Seth's Blog : "Hit the red button"

"Hit the red button"

Everyone on your team should have one.

When we hit the button, it instantly alerts the CEO or someone who willingly takes responsibility for what happens next.

And then the question: What are the circumstances where an employee should (must) hit the red button?

Consider:

• A sexual harassment complaint 
• A customer leaves over poor service 
• There's pressure to ship inferior or dangerous products 
• The wait in the customer service queue passes 8 minutes 
• Any other combination of bribery, racism, dumping of effluents, breaking promises, cooking books, lying to the public, etc.... 

If you don't have a button, why not?

The red button makes it clear to your team that they should either solve important problems on the spot or let you do so, and that not treating a problem seriously is not an option.

And if you don't treat your project seriously enough to have a button, if there isn't a culture where you want people to either fix these sorts of problems or get them looked at immediately, why not?

We can compromise our way into just about anything. At least do it on purpose.