You Can't Fix…

Fix-It-Felix-Jr According to comedian Ron White, you can’t fix stupid. He has made a lot of money with that as his trademark line.

In Cold Play’s 2005 mega-hit, Fix You, the line is “I will try to fix you.” The song doesn’t say whether “I” was successful or not—an important point to remember.

In Disney’s $500M success, Wreck It Ralph, one of the main characters is Fix-It Felix, Jr., whose role is to—you guessed it—fix things. At one point in the movie, Fix-It Felix…. (you’ll have to watch it).

Without a doubt, I have a fix-it nature. And worse, my ego has too often convinced me that I can fix-it most anything. Dottie (my wife) has reminded me more than once that I can’t fix-it everything and sometimes I shouldn’t even try. It is really hard for me to stand by and not fix-it or die trying. However, she is right, I can’t fix-it everything. Neither can you.

As a leader, you probably can’t fix-it people who are lazy, or gossips, or serial complainers, or certified jerks (more on jerks in my next post). Further, you will exhaust and frustrate yourself trying.

So what should you do? Most of the time: fire them. And I only say “most of the time” to give myself a little wiggle room. You and everybody else will be better off without them. Morale will be better. Productivity will be better. Retention will be better. Creativity will be better. Everything will be better.

So what are you waiting for? Quit trying to fix-it what can’t be fixed. Sorry to rush off, but I have to go fix-it….

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