The numbers aren't bad, but you feel uneasy. You shouldn't ignore that sense of discomfort.
"The numbers aren't bad. But for some reason, I feel uneasy."
Sales and profits aren't extremely bad.
Cash flow isn't in immediate trouble.
Operations are running, more or less.
On the surface, it doesn't look like there are any major problems.
And yet, for some reason, you feel uneasy.
"I feel like something is wrong."
"It's okay for now, but I don't get the feeling that things should stay this way."
"It's hard to explain, but something is bothering me."
You may have this kind of feeling.
However, this feeling is tricky.
It doesn't show up clearly in the numbers.
If you talk to others about it, they might say, "You're overthinking it."
Even you might want to dismiss it as "maybe it's just my imagination."
In fact, many business owners pull back their intuition at this point.
"The numbers aren't bad, so I must be worrying too much."
"Maybe I'm just tired."
"I can think about it once a clearer problem arises."
That is how they let it slide.
Of course, sometimes you really are overthinking it.
However, in business, it is not uncommon for this "discomfort that is hard to explain" to be a very important sign when looking back later.
"Discomfort" is not illogical, but a "notification of a discrepancy"
Here, I would like to change the way we look at discomfort.
When we say discomfort, it sounds somewhat vague, emotional, and outside the realm of logic.
However, in the business field, it is quite the opposite.
Discomfort is often not illogical, but a "notification that something is off."
In other words, it is a state where you have sensed a discrepancy before your mind has been able to organize it.
For example,
A discrepancy between facts and perception
A discrepancy between expectations and reality
A discrepancy between numbers and structure
A discrepancy between your values and what you are currently doing
Sometimes, this kind of discrepancy cannot be put into words immediately.
However, it may appear first as a physical sensation or a feeling of restlessness.
Therefore, discomfort is not noise that should be ignored.
At the same time, it is not something that should be immediately turned into a definitive conclusion.
The important thing is to think about it this way.
"You don't have to reach a conclusion. But you should keep a record."
With just this one step, the discomfort changes from something you are 'imagining' into an 'object of observation'.
Sometimes the body senses 'problems not yet reflected in the numbers' first.
A common case is when the numbers are still holding up, but the manager continues to feel a strange sense of restlessness.
For example, sales are stable.
Profits are also secured for the time being.
No major problems have been raised in meetings either.
Yet, for some reason, you cannot feel at ease.
When you dig into the reason for that, you may find that changes are occurring not in the numbers themselves, but in the structure supporting those numbers.
For example, dependence on a major client may have become too high.
Or, a key person in charge may have changed, causing the flow that supported previous stability to shift little by little.
Or perhaps the atmosphere on the front lines looks like it is functioning, but in reality, it was being maintained based on unreasonable demands.
In such cases, it has not yet appeared in the numbers.
But sometimes the body reacts first, sensing somewhere that 'this stability might not last long'.
If you dismiss this feeling as 'just a state of mind,' you will likely overlook structural risks that could have been reviewed early on.
Conversely, those who can handle their discomfort carefully can sometimes take action before problems surface in the numbers.
This is not a matter of intuition or grit.
It may simply be that the observations you have accumulated in management are reacting before they can be put into words.
The reason why you should not jump to conclusions when you 'feel discomfort'
There is something I would like to note here.
When I talk about valuing discomfort, people often say,
"So, is my intuition always right?"
but that is not the case.
Discomfort is merely a notification.
It is not a medical certificate.
In other words, it is letting you know that there is a possibility of some discrepancy.
But you do not yet know what that discrepancy actually is.
Skip this part,
If you conclude, "This client must be dangerous after all," "This executive must be untrustworthy," or "The current way of doing things is no longer working,"
then that sense of discomfort will turn into a fixed assumption.
Therefore, what is necessary is
to "not ignore the discomfort" and "not jump to conclusions based solely on that discomfort."
It is important to hold both of these perspectives at the same time.
In management, both are very important.
If you ignore it, you will only notice the problem after it has deepened. If you jump to conclusions, you will take action against the wrong person or in the wrong area.
