A Letter from Dr. Jake Bucher

“We’ll Figure it Out”

I was having a conversation with someone recently where we were discussing a complicated issue and I used the phrase “we’ll figure it out.” I have been reflecting on how/where that fit with a similar but separate conversation in my former role, and a conversation with my daughter. In the conversation with my former colleague, in response to a similar complicated issue I was helping them work through – I said “we’ll figure it out.” That person commented, “you say that a lot,” and she followed with “and we always do.” In the conversation with my daughter, I responded to one of her requests with “we’ll figure it out.” She said, “you always say that” and followed with “and that means nothing will happen.”

I never realized that it’s a standard phrase of mine, and I’ve thought a lot about how my communicating “we’ll figure it out” comes across – especially in a new community where I don’t have a track-record yet of coming through. I do mean it as a commitment to you all – we are tasked with doing great and important work, and without an abundance of resources. We also face occasional internal conflicts and disagreements that impact folks’ sense of self and job satisfaction.

So, I hope that if you ever hear me say “we’ll figure it out,” you hear that as a promise that I will do everything I can to get us where you need/want to be, and trust that it is not a dismissive/avoidant administrative spin. It is my calm confidence in Regis, that with good-intentioned and talented people, we will always figure it out.