Messaging with Whip-Smart Wordsmith Emma Alvarez Gibson on Facebook, we were discussing business situations you know aren't going to work out as you want, yet you move forward anyway. In one situation I was describing, Emma asked why I'd move ahead knowing the outcome wouldn't be great.
My response was sometimes you take crap from people because you’ve done the strategic thinking and there is a very good strategic reason to do so.
This realization came from living in the Fortune 500 world as long as I did. You have to develop a strong sense of what those right times are if you expect to survive.
9 Business Situations Where You Might Take Crap from People
After we finished messaging, I wrote this list of nine business situations where it can make sense to take crap from somebody in business:
- There is a strategic advantage to be gained and taking crap is a small hurdle standing in the way.
- You don't have any better strategic options, so it’s tough to avoid it.
- You can delegate or deflect the brunt of the crap-taking to someone else.
- Taking crap from a particular person is a badge of honor you can use as a proof point of some personal strength, capability, or perseverance.
- The stories you'll be able to tell about the experience outweigh the downsides.
- Nobody will know the difference.
- Giving people crap is just something another person does that is more annoying than harmful.
- You don't or won't even notice it.
- You know everything will still work out in the end.
This list is certainly open to question and challenge based on how you view the strategic thinking behind one of these business situations.
What's your strategic thinking about this?
What about you? Are there situations where you'll take crap from someone for good reason?
Or do you take the Billy Joel approach? He was notorious for closing his live shows by saying, "Don't take any s#!t from anyone!”
So which strategic thinking group are you in? - Mike Brown
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