Babies and Bathwater

I occasionally recall a management seminar tidbit I heard long ago:  "When things go bad, don't go with them."  I think it's great advice.

We're going through a period of major change where I work, on several fronts.  We're tearing apart our building, moving to a new online HR system, and retooling the way we do annual raises.  We've set up a temporary office where we will have some employees housed during either one or two three week stints when our building will be unusable, and have been testing there.  We've recently done an operating system upgrade on the office desktops, and have been doing the same with the company owned laptops.  It's busy and stressful, but it's not just about getting a bunch of things done in a short amount of time.

There's disagreement as to whether we really need to be putting an addition on the building, and whether the company can afford it.  Some employees are looking forward to a chance to work in the temporary office, and others will only go there grudgingly if forced.  Raises have not been overly high the last few years because of the economy, and there is grumbling about being in the same boat this year.  Some say the new HR and salary system will make a bad situation worse, and this seems to be the straw that breaks the camel's back in the view of quite a few people in my office.

Seems like whenever there is unrest at work these days, a discussion about a particular issue brings forth a litany of other complaints, such as those I've already mentioned (but there are more).  I know I don't have a lot of patience for prolonged complaining, as I have grown very solution oriented over the years, but in general I don't think it makes sense to build a heap of seemingly unsolvable issues when only one is currently being discussed.  It would make sense if we were building a fire and they'd all get burned up in a little while.  But in this case it brings people less hope of forward progress.

I, Pollyanna, then become cranky when I try to offer options to solve a particular issue and I'm told "well, what does it matter anyway because all this other stuff is so hopelessly messed up."  It is true that I can only change my own behavior and not that of others.  Will I have to just ride out the next several months in relative calmness and sanity, and let people slowly realize that they should jump on the bandwagon?  One way to find out.  At least today is mostly over.  :-)