Author Archives: Tom Foster

About Tom Foster

Tom Foster spends most of his time talking with managers and business owners. The conversations are about business lives and personal lives, goals, objectives and measuring performance. In short, transforming groups of people into teams working together. Sometimes we make great strides understanding this management stuff, other times it’s measured in very short inches. But in all of this conversation, there are things that we learn. This blog is that part of the conversation I can share. Often, the names are changed to protect the guilty, but this is real life inside of real companies.

Every December, A Flipchart of Goals

1 Reply

“Here we go, again,” Walter shook his head. “The obligatory offsite strategic planning meeting.”

“I can tell you are not excited about the planning process,” I responded.

“It’s just that we spend two days jabbering, write some goals on a flip chart and then forget about it. It’s not that I don’t like the process, it’s just, at the end of the day, I don’t see the value.”

“You don’t see the value in jabbering, writing goals or following up? Which is it?” I asked.

“I mean, we create a revenue goal. It’s a nice number. But whether we reach that goal, has little to do with the fact that we write the number on a flipchart every December.”

The Noble Sound of a Bonus

Leave a reply

“And what else?” I asked.

“This is a tough one,” she started. “Our bonus system. I think our bonus system is causing some of the problems.”

“How so?”

“Well, we wanted to make sure we didn’t get into lawsuits based on construction defects, so we pay a bonus to our engineering manager when we have zero claims. It sounds noble, but that sets up someone to over-work against our operations manager, who is just trying to get the job done.

“To make matters worse, we diligently work the project schedules to avoid delay claims. Delay claims can do more than suck the profit out of a job. So we pay a bonus to our operations manager when we have zero delay claims.

“So, now I have two people on the same team who are working against each other.”

“What else?”

Alicia began with a blank stare, then a hint of something in her mind. “I think,” she replied, “the worst part about our bonus system is that it creates mistrust.”

A Plan With Wrinkles

Leave a reply

“So, what happened when you shared your plan with the team?” I asked.

Lisa winced. “Share my plan? Well, yes, I was planning to roll it out next week. Should be a big kickoff.”

“So, everyone is on board with the plan?”

“Well, they don’t know about it, yet. I mean, they know about the project, but I plan to share the details during the kickoff,” Lisa assured.

“Lisa, did you discover anything new while you were creating this plan?”

She nodded, “This plan has some wrinkles in it. It will require some specific changes to our process.”

“Why didn’t you know that before the plan?” I pressed.

“I guess I always knew it, but I didn’t see it until I wrote it all out,” Lisa agreed.

“Do you think your team might discover some things when they see the plan all laid out?”

“I suppose.”

“Is there a possibility that those discoveries might wreck your big Kickoff?”

Lisa face revealed a slight stare of anxiety. “You’re right, but I have already scheduled the Kickoff Meeting.”

“So, change the name of the meeting from the Kickoff Meeting to the Plan Review Meeting.”

So, I Get A Pass?

Leave a reply

“So, I get a pass based on circumstances outside of my control?” Lisa ventured.

“Not so fast,” I replied. “Were there trends you should have examined in guiding your team to the goal? Should you have taken into account, a likely event that could have gone either way? The politics of an external decision? A shipment delayed? A key team member getting sick? A supplier unable to deliver? Did you create alternate paths to the goal?”

But, We Are Results Based!

1 Reply

“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?”

Alternate Paths

Leave a reply

I trust each of you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, ate way too much dessert and are now fully satiated and ready to get back to work.

I am currently working with an online class, its latest focus on the planning process. It is that time of year, where all things turn to goals and objectives for the coming year, thinking that we will outdo ourselves in that optimistic quest.

And yet, if don’t achieve those (sometimes) elusive goals, we likely blame a variety of factors outside of our control, thinking, how could we possibly be held accountable for those external elements?

Here are my assumptions –

  • I assume that you will do your best.
  • I assume, that, in doing your best, you will study those external factors outside of your control, to determine what influence that might have on your accomplishments.
  • I assume that you will create alternate paths, contingencies to be adjusted when those external forces exert their influence.

At the end of the day (year) I will not judge you on your results. I will judge you on your effectiveness. This means, no excuses, for circumstances outside of your control. How will you effectively anticipate and plan for those inevitable contingencies?

