Are you a complainer or a problem solver? That is a pretty simple, straight-forward question, and your answer is probably, “it depends.” We have a right to complain, and complaining isn’t a problem until it becomes our standard response.

Complaining is becoming epidemic in our world and most of us complain more than we realize.¹ Here is a personal example:

One day on a commuter flight from Chicago to Nashville, I found myself growing impatient. The flight was almost full; I was lucky to be in the emergency exit row. Although we boarded on time, the plane was being held for a few late arriving passengers. I remember thinking, “they never hold the plane for me.” The seat next to me was empty. Then, down the aisle came three sweaty, stressed out passengers. One was a big guy with a big bag and coat. I remember thinking, “oh no, not my seat mate.” Of course, he was. He sat down next to me and immediately began to talk. I thought, “oh great, this is just what I need.” Are you counting? That’s three complaints in less than five minutes!

He told me he and his colleagues were traveling from Alaska to Nashville for a conference and that they had been traveling since early morning along with all kinds of weather and travel issues. They were so glad to make this flight. He was so friendly and nice, actually cheerful. I felt guilty for the initial bad thoughts I had about him. Then, it became even worse!

He was very extroverted and inquisitive and of course asked me all about my work and then told me all about his. After a few minutes, he got out of his seat and dug into the overhead compartment to find a book he wanted me to see. It turns out his company was implementing a “complaint-free culture,” and he was one of the facilitators. When he found out about my training background and work, he wanted to share this resource with me. I spent the next hour reading his book.

Ironically, the book was A Complaint Free World: take the 21-day challenge. The author, Will Bowen, defines a complaint as “an expression of grief, pain, or discontentment.” Bowen challenges his readers to go 21 days without speaking complaints, criticism, or gossip in order to form new positive habits, increase their consciousness, and become problem solvers. I’ve tried it and can attest it is difficult. It’s not impossible, but it’s not easy. I found the book to be confirming of my ideas about choice, complaining, and problem solving.

I have been working with the concepts of problem solving for years. I feel strongly that we can choose our behavior and approach to most situations. In our TripleWin program, Powered by 3 Wins, we define a framework of choice based on being Reactive or Proactive. We created the Choice Path™ to describe the difference between complaining and problem solving, advocating proactivity whenever and where ever possible.We have a choice in most situations of how to respond. When we take the reactive path, we take our experience and let our feelings drive our reaction.

In a sense, we ignore the actual issues and deny our involvement or responsibility in dealing with them. Eventually, it becomes easy to blame someone else. Given the same situation, with the intent to be a problem solver, we make a different choice. We recognize the situation and go into problem solving mode. We take ownership of resolving it. There is often satisfaction and pride gained by accepting responsibility and accountability for solving the problem.

 Are you making good choices?

1. Are you a complainer or a problem solver?
2. When was the last time you discussed how to solve a problem?
3. Are you satisfied with how well you are solving problems?

[1] – A Compliant Free World, Take the 21-Day Challenge, Will Bowen, 2007.

Nancy Brown-Johnston has worked in the field of training and organization development in many companies around the world, including General Motors, Saturn Corporation, the US Army, and Delphi Automotive Systems. Nancy co-founded and served as the director of Saturn Consulting Services (SCS), where she led the development of the SCS courses. She also managed the marketing and consulting services to more than 200 external customers, including Chevrolet, Opel, Saab, Delphi Automotive Systems, the U.S. Army, U.S.P.S., and Zeneca Ag Products.

TripleWin’s Professional Development Program is provides theories, models and practice sessions to support developing strong problem solving skills and personal accountability. For more information, see www.triplewin.ch

Organizations succeed when they focus on 3 Wins—A Win for the Customer, A Win for the Organization, and A Win for the Individual. Failing to focus on all three simultaneously causes the biggest challenges in daily operations and in long term performance. There is a constant balancing act required and when things are out of balance, issues pop up that must be addressed to assure the organization can reach its performance goals.

I had a conversation recently about a major global corporation that perfectly illustrates this premise. After interviewing 250 people from all regions of the company, the following issues surfaced:

• Lack of commitment to putting the customer first
• Inadequate engineering and quality assurance processes
• Conflict between key major parts of the business
• Competition within the executive team
• Short term focus of the top leaders
• Lack of training and development of people

As a result, the organization is out of balance and even with extensive effort throughout the organization, the sense of winning and success is not being felt. Organizational pride and confidence is low. All 3 Wins – for the Customer, the Organization, and the Individual – are missing.

To address these challenges, I suggest looking at the philosophy used to create and maintain Saturn Corporation’s culture from 1986 until the early 2000s when General Motors eliminated the Saturn brand.

A philosophy of collaboration and a commitment to seek win-win solutions was at the core of the Saturn culture. In my 15 years at Saturn, I helped define the meaning of the triple win:

• The customer is the ‘true north,’ and as such, a win for the customer is always inherent.
• It is necessary for the business to succeed, so the organization naturally is the second win.
• And finally, without every individual benefiting and being developed, the commitment to “do the work” falters, so the third win belongs to each contributing individual.

There was a history of coercion and unhealthy competition in every part of the General Motors’ system, but Saturn’s corporate strategy looked to change the automotive game and emerged as cooperation, collaboration, and a drive for co-ownership. Without cooperation and collaboration the 3 wins were impossible to obtain or maintain. This was the Saturn Difference.

Simply put, creating a TripleWin culture in your organization will make working together easier. The payback will be evident with every decision, every problem, and every interaction.

Can you benefit from the Power of the TripleWin?

1. What is your customer philosophy? Is your customer your partner?
2. What type of culture and environment exists within your organization?

If you aren’t collaborating today, what can you do to start?

Nancy Brown-Johnston has worked in the field of training and organization development in many companies around the world, including General Motors, Saturn Corporation, the US Army, and Delphi Automotive Systems. Nancy co-founded and served as the director of Saturn Consulting Services (SCS), where she led the development of the SCS courses. She also managed the marketing and consulting services to more than 200 external customers, including Chevrolet, Opel, Saab, Delphi Automotive Systems, the U.S. Army, U.S.P.S., and Zeneca Ag Products.

TripleWin’s Professional Development Program is provides theories, models and skill development to support developing and working in a win-win-win culture and environment. For more information, see www.triplewin.ch