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.

Creating the Environment

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“I know I have heard that before,” Vicki replied. “As the manager, it’s not my job to motivate, I am supposed to create an environment. So, what does that mean? We have work to do here.”

“This is all about work,” I replied. “And by work, I mean making decisions and solving problems.”

“But my people know what they have to do, and there aren’t that many decisions to make.”

“Look again,” I encouraged. “Your team is making decisions all the time, if you let them. Most of their decisions fall into two categories, quality and pace.”

Vicki looked puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“How many units are supposed to come off the line by lunch time?” I asked.

“Fifteen,” she replied.

“And so, as the morning goes on, your team is making decisions about how quickly they should go without compromising quality? And if there is a quality issue, they have to solve the problem and make up the pace to reach the goal by noon?”

“Yes.”

“And, what happens if they discover that they can maintain the quality standards, and produce 20 units by noon?” I smiled.

“Well, they would probably knock off at 15, or slow the pace down because the goal was 15.”

“But that would violate the contract,” I prompted.

“The contract?” Vicki repeated.

“The contract to do their best. Part of the contract means if they can complete more than the goal using their assigned resources in the allotted time, they are supposed to tell you, as the manager.

“See,” I continued. “That is why 15 is your goal, not their goal. It is the manager who is responsible for the result. And that is the first thing to understand about creating this environment.”

Motivation Hype

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“It gets back to the contract you have with your team,” I said. “Each team member is responsible for doing their best. That’s it. People have a deep need to do their best, a deep need to contribute, a deep need to work.”

“Then, why do I feel like I spend most of my time trying to motivate my team?” Vicki pondered.

“I don’t know, what do you think?” I replied. “Keep in mind, people behave in accordance with the systems we place them in. It is not your job to motivate. It is your job to create the environment where all the motivation hype is not necessary.”

Exercising Judgment

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“Okay, I pay him to solve problems and make decisions, not to push the button,” Vicki tested, still resisting. “Aren’t you just being picky?”

“I am. And for a reason,” I replied. “People don’t come to work to push a button. They come to work to solve problems and make decisions. They come to work to contribute. They come to contribute to a group of people who they hold in high regard. Much of their identity is related to the position they hold in your company.

“Our status in life, our place in the world is defined by the groups we belong to. If we don’t belong to a group, we don’t exist.”

Vicki was listening, her posture gaining interest.

“People want work that challenges them to their highest level of capability. In that work, there is true satisfaction. Not by pushing a button, but exercising their full judgment in making decisions toward a goal.” -TF

Not to Push the Button

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Vicki was stumped.

“Your team member is in the break room, having a soda, thinking about a problem in his work area that needs to be solved,” I repeated. “Would you call that work?”

“I want to say no,” Vicki struggled. “He is not at his work station working, so he can’t be working. I know, he is not being productive, so even though he is thinking, he is not being productive, so he is not working.”

“And if he does not solve this problem he is thinking about, his productivity will stop,” I continued.

“You want me to say yes, he is working, but it feels like no,” Vicki insisted.

“Vicki, do you pay your machine operator to move a piece of metal into position and to press a button to cut the metal? Because, if that was it, you could hire a robot. Or do you pay your machinist for his judgment of how raw materials are organized to enter the work area, the cleanliness of the scrap produced by the machine, the attention paid to the preventive maintenance to keep the machine operating?”

Vicki finally responded in a long slow sentence. “I pay him for his ability to solve problems and make decisions, not to push the button.”

What is Work?

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“Perhaps we should define the word, work. That might help us better understand why people need to work. What is work?” I asked.

“This is going to be a trick question,” Vicki replied.

I nodded. I had known Vicki for a couple of years. She was used to my trick questions. “It’s only a trick question because you really have to think about the answer,” I agreed.

“If you caught me at my office,” I continued, “leaning back in my chair, arms folded behind my head, feet up on the desk, how would you describe my activity at that moment?”

Vicki grinned, “I could say that you were goofing off, but I know better. You would be thinking.”

“And what would I be thinking about?”

“I don’t know, your next project, how to solve a problem, perhaps thinking about a decision that needed to be made?” she floated.

