Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Picking Battles



Leaders need to know which battles to fight. 

There are some fights which will produce a loss even if you win because they consume too much time and resources and poison relationships. They are, to use an old expression, not worth the candle.

At the same time, there are some fights which must be fought even if the cost is great because principles are at stake.  The cynical assert that whenever you hear someone say it's not the money, it's the principle of the thing, you can bet it's the money. That view diminishes the seriousness of ethical standards. Many a mocker of ethics embraces it. 

In fact, there are plenty of people who take principled positions and pay a heavy price for doing so. They are among those who are not governed by the size of a bank account and who can walk away from a lucrative thing if it is a wrong thing.

But there is another category that should be considered. In this area, neither a major principle nor a major fight is possible. This area is one of low-grade disagreement and conflict and the keys to its resolution are openness and trust. You don't let problems accumulate and fester if doing so harms long-term effectiveness but there will be many areas which should simply be ignored. 

As an management wit once noted, for peace of mind, resign as master of the universe.

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