NO, THAT’S A PROBLEM, NOT AN OPPORTUNITY.

I believe in the power of words. I believe there are right and wrong ways to say things. I am notoriously OCD (I prefer “perfectionist”) at times as I go through multiple revisions to arrive at the optimal way to articulate a thought in writing.

But I don’t like BS. Unnecessary wordsmithing is a waste of time at best, and grossly ineffective at worst.

In this case, the use of ‘problem’ vs. ‘opportunity’ was an attempt at positive framing at a place I once worked. I’ll save my real-world example for the hypothetical tell-all book that I’m never going to write. Instead, I’ll pose some questions to illustrate my point.

·???????? Is your kid’s teacher drinking on the job a problem or opportunity?

·???????? Is expanding the school lunch menu to include healthy options a problem or opportunity?

·???????? Are long on-hold times for customer service a problem or opportunity?*

·???????? Are rude, aggressive and incompetent store sales reps a problem or opportunity?

While ‘opportunity’ can soften the observation, in some cases you need the directness of ‘problem’ if you want to underscore the importance of solving something quickly. The same applies to effective corporate communications. There are times to drive cultural change through positive thinking, and other times to simply call out the elephant in the room.

?

?*Trick question, depends on how you define ‘long’ given your business model.