YES! …But, But, But we all hear it everyday; we created the “BUT” Monster as Leaders and it needs to be wiped out.
As was taught in our History Classes, the “BUT” Monster originated with the Retail Settlers who put fear into their Minions if they didn’t know the answer to their Leaders question.
Due to being cowardly group, a “BUT” came shooting out of their mouths instead of answering the question at hand.
👉In this Soap Opera we call Retail we tend to replace 3 common words – I don’t know – with a big “BUT”.
I personally like the word “BUT” when I am reviewing, coaching or just asking general questions to my Team, as it leaves the door open for a phenomenal game of “Why” based off of the legendary sometimes overused Root Cause diagnostic tool.
These are the most common deflectors I hear:
👉”BUT”….why are they allowed to do it that way?
👉🏻”BUT”….how do they get away with it?
👉🏼”BUT”….look at what they are doing, it’s not the Standard Operating Procedure.
“BUT”
“BUT”
“BUT” after awhile sounds like a gaggle of geese or the latest Donald Trump campaign stop…too soon?
🛑 Stop the “BUT” Madness and own up to your mistakes, own up to not to knowing the answer and own up to being human and accept your opportunities .
Instead of using the “BUT” as a deflector, you should be using the following to fill in the “BUT” cracks:
👉 Really, I didn’t know that.
👉🏻 Wow, that is interesting, how was this accomplished?
👉🏼 Good for them, let me give them a call to see how they did that.
👉🏾 I don’t know the answer, let me get back to you on that.
👉🏿 Or….the classic…pretend you weren’t listening and move on to the next topic 😭.
When you start to accept you don’t know everything, the weight and use of your “BUT” will start to diminish; and your Coach, Manager, and Wife will appreciate you more than just being a knob who is afraid to admit that they just don’t know the answer or the reality of the situation.
Stop using your “BUT” crutch today and replace it with straightforward answers (or additional questions) and you will see how situations will clean themselves up and for both sides of the cheek.
……..I just had too.
✨ Knowing is half the Battle – G.I Joe