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.

Indefinitely Suspended

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Sam was turning schizophrenic on me. One minute, he was sure he was going to terminate Alex, the next minute he was sure the team could not live without him. True, Alex was a top performer, on top of the productivity list every month.

But, he was such a pistol to be around. He was arrogant, and he let everyone know it. It’s not that he was simply loud and boisterous, but even in one-on-one conversation, he was always stirring things up.

I told Sam to look at the sports page from over the weekend. Sam is not the only one struggling with this issue. The Philadelphia Eagles have indefinitely suspended Terrell Owens for -conduct detrimental to the team-.

“Sam, understand that Terrell Owens is one of only 6 NFL players ever to make 100 touchdown catches. Yet the Eagles know that his attitude and behavior off the football field causes more problems to the team than his superior athletic performance on the field.

“Your difficulty with Alex may be a deal killer,” I continued. “It is a tough call to make, but sometimes the individual contribution of a single team member is outweighed by the damage done to the rest of the team.” -TF

Not a Gift, but Something Earned

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As a young project manager, Mario had been successful at meeting the deadline and holding profit margins on each of the four projects he completed. Paul, his manager, wanted to give him a promotion, but was gun-shy.

The last project manager Paul promoted had done well on smaller projects, but the responsibilities of longer range projects had overwhelmed him. In the end, Paul had to let him go. It was almost as if the promotion ruined a good junior project manager.

“You don’t test a person’s time span by promoting them,” I said. “Though not impossible, it is very difficult to backtrack a promotion. Instead, test a person’s time span by giving them longer range projects to work on. Only if they are successful, do they get the corner office.

“Don’t promote the person to test them. Test the person to earn the promotion.” -TF

Delegation and Time Span

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“My team tells me that I don’t follow-up with them often enough, and that is why I am often disappointed,” complained Sherry. We had been talking about her delegation skills.

“How often is –not often enough-?” I ask.

“It seems to be different for different people.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know,” Sherry paused. “One person can just go longer than another person.”

“Sherry, I want you to think in terms of Time Span. Time Span is the length of time that a person can work into the future without your direction, using their own independent discretionary judgment. And each person on your team has a different time span.

“Here is your exercise. Make a list of your team and beside each name, I want you to guess the length of time that each one can work independently. Your guess will be the first benchmark for how long you leave them to work without follow-up. I want you to keep a log. Once each week, for a month, write down your observations of each team member’s time span. We will get together and talk again.” -TF

Drive the Decision Down?

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Question:
What is your opinion on the idea of forcing decision making downward. Do you think downward decision making is desirable?

Response:
It depends. There are a number of factors that will determine this direction. Ultimately, I will hold the manager responsible for the results of any decision that was made. This alone may guide you.

First factor is risk management. How much risk is associated with the result of the decision? If the decision is made poorly, how much damage can be done?

The second factor has to do with purpose. What is the purpose of driving the decision down a level? Is it a learning purpose? Is its purpose to obtain buy-in to the decision? Get clear on the purpose and that will help you determine the direction to move. -TF

Bent Out of Shape

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The pictures look mangled. Well, they are mangled, at least the buildings are. Okay, so are the boats, and yes, there is also a mangled airplane.

I remember an essay about survival of the fittest. It referenced a scientific study, constructed somewhere in Minnesota. What survives?

What survives is not some eloquent species, particularly suited to a harsh element, drought or temperature. What survives is diverse adaptability.

The study focused on some ragtag patch of soil and plants that made it through a variety of conditions that killed off everything else. The surviving flora was distinct only through its diversity and its adaptability.

Power poles don’t adapt much.

“That which does not bend, shall be bent out of shape.”

Hurricane Wilma reminds us what it will take, not just to recover, to survive, but to take hold and thrive again. It will not be some super strength, but our diversity and our adaptability. -TF

Dancing in the Streets

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Mad Max, the movie, provides an insight to the past few days in South Florida. Bands of people, patch together technology to manage a life which can oddly be called normal.

One week after Wilma, half of all schools are still without power and will remain closed for at least two more days. The proliferation of generators has created lines at gas stations by people on foot with gas cans. Others quietly wait by candlelight, taking cold showers and depleting their stock of canned goods. Even this blog has existed by virtue of a power inverter and a dial-up line strung through the window of my car.

“South Florida is nice,” explains a line worker, who has just descended from a power pole. “At least here, when we restore the power, people still have a home to hook it up to. They are very appreciative.

