The trouble with trouble

           Have you ever experienced trouble at work? Duh, of course you have. Trouble comes in many forms. It can be a leaderless boss or a knit picky co-worker. Maybe it is the economy but that is not really the trouble I’m talking about today. This trouble has to win and it’s human. There are people all around us that feel they must be heard or their opinion must be right. I call them trouble.

At work I could be called trouble. I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut when trouble arises. I like to think I give trouble a bad name. Ya, and some think it’s me. I tend to only open my yap when trouble rears its ugly head. You know, it’s when something or someone is making it hard to do your job correctly. I can’t stand trouble in the work place.

Work is work in my mind. There are times we follow the rules and sometimes we need to break them. Trouble says we either never break them or always break them. There is no middle ground or gray area with trouble. I have never had a day where work is normal. We all have to think and react at work. Situations always dictate improvising and innovation. Trouble hates that. The trouble people hate change, spur of the moment, and surprises. They like to keep life in their comfort zone. Life is never in a comfort zone so trouble is always trouble.

What does God have to say about trouble? I think God talked about trouble as a theme. Jesus said we will always have the poor. Now the poor are not trouble, but “always” says to me something’s will always happen: like trouble. Jesus also said “Don’t worry about tomorrow’s trouble because today has enough worry (over trouble) of its own.” God talked about being nice to trouble. He said it’s like pouring hot burning coals on their heads. Trouble hates to play fair.

That brings me to my point (finally pat). Trouble must be snuffed out right away. I know countless stories of trouble makers running amuck in the work place. Well-meaning managers running around trying to put out the fires trouble causes all in the name of compromise. You will never beat trouble because trouble has to win to remain comfortable. Trouble never is flashy or splashy. No, trouble is silent and picky. It works in small amounts to create unrest slowly. Trouble controls the atmosphere most of the time. I have never seen a workplace recover from trouble that is allowed to work their magic.

You must learn to know trouble when you see it. You must learn to have discernment over compromise. The good bosses are trouble killers. At my job there are two kinds of managers: the nice guy and the Pit-bull. The nice guy tries to work with trouble and good workers. Trouble will win every time and then the nice guy is removed and in comes the Pit-bull. That manager wreaks havoc on the workers and the trouble. In the end we have a burnt smoldering workforce that hates management. Production and morale is left vaporized by the explosion and choked by the fallout. Amazingly then the trouble leaves because it has done their job. Trouble, if not fired, will live to fight another day in another area. When it comes to trouble you must always recognize it and toast it immediately because nice guys do always finish last when they try and work with trouble.

Faith comes alive