“Yes, so would you call that work?” I stopped as Vicki nodded in agreement. “And if one of your technicians goes outside to the picnic area for a break, and he isn’t goofing off, what would he be doing?”

I could see Vicki looking for the trick in the question. “Okay, if he is not goofing off, then he is probably thinking.”

“And what is he thinking about?” I asked.

“Well, he is probably thinking about his next project, how to solve a problem.”

“Yes, and so, would you call that work?” -TF

A Deeper Need

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“They work because they have to,” Vicki repeated.

“Let me change a word,” I replied. “They work because they need to.”

“Well, yeah, same thing.”

“Only if we can talk about the need. What is the need that requires people to work?”

“They have to work, I mean, they need to work because they need the money to survive, to pay their mortgage, make their car payment.”

I shook my head from side to side. “It’s a noble attempt, but there is a deeper need. If you only see the benefit of work as a paycheck, as a Manager, you will be led down the wrong path. For a Manager, that path is miserable and unproductive. As a Manager, that path will cause you to create systems that breed unproductive behavior. So let’s try again. What is the need that requires people to work?” -TF

Lehman R.I.P. – AIG?

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Reprinted from January 14, 2008

My friends, as we look forward to 2008, understand that January 2009 will be a very different landscape. And we have twelve months to prepare. While Investor’s Business Daily proclaims we are teetering on a recession, that teetering point is still some months away. This is not a time for panic, but a time for preparation.

Lee Thayer, (Leadership 2004), speaks about necessity and its importance in the workplace. The entrepreneur, who starts a business, only puts in place that which is necessary. Only necessary equipment is purchased. Only necessary people are hired.

As time advances, and the business becomes more complex, necessity becomes more complex. And management decisions are made to bring on more infrastructure to support that complexity. Sometimes those decisions are accurate; sometimes those decisions miss the mark.

During this next year of preparation, look around. Re-think your work-flow. Re-think your personnel structure. Carefully examine what your customer wants, to make sure what you deliver is necessary.

Over the next few weeks, I will share with you economic insights to help you prepare. Those of you connected to residential housing are already working hard to survive in a recessionary climate. For those, thankfully, outside that environment, who think you have dodged a bullet, pay attention. January 2009 will be a very different landscape. -TF

Because They Have To?

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“I work because I have to work,” Vicki finally stammered.

“I will accept that,” I replied, “but not for the reasons you think.” A few seconds passed. “Are you happy with your work?”

“Well, yes. I mean, there are days when it’s frustrating, but mostly, I like the work.”

“And your team, do they like the work?”

Vicki winced. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s okay, I guess, but it’s hard work and if it were me, I don’t think I would like it.”

“Then why do they come to work every day?”

“Because they have to.”

“So, your team doesn’t like the work and the only reason they show up is because they have to? And do you think, if you left them alone all day, that instead of working, your team would sit around, play cards and take naps?”

Contribution

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“Why does your boss work?” I asked Vicki. “He doesn’t need the money, not anymore.”

“Well, yeah,” Vicki stammered. “He works because that’s who he is. I mean, he has power.” She stopped and chuckled. “He gets to tell people what to do.”

“So, it’s different for your boss, than it is for you?”

“Well, of course it is. If I made as much money as he does, I would come to work because, because.” Her voice trailed off.

“So, the only way you could be happy in your job, is if you made as much money as your boss? The only way your team members could be happy in their jobs is if they made as much money as your boss?”

Vicki was unsure of her response. “I could never make as much money as my boss,” she finally replied. “What I do isn’t worth that much money. What I do has value, but, but. But I am paid, about right, for what I do, for the value I bring to the company.”

“You are paid, about right? Then why do you work? Part of it is money, it is a symbolic trade for your contribution. And, what is the other part, why do you work?”

Why do People Work?

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Lee Thayer kicked us off yesterday, mulling over what people miss when they misunderstand the meaning behind a job. Over the next few days, we will talk about jobs and work. What is work? Why people work?
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“Why do people work?” I asked.

Vicki was tentative in her response, looking for the trick in the question. “They work because they need the money,” she finally replied.

“That’s a start. Why do people work?” I repeated.

“They have to support their families.”

“Okay.” Vicki could see I added her response to my mental list. “Why do people work?”
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