How to Ask 'Why Am I Still Doing This?' and Escape Low-Value Work

Stop solving all your employees’ problems and start building their confidence with one simple phrase.

 
Teach Your Team How to Think: A Simple Habit That Changes Everything

Yesterday, one of my clients said to me, “I’ve got this new employee who said they were really experienced, interviewed really well, and now all they do is ask questions over and over. I keep dropping what I’m doing to answer them. What should I do?”

This is a common challenge. I hear it from clients all the time. Most of us as restoration business owners love solving problems. We like to move fast, check things off the list, handle the issue, and get back to whatever we were working on. It feels quicker and easier at the moment.

The problem is that it’s not a great long-term solution. When you jump in and solve everything for your team, you don’t teach them how to think.

Here’s something you can try today. My guess is that by the time you’re reading this, someone on your team is going to text you, call you, email you, or walk up to your desk with a question. When they do, try this:

Say, “My job is to teach you how to think. What would you do?”

Then be quiet. Give them a few seconds. Let them think.

Once they answer, one of two things will happen.

First, they might come up with the right answer. Or at least the answer you would have come up with. Great. That means they get to walk away feeling good about themselves. A little more confident than they were when they walked up to you needing help. They wanted to be told what to do, but they came up with the solution instead.

The second possibility is that they give you an answer and you immediately think, “No way. That is not the right approach.” If that happens, you simply say, “Okay, that’s one approach. What other ideas do you have?” See what else they come up with.

At least you’re not jumping straight to solving the problem for them.

Now, eventually they may get to the point where they truly don’t know. That’s fine. But if you do this consistently, you will help them build their “thinking muscle.” It will help them, it will help you, and it will help your business today. I’d also argue it helps them in their personal life. They will simply get better at thinking things through.

Here’s another way to phrase it that I used to joke about with my team. I’d say, “Picture this. I’m on a beach, toes in the sand, no cell service. You can’t reach me. You have to make the decision. What do you do?” And more times than not, they got it right.

Give it a try. Tell your team, “My job is to teach you how to think. What would you do?” See what happens. Let me know how it goes.