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.

The World I Intended

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“Since you feel so strongly about this part of the planning process, tell me more about your musing?” I asked.

“Some people get stumped by starting on the wrong foot,” Lauren explained. “They sit and try to think of all the things they could do. My problem is that, as fast as I can think of something I could do, I can also think of about five reasons why it’s not possible.”

“Yes,” I replied. “One of your strengths is to anticipate obstacles before they occur, so we can take evasive action early. Tell me how you keep your mind from killing your ideas before they can take off. It must be a struggle.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t struggle. I just skip it,” she continued.

“Skip it?”

“Instead of trying to figure out what I could do, I just skip to the end, to where I have already completed the goal. And with that goal already accomplished, I simply imagine the world, then. And as I imagine, I ask myself if that is the world I intended to create?”

Time Span of Intention

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“What do you mean?” I asked.

Lauren was in a good mood. “I mean, I don’t think planning begins with setting goals. I think there is a lot that comes before, and for me it’s the best part. Setting goals is very specific. It takes work to set out precisely what we intend to accomplish. Before that, I like to muse.”

“Is that a management term, muse?”

“Not really. I think it has to do with vision, but I like the word muse. It is truly an exercise in imagination. And if I take it too seriously, it takes all the fun out of it. What do I think next year will bring? And in that environment, what do I intend to make happen?”

“Is this an exercise in solitude?”

Lauren stopped to think, “In the beginning, yes. Before we begin a discussion, with my team, it’s just me. At the same time, I encourage my team to be thinking the same way. Go someplace quiet and just think for a while. What do I intend to make happen?“

Imagine Next Year

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“So, you’re not thinking about the holidays?” I observed, Lauren staring into space.

“How did you know?” she replied.

“You were looking further out.”

“Yes, I was just thinking this has been a tough year, and I am thinking next year will be better. The holidays are nice, with family and friends, but it’s also the time of year where I relax and let my imagination run a little bit. I get to spend time, especially after Christmas, thinking about the new year. If I wrote it down, it would be called planning.”

“You don’t write down your thoughts?”

Lauren smiled. “Yes, I actually do, but that’s not the part I am thinking about today.”

Culture Eats the Competition for Breakfast

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Ray was looking at his list. “So, I can count on losing this person. They already gave their notice. And I know they will continue to have contact with the other team members, so I know they will talk.”

“Yes, they will talk. And they will talk about money. And money will appear to be the only reason to work at one company versus another. In what way can you, as a manager, put this in perspective for your team. In what way can you effectively communicate, effectively remind people about the other reasons people work, the other reasons people work here?”

Ray was shaking his head, then nodding his head. “So, it turns out that our team culture is really important after all.”

“Yes, when we sit and talk about job satisfaction, matching people’s talents with job requirements, matching people’s capability with the challenge level in the position, creating a trusting work environment, you think I am talking about being warm and fuzzy. The reason that stuff is important, the reason you have to pay attention, is to win this war against competitors. And you can’t win it with money.

“And if all your competitor has to offer is money, then you will make it very expensive for them. And in the end, their cost structure will be out of whack, and you will still win your customers. Culture eats the competition for breakfast.”

Retain the Team

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“Can you match the other offer?” I asked.

“Not a chance. Our business model isn’t built around that kind of compensation. We don’t have those deep pockets,” Ray replied.

“Then you will lose them,” I nodded.

Ray was quiet. “There’s nothing I can do?”

“No, you are going to lose them.”

“But, I could lose my whole team,” Ray protested. “There must be something I can do.”

“Accept the fact that you could lose your whole team.”

Ray sat back, his eyes slowly went to the ceiling, staring at a corner. “Okay, so what do I do?”

“First, look at your roster, this list of people on your team. Would this other company really come in here and hire every one of them with an offer to double their compensation? For real?”

“Well, no, there is only one person, who worked for them before,” Ray was ticking through the list. “And they are truly an A performer. They probably deserve what they were making at the other company. We just couldn’t match it here.”

“So, let’s say your team does become a target, the offers are likely to be competitive, let’s say 3 percent better. What can you do to retain your team?”

