Food For Thought
March 16, 2009 |
How many times have you sat in the employee lunchroom with coworkers when a person starts to complain about a change in the office hours, the vacation schedule, or the telephone rotation? Within five minutes, everyone sitting around the table feels obliged to chime in with their own litany of job gripes. Complaining is contagious. It's hard not to become a carrier.
Complaining gives the appearance of offering relief - a chance to vent. But rehashing a stressful situation in a setting that offers no opportunity for correcting the problem takes emotional energy and doesn't change the problem. In fact, it can make a problem seem worse than it is.
The Bible says, in essence, to save your breath. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 12:36 that someday we'll have to answer for every careless word we've ever spoken. So vow instead to be a carrier of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22?23). If you have a suggested solution, go to the person with the power to execute the solution, and make your case. Relish being part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Posted by Bonnie McMaken on March 16, 2009
Comments
I am so in agreement with this article, but there may be a view missing in the solution. While it is always important to seek a solution, unless a forum for presenting that solution has been establish, the workers are no better off than those that sat with empty complaints. Often, I hear people in leadership proudly proclaim that they have an open door policy and yet they have failed to formally announce an appropriate time or place for those "solution finders" to easily make their way into the decision maker's sanctuary. Open door means that a time either daily or weekly is posted for personnel to come and converse, problem solve, or simply build a relationship. Formally posted times allows the leader to schedule the time for themselves efficiently and still alot time for those emerging leaders to come and offer grass root solutions. I believe this policy will show the servant heart of a leader.
Posted by: Dr. Linda Robinson on March 16, 2009
I'm totally with you on the 'rehashing' thing. I'm not going to claim that I never complain - that would be a lie. But I rarely feel that venting is helpful. To me, it just feels like I wind myself up more. Which is also why I find it difficult when a large number of people ask over and over again about a stressful situation. It means I have to relive the stress a little bit each time. (I do realise that people ask because they care.)
Posted by: PamBG on March 18, 2009