The other day, I met a woman who was full of complaints. Lots of people didn't submit their data correctly, and that created work for her. The building maintenance crew made some lovely improvements, but far too noisily during work hours, which distracted her. And so on.
All valid complaints actually, but I got worried because we were on the same project team. Was she going to drag her feet the whole time for one reason or another?
I kept my concerns to myself and plunged in. And came away surprised and delighted at how productive and helpful she was.
I came to realize that she just liked to have everything lined up before beginning. Work environment, data, clear sense of objective -- once these were in place, she could move mountains. The main point of her complaining was that it prevented her from getting to it and doing an awesome job. She was totally self-motivated, but in the wrong environment, her review might have contained phrases like "reluctant to jump in" or "a negative distraction".
Far from dragging her feet, she actually wanted to race, and cursed the clutter that blocked the starting line.
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