erik.wiffin

I have always hated the phrase “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions!”. It feels lazy. It incentivizes people to sweep things under the rug if they can’t figure out what to do. It doesn’t give any useful direction to the person bringing you problems, because if they had solutions, they probably would have brought them already! At its best, it’s unhelpful, at its worst, it’s actively harmful. I have similar, but less strong issues with the idea of telling someone to “take more initiative”. That also feels lazy. Particularly when it’s the answer to someone looking for a promotion or generally looking for more responsibility. If one of my reports comes to me asking what they can do to get promoted, they’re taking more initiative right now! They just don’t know what to do.