Her tire was completely flat. She was completely unaware. At least that was my assumption because I watched her drive around on it as if nothing was wrong. Just driving around. Flat tire.

If you have ever driven on a flat tire, then you know something. What do you know? You know it’s flat! The car feels different. It makes weird noises. You have to push the gas pedal harder. It’s just not right.

But, what if the tire’s air slowly leaked out over time? The car feels only a little different each day. The weird noises start out being almost imperceptible. The slightly harder gas pedal push goes unnoticed. [Insert cliche reference about the frog and the boiling water here].

Point: It’s amazing what we can get used to if it happens slowly over time.

We are adaptability machines! But what if the adaptation, like the flat tire, is not serving us? Who will call us out on our BS?!?

At work, hopefully the team you have built up trust with. Can they tell you when you have it wrong? Will they speak up in a 1:1 meeting when something isn’t right?

That’s a big ask.

If you are only getting feedback from people higher up in the org chart {or nobody), then I would encourage you to wonder why that is?

Could be that a subtle problem has grown over time.