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If your co-worker is making snarky comments, it may be temporary frustration, or some deep rooted problem. At some point, everyone is frustrated. Life is not perfect, and sometimes it just becomes too much to handle. If your co-worker does not let off steam via harmless snarky comments, they will do something worse. The trick is to control the volume and tackle the problem at the root.

If the percentage of positive comments to total comments decrease over time, it is time to take your co-worker aside before they become the rotten apple that ruins the whole basket.

The isolated snarky comment is also a clue. It may be disguised as a (bad) joke. It may be revealed by tone or body language. Or, it may be revealed by silence, ignoring requests, or stalling when presented with indisputable facts. In any case, you have to be aware, and be prepared to intervene.

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When something is broken at work, business process, behavior, business strategy, systems… the list of choices seems endless, your first instinct may be to solve it. Of course, you quickly discover this is not always easy or smooth. The indignation of your seeing a problem that everyone seems to be ignoring is replaced by the frustration of not being able to solve it.

If you are not fostering change, you are not being a leader. However, this is a case where “less” is actually “more.” Meaning, you don’t want a long list of things to change on your daily checklist. That will spread you thin and if you are fatigued, you will not have the strength to build the coalition needed to drive change. Getting people to agree seems to be 80% of the effort. Then solving the problem is another 80%. Wait… that is more than 100%, but you get the point. It is a lot of work to drive meaningful change.

Forget the crusade, pick your spots, buckle up, and knuckle down. Target only the high ROI change efforts. If it takes time, so be it. After all, you are doing your best.