During our March Recognition Monday meeting, Kondi Littlefield was asked to speak about one of Highpoint’s Fundamental Behaviors. She spoke on the principle of “don’t find a fault, find a remedy.”
Recognition Monday is a companywide meeting held each month to recognize employee achievements, celebrate our wins, and refocus our team on the agency’s annual goals.
Kondi’s talk lays out steps you can take to find solutions instead of placing blame.
Read it below:
To kick this off, I want to tell a little story… about the queen Taylor Swift. Believe it or not, Taylor is very familiar with this fundamental behavior of don’t find fault… find a remedy. Way back when Taylor was singing Love Story and Teardrops On My Guitar, she was recording all of her music through a Big Machine Label Group. This label was recently bought out by Scooter Braun. Braun now owns all of Taylor’s music. She had no rights to any of it. She could not perform it, could not make money off of it, she had no rights to her life’s work. Taylor said she had pleaded for years to own her own work but was instead given the opportunity to “earn” one album back at a time by producing new music for them. So what did Taylor do? She made the choice to walk away and find a remedy. Taylor re-recorded all six of her early albums under the name “Taylor’s Version.” She found a solution to own her own work and to fix the crappy hand that she had been dealt.
I have to wonder? What would Taylor be doing right now if she hadn’t found a remedy? She would probably still be fighting heavy legal battles and she would be waist deep in anger and frustration. She probably wouldn’t be enjoying life with Travis Kelce like she is right now. Which brings me to an interesting point of this fundamental behavior of don’t find a fault… find a remedy. If you didn’t already know, this is actually a quote that came from Henry Ford, founder of Ford. There is a second part to the quote. Henry Ford said, “don’t find a fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain.” This is so true. Taylor could have pouted, pointed fingers, and complained, but she didn’t. Any person can find a problem for every situation. They are often regarded as people “can’t get out of their own way.” It takes a person who truly wants to make a change to find an actual remedy.
At its core, “Don’t find fault, find a remedy,” is a call to action. It encourages us to focus on solutions when something goes wrong – not blame. This promotes a constructive mindset, it allows for greater creativity, collaboration, and ultimately, progress. Faultfinding is a common human tendency that brings negativity. It can lead to shifting blame, conflicts, and stagnation. On the other hand, seeking remedies signifies taking responsibility and striving for improvement. It fosters a culture of resilience, adaptability, and growth.
The significance of this quote extends into our personal and professional lives. For instance, when faced with adversity, we can spend our energy dwelling on the problem and blaming external factors, or we can choose to find ways to overcome these obstacles. Again, the latter promotes resilience and resourcefulness, which are crucial traits for personal development. A big point in this, is adopting this mindset can help improve our relationships. Instead of finding fault in others, understanding their perspective and working towards a resolution can lead to stronger, healthier relationships.
Making the shift from a fault-finding to a solution-seeking mindset might seem challenging, but I do have 4 strategies that can facilitate this transition:
- Mindfulness: Being aware of our thought patterns can help us catch ourselves when we fall into the fault-finding trap and consciously redirect our focus towards solutions.
- Reframing the problem: Instead of viewing a problem as a setback, see it as an opportunity for learning and growth. Because that’s typically what happens at the end of problems. We learn something and are able to walk away with that knowledge.
- Encouraging open communication: Whether in personal relationships or professional settings, creating a space where individuals feel comfortable expressing their ideas and concerns can pave the way for constructive problem-solving.
- Fostering a culture of learning: Embracing mistakes as learning opportunities rather than failures can drive continuous improvement and innovation.
In business, there are bound to be cracks in the mold. Ideas will be a flop, new strategies will fail. Things that you are certain will go one way in one moment, will go in a completely opposite direction the next. But instead of dwelling on those errors, discover ways to fix them. After all, in the quest for improvement and success, solutions are far more valuable than blame.
