“But we are a RESULTS-based-performance company,” Lisa pushed back.
“Does that mean you get a trophy because your team made goal in spite of your managerial incompetence?” I asked. Then smiled. “Just kidding.”
I could see the blood return to Lisa’s face.
“A plan, or a goal is simply a proclamation of your intention,” I continued. “No one knows, for certain, if that goal will, in fact, be achieved. The only measure of performance is performance. While the end result is certainly a metric, it is your effectiveness that I will watch.”
“Not sure I understand,” Lisa replied.
“Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, we achieve a result through no good efforts of our own. We are carried to the goal by momentum, or luck, positioned just right in the flow by random fate. Can I judge your effectiveness, positive or negative based on the fact of the result, or should I more properly examine the moves you made?”
Odd, Lisa was still listening.
“More often, the opposite happens. We have intentions to make our numbers, but the environment turns hostile, we fight with the alligators and do our best to make lemonade. Can I judge your effectiveness, positive or negative based on the fact of the result, or should I more properly examine the moves you made?”
“Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, we achieve a result through no good efforts of our own. We are carried to the goal by momentum, or luck, positioned just right in the flow by random fate.”
Brilliantly put. In some organisations, there’s unfortunately too much emphasis on “did it work, Y/N?” regardless of the manager’s skills and abilities, as if the success or failure of a goal or project is entirely the result of their input (or lack of).
To put it another way: it’s easy being a manager when everything else falls into place – it might not be that manager’s individual skills that have made things right, they’ve just been lucky.
Likewise, there might be a manager who’s struggling, but could be a genius – the problems might lie with people higher-up not giving support, etc. Doesn’t mean they’re not a good manager.