Barra's fourth lesson — address challenges head on — carried particular weight given the context. She was speaking just months after becoming CEO of General Motors, at a time when the company was grappling with a massive ignition switch recall that had been linked to numerous deaths, a problem that had been known internally for years but never properly addressed. She illustrated her point with a memorable joke about a plant manager who asks an engineer to explain her hiring process: applicants are given a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to empty a bathtub. The right answer isn't the bucket — 'a go-getter will pull the drain plug.' The message was unmistakable: don't work around problems, go straight to their source. And don't rely on hope that things will resolve themselves.