It is best to treat discomfort by keeping it in the middle.
Keep a "Discomfort Memo"
If you have a feeling of unease even though the numbers aren't bad, you don't need to do anything difficult.
First, it is useful to write down and keep a "Discomfort Memo."
You only need to write down the following three things.
1. What you feel uncomfortable about
First, just write it down as it is.
"The numbers aren't bad, but I can't feel at ease," "I'm a little concerned about our dependence on this client," "The site is running, but it feels like it's being forced," "After the change in personnel, there are no problems on the surface, but something is bothering me."
You don't need to organize it well here. It's fine if it's vague or just as it is.
2. What might be out of sync
Next, if it is a discrepancy, write down a hypothesis about what is out of sync with what.
"The stability of the numbers" and "the stability of the structure" might be out of sync, "the apparent smoothness of the meetings" and "the real intentions of the staff" might be out of sync, or "the expected state" and "the actual operation" might be out of sync.
This is not a place to provide the correct answer.
A temporary placeholder is sufficient.
3. What to check next
Finally, write down only what you will check next.
Review the dependency ratio of major clients.
Check the closing rate and presence of complaints after a change in personnel.
Ask if the staff is being pushed too hard.
Identify parts of recent decisions that have become overly dependent on specific individuals.
Once you can write this much, the discomfort is no longer just a vague feeling.
It becomes an 'observation that leads to the next check'.
Just 'putting your discomfort into words' reduces spinning your wheels.
What is difficult in management is not the existence of problems themselves, but continuing to move while carrying a vague sense of unease whose source you don't know.
The numbers aren't bad.
But I feel like something is wrong.
If you force yourself to act positively or, conversely, force yourself to feel reassured while in that state, the internal burden will increase.
That is precisely why you should put your discomfort into words while it is still small.
It might just be my imagination.
It is fine to allow for that possibility.
However, thinking 'it might be my imagination, so I won't record it' is a bit dangerous.
If your discomfort turns out to be wrong, that's fine.
If you check and find nothing, that becomes a source of reassurance.
What is truly bad is when your discomfort was correct, but you ignored it.
In management, it is overwhelmingly more effective to notice 'hey, this is a bit strange' at an early stage than to deal with a problem after it has grown.
In that sense, discomfort is not a weakness, but perhaps an entry point for early observation.
There are also things that cannot be seen through numbers alone.
Of course, numbers are important in management.
It is dangerous to make decisions based solely on intuition without looking at the numbers.
But at the same time, there are things that cannot be seen through numbers alone.
Changes that have not yet become numbers.
Fatigue in the field that has not yet been reported.
Discrepancies in relationships that have not yet surfaced.
Internal concerns that you have not yet sorted out.
Such things may initially only appear as 'discomfort'.
Therefore, trusting the numbers and treating your discomfort with care are not contradictory.
In fact, having both will improve the accuracy of your management observations.
Numbers show you the results that have already appeared.
A sense of discomfort alerts you to discrepancies that haven't manifested as results yet.
When you can handle both of these together, your decision-making becomes much more multidimensional.
Conclusion
A sense of discomfort is not something to be turned into a conclusion immediately.
However, it is also not something to be ignored.
The numbers are not bad.
Even so, I feel uneasy.
That feeling might not just be a mood, but a notification alerting you to some kind of discrepancy.
What I wrote in this article is not about 'trusting your gut'.
Instead, it is about how 'treating your intuition as an object of observation can improve the accuracy of management decisions'.
In the paid article, I organize the process of breaking down this discomfort into
'discrepancies in facts',
'discrepancies in expectations',
and 'discrepancies in values',
while relabeling them to turn them into your next move.
I don't want to leave intuition as just intuition.
I want to turn discomfort into observation, not anxiety.
For those who feel this way, the rest of the article should be quite helpful.
For those who want to get to the bottom of it, the rest of the article should be quite helpful.
✅ For more details, check out the paid note!
✅ Recommended for those new to 'Zobserver'
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