When Complacency Hurts: A Lesson from a Cracked Rib
What a painful reminder taught me about leadership, training, and getting too comfortable.
It’s my fault. I was overconfident and impatient, and that made me complacent. I rushed through something thought would be routine, convinced I didn’t need to slow down or think it through. And that’s how I hurt my ribs.
If you’ve ever cracked or bruised a rib, you know the kind of pain I’m talking about. It doesn’t go away. Every breath, every sneeze, every laugh reminds you of the mistake that caused it. It’s constant. It’s humbling. And it doesn’t let you forget how fragile “normal” really is.
The longer I sit with the pain, the more I realize how familiar it feels. I don’t mean physically, but professionally. It’s the same pain trainers and leaders feel when we get comfortable, when we stop being intentional about the fundamentals that make our work strong.
In the training world, complacency doesn’t usually break ribs. But it does show up in quieter ways. It shows up when we skip the needs analysis because “we already know what they need.” It shows up when we reuse the same slides because “it worked fine last time.” It shows up when we stop asking managers what success looks like, or when we start teaching content we haven’t practiced ourselves. The result isn’t immediate pain. It’s a slow erosion, a weakening of the core.
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When we stop honoring the basics, small problems start to hurt more. A difficult participant throws the whole session off. A time cut ruins the flow. A last-minute change from leadership derails the objective. Those things shouldn’t break us but when we’re already brittle, they do.
Here’s the truth I had to learn the hard way: the fundamentals are what protect us when things get tough. Just like strong ribs protect vital organs, a strong foundation in design and facilitation protects your session, and your credibility, when things get messy.
For me, that means going back to the basics:
Start every design with a clear purpose and a visible standard.
Practice what I teach before I teach it.
Check assumptions with the people closest to the work.
Be deliberate with every minute in the room.
When I follow those fundamentals, my sessions hold together, even when things go wrong. When I don’t, everything hurts.
Complacency sneaks in quietly. It disguises itself as efficiency, experience, or confidence. But it’s none of those things. It’s a quiet decision to skip the small, boring work that keeps everything else running. It’s neglect.
So if you’ve been doing this for a while, take a moment this week to check your own “ribs”. Are you still designing with purpose? Are you still practicing before teaching? Are you still asking what the business really needs, or have you started assuming you already know?
Pain can be a good teacher, but it’s a cruel one. Learn from mine instead. Slow down. Revisit your fundamentals. Protect the core before it breaks.
Because when it does — every hiccup, every breath, every missed opportunity — will remind you how much complacency really costs.
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