What’s the Worst Problem You’ve had at Work?

By Mike Tenbusch | December 4, 2020

There are a couple of lessons I learned early in life, and each came at some pretty painful personal expense.  The first is that you have to change the oil in your car, especially if your car is really old and leaks oil.  I learned that lesson on a cold, dark night making the ride home from college when my ’79 Mustang just stopped running in the middle of Nowhere, Michigan.  Up until that point, I was pretty sure the oil just replaced itself.

The second lesson came at my first job after law school, when I learned that hiding a problem from your boss only tends to make the problem a whole lot worse, kind of like leaking oil over time, until the whole thing blows up.  Thankfully, I’ve never repeated that mistake.

I felt the pain of both of those lessons reading about the freighter that ran aground in the Detroit River this week.  According to a lieutenant from the U.S. Coast Guard, “They apparently experienced some sort of lube oil failure and starting drifting.”   Oh man, how glad I am that I wasn’t in charge of changing the oil on that ship!

As I’ve shared with you before, I’ve run out of gas more than the average person, I’m sure.  I’ve learned over time that sometimes my positivity can get in the way of accurately assessing risks.

In that light, can you please help me out, and help our organization get stronger, by taking a few minutes to complete our survey about your experience with us.  Your responses, year over year, help us keep a tight ship. 😊