We need to own up to the hard parts of our job and fully commit to owning them. It might be a mistake we’ve made and need to rectify, or a problem we must tackle head on before it gets even bigger. In these circumstances, making small changes around the edges, or “nibbles”, can be harder than dealing with it in one go.

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Career advice can sometimes be clichéd, delivered by well-meaning people with little experience on the job, but this simple statement on how to deal with problems directly is advice I’ve thought about in countless situations.

Like when I had to have difficult conversations in the workplace, or fess up to making honest mistakes. Whatever it was, I vowed to eat the entire shit sandwich in one horrific mouthful. It was never enjoyable, but it was usually better than the alternative.

This worthy advice was passed on from Ben Horowitz to everyone who read his book, including my business partner, who then passed it on to me. I’ve since passed it on to dozens of colleagues, staff, mentees, friends and anyone else who needs to hear it.

And now, I’m passing it on to you. You can choose whether to listen to it or ignore it of course, but the next time you find yourself in a sticky situation at work, I hope these ten little words can help make those hard times a tiny bit easier.

Tim Duggan is the author of Work Backwards: The Revolutionary Method to Work Smarter and Live Better. He writes a regular newsletter at timduggan.substack.com

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