Tuk Tea - The Benefits of Steeping 

As I mentioned last week , I’m currently on a slightly crazy expedition from Ottawa to Tuktoyaktuk.

And I’m driving an antique MGB.

What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

Before we even got properly underway, the MGB developed a habit of running beautifully… until it didn’t. It would run for a while, then stall.

Nevertheless, we set off.

Within the first hour, it broke down three times.

Despite our best efforts, we eventually admitted defeat and limped back to our base in Ottawa. We spent most of the evening working on it, convinced we’d solved the problem, and set off again the next morning.

This time we got about as far as we had the day before.

Back to Ottawa.

Then, just to make things more interesting, one of the other vehicles developed a major suspension problem.

So there we were. Three of us sitting around, rather glumly contemplating the possibility that a months-long expedition we had spent ages planning might be over before we had really started.

My instinct was to solve the problem.

Come on. Let’s lay out the options. Figure out what works. Make a decision and get moving.

It got absolutely no traction.

And eventually I realized something.

Sometimes you have to let a problem stew.

Not every difficult decision can be solved by putting the facts on a whiteboard, applying logic and choosing Option A, B or C. Particularly when something has gone badly wrong.

There’s disappointment. Frustration. Different perspectives. Ideas that haven’t quite formed yet. And sometimes people simply aren’t ready to make a decision.

So we stopped trying.

We let it sit.

There was a nap involved. And a few beers.

Four or five hours later, we came back to the problem. By then, perspectives had shifted. New ideas had emerged. And we found a solution that was not only workable, but that everybody was behind.

One vehicle was repaired. Another was substituted.

And off we went.

As I write this, we’re about halfway to Tuktoyaktuk.

There’s a lesson in here for business owners and CEOs.

We tend to think that good decision-making is about getting the right people together, getting the facts on the table and applying enough brainpower to reach the answer.

Sometimes it is.

But messy decisions — particularly ones involving people, disappointment or unexpected change — need something else.

Time.

You need to let the emotion dissipate. Let different perspectives develop. Let ideas bump around in the back of your head.

Like a good cup of tea, sometimes the problem just needs to steep.

So the next time you and your team are stuck on a difficult decision, perhaps don’t push harder.

Go away for a while.

Have a nap.

Maybe even have a beer.

Then come back and see if the problem looks different.

You might be surprised where you end up.

Possibly even Tuktoyaktuk.

See you next time,

Andrew