I’ve had periods with some managers where, every time we talk, we’re talking about SOME problem:

Two illustrations of the same stick figure with curly hair, looking unhappy.

me: why did y happen?
me: X has been a problem for a year and it’s STILL not fixed

These days, I try to bring up problems that I’m interested in fixing and bring ideas for solutions when I can. Often we just talk about our work:

Each item is illustrated with a smiling stick figure with curly hair saying them.

• here’s an idea I had…
• my intern is doing awesome work!
• did you see that great thing this other team did?
• here’s an interesting bug from this past week…
• I thought of an onboarding project for the new person!

Sometimes venting can be useful too, though! If there’s a problem, it’s often helpful to bring it up even if I don’t have a solution.