UPBUILDING THE SELF

Safe vs. Quality Problems

Do you work on problems that are comfortable to work on? Are you aware that your focus on these problems might be getting in the way of working on problems that will make a real difference in your life? Michael, Vipin, and Hari Prasada introduce us to safe vs. quality problems, a framework that was introduced to the Upbuild team ten years ago by a coach named Dave Parke and has become central to our work at Upbuild. The team shares how to differentiate safe from quality problems, examples from their personal and professional lives, and the key questions we need to ask ourselves in order to be our best selves.

Podcast Hosts: Michael, Vipin & Hari Prasada

Highlights

  • [2:40] What is a safe problem, and how is that different from a quality problem?

  • [4:20] Examples of safe and quality problems

  • [5:30] The example of time management as a problem that can be either one

  • [7:50] How safe problems mask quality problems

  • [10:20] Key questions to differentiate between the two 

  • [15:10] The importance of working on safe problems

  • [20:40] Organizational examples

  • [23:40] Vipin’s personal example from his coaching session with Hari Prasada

  • [31:00] The quality problem behind the WFH debate, and why leaders don’t want to address it

  • [39:50] How do we nudge ourselves and others toward quality problems?

  • [42:00] Asking powerful questions and the Five Whys at Toyota

Quotes

  • “A lot of time and energy gets expended on safe problems that don’t actually move the needle.” -Hari Prasada

  • “Safe problems and quality problems are not binary. There’s a spectrum.” -Hari Prasada

  • “The only way that we can become our fullest selves is by shedding light on the dark.” -Hari Prasada

  • “When you’ve hit on the deepest why…change becomes not easy, but easier.” -Vipin

For first timers, welcome to Upbuilding the Self

About the podcast: Two former monks, a former startup founder and CEO, and a former equity derivatives trader dive into how to be our best selves, free from the ego. Our egos are the identities we create for ourselves and wish the world to validate, but when we are not seen as we want to be, we feel insecure. This podcast lives at the intersection of leadership and spirituality. It will help you understand your ego and shed light on your inner world so that you can act with greater clarity, compassion, and the freedom to be your best self.