The latest trend on Tik Tok is a prank pulled on unsuspecting and over-zealous dads. It’s called the Dad there’s water coming out of the bathroom trick. Maybe it’s the 2020 version of is your refrigerator running? Either way, it’s really funny watching dads in multiple cultures and in multiple languages falling for the same trick (the water coming out of the bathroom is a series of water bottles lined up single file coming out of the bathroom door). It’s what happens when our default way of handling problems is to react in one specific way each time.
For some of us, we are conditioned to be reactive. Problems are just another opportunity to prove our strength and our worth. After solving enough problems, we develop an arsenal of go-to solutions. This becomes our default method. For dads, it’s being the savior and protector. We jump in to resolve the crisis. For managers, it might be finding the person to blame and dealing with them. For HR professionals, it might be a quick reference to the policy manual. Sometimes it’s a good strategy, but when it becomes your one-size-fits-all, then it ceases to work effectively.
If you’re tired of being the equivalent of the dad in the Tik Tok video, ask yourself the following questions:
- When crisis happens, what’s my first response? Do I look for someone to blame or do I take my time to examine what happened?
- When did my choice of responses become a single, go-to response?
- What triggers my default response?
- When was the last time I stopped to examine why I respond as I do?
- What would it take to broaden my choice of responses?
The families in the Tik Tok videos simply play on what they see their dad doing in a crisis. Dad’s predictability becomes the butt of the joke. It’s fun to watch on Tik Tok or America’s Funniest Home Videos but in reality, it demonstrates a lack of self-awareness and everyone around them notices it.
Your employees and co-workers notice yours too.
What are you going to do this week to develop new responses?
