t lob it to someone else and become part of the gallery.

After all, if it was an easy problem to solve, they wouldn’t have assigned it to you now would they?  Handle the Ownership.

Want more? Check out my book Code Your Way Up – available as an eBook or Paperback on Amazon (CAN and US).  I’m also the co-host of the Remotely Prepared podcast.

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