Problems grow the size they need for you to acknowledge them

One year ago today: the WHO said “it’s too early” to consider coronavirus “a public health emergency of international concern.”

1 year ago today: WHO says "it's too early" to consider coronavirus "a public health emergency of international concern"

— BNO News (@BNOFeed) January 23, 2021

Of course, the pandemic grew larger and larger, partially because it took us so long to acknowledge its existence or classify it as a problem.

In my book “100 Truths You Will Learn Too Late,” I wrote:

Problems grow the size they need for you to acknowledge them.

The pandemic is clearly one instance of this principle.

A heuristic

The principle “problems grow the size they need for you to acknowledge them” does not guarantee that the moment you acknowledge them, they will stop growing. As it had been the case with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nor do all problems keep growing – some outbreaks of other viruses self-resolved rather quickly.

However, even though not all problems keep growing, those that do become extremely more painful and costly to solve. Therefore, it is a good heuristic to act as if problems grew at least until the size you need to acknowledge them.

Address problems not for their current size but for the size they might reach if left unaddressed.