Raiding My Team

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“Trouble in River City,” Ray warned.

“How so?” I replied.

“In 2008, we hired a person, who I thought was overqualified for the position. They had more experience than any on our team, previously worked for another company at double the compensation, but they had been laid off and I said, what the heck.”

“So, what’s the problem, now?”

“They have been a remarkable team member, always on time, always doing helpful things beyond their job description, coaching other team members through difficult problems. Their old employer just called, layoff is over, old job available at double our compensation. I got notice.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“I want to know how I can prevent this. It’s probably going to happen again. Things may still appear bleak, but some of the monster companies look like they are rebuilding. I am afraid they are going to raid my people, and they have the deep pockets to do so.”

Never Fixed a Problem

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“The difference in the two jobs was night and day,” Caitland explained. “The higher paying job had a better title. Managing Director, I think. The other company had lower pay, a lower title, but the work was more interesting, more challenging, in the end, more satisfying.”

“What was it about the work that made it more satisfying?” I asked.

“The Managing Director job was just that. I managed and I directed. Actually, it was a glorified supervisor position. Very frustrating. I was supposed to make sure the work got done, but I felt like I was putting my thumb in the dike. I could easily see better ways to achieve the goals, systems that we could create to more effectively solve the same problems over and over. But my boss was resistant. He said that creating those systems would be a waste of time, there were always too many exceptions.”

“And why was the other position more satisfying?” I repeated.

“A lot less stress, even though we produced more than double the output of the other company. It’s funny, I never fixed a problem while I was there. I only focused on systems. I would fix the system and the system would fix ten problems. We seldom worked overtime, but were much more productive.”

I Would Work for Free

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“As a manager, if all you can offer is money, what kind of issues do you constantly face? More importantly, if we are trying to get some work done around here, how can we bring out the best in people?” I repeated.

Caitland hesitated. “I guess my experience is from my first few jobs. Money was the only reason I worked. It’s how I put myself through school. The only reason I worked was for the money. And if I got a better offer, more money, for another job, I jumped on it.”

“Did you ever take a job, based on compensation, that you wished you hadn’t taken? Even though the money was better than your previous job?” I pressed.

She nodded her head. “Yes, but, in my mind, I told myself they were paying for a lousy job and that’s why the money was better. Funny. They were paying for a lousy job.”

“And have you ever taken a job that was so interesting that the money didn’t matter?”

Again, Caitland nodded. “Yes, don’t tell anyone, but this job, I would work for free.”

“So, tell me, what’s the difference in the work?”

If All We Can Offer is Money

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“But, you can’t make your living if you only work for free,” Caitland pushed back.

“No, we do have to survive. We need food and shelter. And we will work to make sure we have those things in good supply,” I replied. “But if that is the only meaning someone gets out of their job, what do you think happens?”

“That’s easy. If they find another job that pays ten cents an hour more, they’re gone. Or worse yet, they come back and try to negotiate for more money every other week.”

“So, as a manager, if all you can offer is money, what kind of issues do you constantly face? More importantly, if we are trying to get some work done around here, how can we bring out the best in people?”

Prime Motivator

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“Thinking about your team, what is it that you think people really want out of their job?” I asked.

Caitland was looking for the trick in the question, but her answer jumped out, shaking her head, “It’s money. Just ask them. Especially today.”

“So, you think money is the prime motivator?” I followed.

“You mean, it’s not,” Caitland baited.

I smiled. “Have you ever heard of Encyclopedia Britannica?”

Caitland nodded. “My parents owned a set. When I was a kid, we used to copy out of it, for our homework assignments. We had a special heavy duty bookshelf. Those books weighed a lot.”

“And what happened to that company?”

“I’m not sure. When CDs came out, there was a company called Encarta. A whole encyclopedia on a CD.”

“And what happened to that company?”

Caitland stopped. “I’m guessing they are out of business, too. Now, I just use Wikipedia.”

“And how much money are the writer’s paid to work for Wikipedia?”

Caitland smiled.