The Shattered Glass Syndrome: A Simple Way to Reduce Stress and Drama in Your Life

(Photo by quinn.anya)

Sometimes the seeming simplest of actions can have far reaching and unfortunate consequences. If you want to reduce the stress, struggle, and drama in your life, I would suggest you develop the ability to look multiple steps ahead and see these problems before they arise.

I was reminded of this just this morning, when I went ahead and created a stupid problem for myself…

There I was, minding my own business, preparing my breakfast.

I needed a plate, and there happened to be one sitting right there in my drying rack. There were a few other things in the rack, including a large pan I had used for dinner the night before, but they should have been unaffected by me removing the plate.

Or so I thought…

It seems that pulling the plate out of the rack kicked of a series of rather unfortunate events.

First, the plate dislodged the pan, which fell over the side of the rack onto the counter.

Oh no.

There was a glass bottle of olive oil on that part of the counter, which the pan fell onto and then slowly, every so slowly, knocked over.

Oh no!

The bottle was ok, but the position of the bottle forced the pan to slide forward, towards the edge of the calendar. At this time, there happened to be three wine glasses on that part of the counter.

Oh no!

The pan knocks over the first two glasses, which remain intact. However, it shoves the third glass just hard enough to knock it off the edge of the counter. I see the glass, in true action movie slow motion fashion, tumble end over end towards the linoleum floor.

OoooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhNnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Then it happens: CRASH!

Oh.

No.

No.

No!

NO!

Yes, the wine glass hits the floor and shatters into what seems like a million pieces. It is amazing how much spread a wine glass dropped from about three feet up creates when it shatters.

I spent the next fifteen minutes sweeping, vacuuming, and gingerly walking around my kitchen, cleaning the mess up.

Note: I think I got it all, but I am not 100% sure. If you happen to be barefoot in my apartment in the next 24 hours do two things:

1. Walk very carefully near the kitchen
2. Ask yourself, “Why am I barefoot in Avish’s apartment? Why am I in Avish’s apartment at all?” As far as I know, I have not invited you over this evening. Which is not to say that I wouldn’t enjoy an uninvited house guest. But I digress…

Once I finished cursing out:

• The pan, for having the audacity to not only fall, but to knock other things over too.
• The universe for letting this happen.
• Isaac Newton for discovering gravity.

I calmed down and took some responsibility for what happened. This was all my fault because I made one simple mistake:

I didn’t pay attention to the chain reaction of events that pulling the first plate out of the drying rack would create.

Pulling out the plate was a simple action. However, it had far reaching (relatively) and annoying (very) consequences.

As I sat amongst hundreds of pieces of broken glass, contemplating the best way to get my barefoot self across the floor and over to the vacuum¹, I realized there was an important lesson to be learned here. One that goes beyond falling pans and shattered glass:

People who lead well, reduce drama in their lives, and head off problems before they occur do so by being able to see multiple levels of the consequences of their actions and then adjusting their approach appropriately.

People who consistently create and compound the issues in their lives are much more likely to look only at the immediate consequences of their action. They often fail to look at the long term effects or the “consequences of the consequences.”

It’s the simple difference between thinking:

• If I take this action, consequence A will happen, or…
• If I take this action, consequence A will happen, which will lead to consequence B, which will lead to C, which will lead to….well, you get the picture.

For example, if you are a manager and you use anger to dress down your employees, the immediate consequence might be that they do what you say. Excellent, and if you take your thought process no farther, this will seem like a perfectly good plan.

However, if you think a few steps ahead, you’ll realize that, yes, they’ll do what you say. But that will lead to resentment and anger. Which will lead to gossip and bad-mouthing. Which could lead them to:

• Perform just well enough to not get fired, but not well enough to help the business grow or make you look good. Or…
• Quit, leaving you temporarily shorthanded and with the unpleasant task and expense of filling the position and training the new hire. Or…
• Go over your head and report you to your supervisor, which could land you in hot water.
• Surreptitiously record you and then post the video on YouTube, leading to you, when the video goes viral, winning the moniker of “World’s Most Jackassiest Boss.”

This is just one example. You can apply the same mentality to most situations, both personal and professional.

The next time you are faced with a decision, imagine a wine glass shattering on the floor and remind yourself to think beyond just the immediate consequences. You just might safe yourself a lot of headache and drama.

¹ For those of you concerned about how I escaped, rest easy. There was a dust pan in close reach of where I was in the kitchen. I cleaned my way across the floor…

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