Purpose, Uncertainty and Chaos

2 Replies

Though his head felt it, the room was not spinning. The muffled conversation was screaming. Lenny was sure he was about to pass out. In the six months since he was promoted, things had become increasingly chaotic.

“When the path is clear, anyone can be the leader,” I told him. “In the middle of ambiguity, leadership is visible. The person who paints the clearest picture of reality will emerge as the leader.”

What is this “reality” stuff, and why is it so important?

Because reality always wins. You can identify it and deal with it, or ignore it and allow it to eat your lunch.

What is reality in your company? It’s the obstacle in the way of your goal. It’s the head trash that distracts you from effective action, that diverts you from your purpose.

Purpose is the starting place for the reality conversation. Purpose helps to make sense of the chaos, allows us to see clearer patterns in the swirl. Purpose creates context for the noise. If you are a Manager and the world is churning, sit down with your team and have a talk about purpose.

Seven Years Done

12 Replies

In November, 2004, we talked about starting this blog. Here we are, seven years later. This is post #1,580. Much has changed, we have weathered a recession, published through Hurricane Wilma. Sometimes people ask, what it takes to keep something like this going.

In the end. This conversation, like most conversations, is with myself, there just happens to be other people in the room. Thank you, for being in the room.

Off to Washington DC, working with three Vistage groups on my favorite subject, the research of Elliott Jaques.

Tomorrow, we roll into our eighth year of publishing. Today, I think I will have a beer.
-Tom Foster

Volunteer for Project Work

Leave a reply

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I have been following your blog for a while and I have learned a lot. My question is a bit unorthodox, but here goes. My manager is very happy with my work, but is hesitant to give me more responsibility. I know he is afraid that if he does promote me, and it doesn’t work out, it might be a bit of a mess. The problem is that I feel like I have reached the peak of my position, and I am ready to move on. Tom, how can I show him that I am ready to start moving?

Response:
This is a dilemma for every manager. If we promote people and they fail, we have to fire or demote, neither of which is in our best interest. I will give you the same advice I give to those managers. Volunteer for project work.

Project work allows both the manager and the team member to experiment with designed task assignments that might be a stretch in capability, skills or interest. If the project works, everyone is more comfortable, trust based on evidence of success. If the project fails, then we just have a failed project. No firings, no demotions.

So, it is time to schedule that conversation. The risk in not having the conversation is that you will remain frustrated, it will impact your work and relationships. In the end, you will move, one way or the other. We all do.

Practice

2 Replies

We were running north with a hint of a tailwind. The bike computer said we were running an easy 23 mph. Six cyclists in a pace line. The lead cyclist created the forward wind tunnel, expanding larger as each team member passed through. Even with a 5 mph tail, at 23, we still had 18 mph of head wind. The efficiency of the pace line allowed the team to run quicker than a single cyclist alone. The leader on the nose can put maximum effort into the wind, with the rest of the pack safely tucked in behind. The pace line rotates its leader to keep fresh legs up front.

In the dark, the approaching car was easy to see, its headlights piercing out from a hidden driveway. The halogen beams continued to brighten the road in front. We could see the car, the car couldn’t see us.

“Car right! Car right!” echoed off the passing buildings. The pace line, which had been a steady snake for the past 7 minutes suddenly began to bunch, alternating riders cheated left and right. “Slowing!” yelled the lead. Each rider focused simultaneously on bike separation, an escape path and the intersecting car. What would happen next? The riders were bunched, speed had dropped to 18, the efficient wind tunnel disappeared, each bike now flaring its own path into the resistant air.

The headlights stopped. The lead rider made eye contact with the driver and held up a stopping hand. The driver clicked to high beam and back to low.

The lead rider came out of his saddle and pressed hard into the wind, pushing back to 20. The second rider came back from the left and tucked in behind the lead 24 inches off the wheel. Each successive rider adjusted position, pressing into the forming tunnel.

The last rider hooks on and the lead hammers back to 23. In the short space of 8 seconds, the pace line approached danger, lost its effectiveness, then regrouped into a highly interdependent efficient team.

How does your team run its pace line? When circumstances throw it off course, how quickly does it react to protect itself? How does your team re-establish its operating groove? What is communication like? How quickly does the wind tunnel return? Does your team practice this drill?