“Four weeks ago, in Mississippi, we would heat up the line, but there were no homes left. No cheering. No hoots and hollers. No dancing in the streets.”

Much to be thankful for. -TF

Calm in the Control Center

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Day Five after Hurricane Wilma.

Infrastructure. Things are moving forward because of infrastructure. Look at the systems created by each organization in this cleanup and watch them work. A dispatcher sits at a counter with a permanent line to emergency officials. He rolls out trucks and reassigns crews as work is completed.

There is calm in this control center. It is calm because its systems are working. The planning may be hour by hour, sometimes minute by minute, but it is supported by an infrastructure created a long time ago.

I was talking with Bernard Paul-Hus, president of Hypower Inc. His role at this point is to stand back and let his systems and people work. His type-A personality pushes him to find something active and essential to do in the moment, but his real work in response to Hurricane Wilma was done months ago.

Think about your organization. What kind of infrastructure do you have? Have you built it to be responsive to changing conditions? It doesn’t have to be a natural disaster. You are faced with changing market conditions, new competitors and shifting technologies.

Management lessons become visible from time to time. What can you learn from Wilma that will help your company face its trials in the future? -TF

Like a Music Festival without the Music

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Thursday is Day Four without power. Management lessons become visible. Media lessons become visible.

Watching television is a strange way to pass the time. Local tv stations are doing their level best to whip up controversy. There are some people who have already exhausted their personal supplies, and indeed, they are standing in line. It’s like a music festival without the music. But if you get away from the television, you can see a different picture.

Crews are mobilizing to help get power restored. Entrepreneurs are roaming the streets with chainsaws and pressure washers. Citizens are moving STFO and SSIH in manageable piles so municipal crews can remove it with large mechanical jaws. (STFO – Stuff that fell off. SSIH – Stuff snapped in half.)

I attended a meeting at a local college this morning, its administrative staff and faculty in the foyer organizing how to get classrooms fired back up by next Monday. At another location, response teams are rolling trucks to restock gear and refuel power generators. A barbeque grill churns out hamburgers as each driver packs some food before they disappear for another run.

I think we will survive this. -TF

Culture and Citizens with Chain Saws

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The mornings are eerie after Wilma. The cold snap freshened the atmosphere. As I lay in bed, there seemed not a whisper of wind. In the background, the drone of personal generators reminded me that this part of the world is in temporary survival mode. My battery-powered black and white television showed scenes of collapsed roofs and reports of widespread power outages. For anyone dealing with similar damage, it’s crucial to get repairs promptly. If you’re in need of assistance, click here now for gutter and roofing repairs to ensure your home is protected and restored.

But outside, the mood is upbeat; people begin to appear, drinking coffee boiled on their barbeque pits. Soon, the sound of chain saws fills the air and the piling of debris is in full force.

We sneak across the bridge to the beach to watch city crews with large machines dig several feet of sand from the road. The place looks like a war zone, but less than 24 hours after the storm, everyone is digging out. The owner of Bob’s Pizza reports that all of his employees showed up for work today. If they had power, we would be eating pizza.

Another email today, “We are up and at ’em. Everyone is here because we have a mission! Culture is right! Everyone is out in force cleaning up. No cry babies!”

Culture. My friend, Red Scott, says, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Every time. -TF

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The techology gods were good to us today, the power inverter from my car is still working with my dial-up connection through the window. More tomorrow. -TF

Wilma’s Management Lesson

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The wind is gusting 105mph over my house as I write this. We lost power several hours ago, so I am depending on batteries and a dial-up connection.

As I watch this storm pass over, I think about the differences in preparations for the last three major hurricanes. Someone sent me an email contrasting the different responses from the populations involved between Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The differences centered on the personal responsibility taken by the citizens of each affected area. Taking responsibility for one’s own safety, from personal emergency supplies to taking shelter seems to make a big difference in the outcome of the aftermath.

And I think about what really makes the difference. Is it leadership? Is it some specific action taken by this local official or that state official? And I thought, NO. It has less to do with specific action than it does with the accountability culture of the community. Where the culture of the community commands personal responsibility, the outcome is much different.

Community leaders can make grand media pronouncements, or call in the National Guard, but ultimately, what happens has more to do with the accountability culture of the community.

What kind of accountability culture does your company have? What impact does that have on your company’s success in the marketplace?

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Postscript. I am now using a power converter in the front seat of my car. We still have a dial-up connection in the house. We will work hard to keep this blog churning in the aftermath of Wilma. Stay safe. -TF