Note: Lessons from The Overlook is a periodic update on lessons learned from owning a vacation rental property in the Southern California mountain town of Idyllwild. It's a hands-on opportunity to apply some of the techniques I advise my clients to use. You can find past updates here.

Small problems are easy to dismiss with a shrug.

When a few more customers call, confused about how to use the latest software update, it's easy to shrug it off. "Yeah, there are always some customers who are confused."

A growing line of customers in a coffee shop seems like a regular busy morning. "We're busy today," says one barista with a shrug.

I felt the same urge when I had to replace three wine glasses at The Overlook after a recent inspection. My shoulders instinctively started twitching in a shrugging motion until I stopped to think about it.

Was this the sign of a bigger problem? (Spoiler alert: It was.)

Why shrugging off small problems is a bad idea

Small problems have a way of growing if left alone. Some become chronic issues, where the occasional small problem becomes an annoying and costly routine. Others are warning signs of a much larger issue, like an iceberg poking above the surface of the water.

Leaders at the software company dismissed a few complaints from confused customers, without realizing those customers were the vanguard of a giant issue. Shortly afterwards, the support team became so overwhelmed with calls that customers had to wait on hold for an hour.

The coffee shop manager dismissed long lines as routine busyness, without realizing that the line was costing them customers. People turned and walked out the door when the line got too long.

So at The Overlook, I fought the urge to dismiss a few broken wine glasses.

It's usually no big deal. We keep a supply of replacements on hand because it's part of doing business. But three is unusual, and it seemed like we've gone through a lot of wine glasses lately.

How to investigate small problems

Investigating small problems doesn't have to be overly difficult or time-consuming. It often requires you to simply stop and pay attention.

Start by listening. What are customers telling you?

The software company's customers told support agents they were confused. A recent update had completely changed the way they used the software and it wasn't intuitive. Those first few callers shared specific feedback about the features they found difficult to use.

Next, spend time watching. Go to the source of the problem and see what's happening. What are you observing?

At the coffee shop, customers were generally patient when they entered the store and saw a short line, but became noticeably agitated as the line grew longer. Once the line reached eight people, a significant number of customers walked in, saw the line, and walked back out.

At The Overlook, I tried to re-create the journey of a wine glass from pulling it out of the cupboard, using it, and then placing it in the dishwasher. That’s when I noticed the dishwasher wasn't working.

A fresh dish detergent pod was still in the dispenser, which signaled that our last guests had evidently tried to use the dishwasher but discovered it wasn't working. (Unfortunately, they did not report this issue.)

They had probably hand-washed the wine glasses, which can easily lead to more breakage with an unpracticed hand scrubbing and drying the thin glass.

Finally, it helps to look at the data.

While it seemed like we'd had a lot of recent breakage, we've had to replace just four wine glasses this year. That's below average. There were the three I had just discovered, when the dishwasher wasn't working, and one that I discovered on the last inspection.

So the recency effect of replacing one wine glass a month ago combined with three this month led me to feel it's happening a lot, when the reality was breakage is rare when the dishwasher is working.

Prevent small problems from exploding

Taking time to quickly investigate small problems often reveals opportunities to eliminate chronic issues or prevent small problems from becoming big ones.

The key is to act quickly to address the root cause before it gets worse. At the software company, the support team compiled a report showing the impact of the confusing new update:

The increase in call volume over normal levels
The percentage of calls about the new update
Verbatim feedback from customers describing their confusion

This objective data helped the support team develop more robust self-help resources for customers. It also made the case for the product team to prioritize making the new software more intuitive.

At the coffee shop, a new employee was the sole cashier. She rang up orders more slowly than a seasoned cashier would have and frequently had to stop to ask her coworkers questions. Scheduling the new cashier to learn the job at a slower time or adding a second cashier to help keep the line moving would have solved this issue.

Fortunately, the dishwasher problem at The Overlook turned out to be a small one. We had new countertops installed in the kitchen just before our last guests had arrived. The dishwasher was set too far back under the new counter so the door couldn't fully close. Resetting the dishwasher to the proper position allowed the door to close and the dishwasher to work perfectly.

Conclusion

Some small problems are just that: small. Others are a warning sign of impending doom. Resist the urge to shrug off small issues until you know for sure.