“Wes, efficiency is only one side of the story. And cost-cutting could put you out of business,” I said.

“But I was told to reduce as many costs as I could,” he replied.

“As a manager, you have some decisions to make. Most of your day to day decisions will be about Pace and Quality. Pace and Quality.”

I could see Wes repeating those words to himself. Pace and Quality.

His head began to move from side to side, “But we work as fast as we can and Quality is always at the top of the list,” he stated proudly.

I stared at Wes, silently for fifteen seconds. “Bullshit. Without metrics, targets, you have no idea how fast you are working and you use your Customer as your Quality Control department.”

“I am curious about your goals,” I observed. “They describe a process, but don’t speak to the outcome. In the end, what are you trying to achieve?”

“My goal is to increase efficiencies. We just need to be more efficient,” Wes attempted.

“Why do you need to be more efficient?”

“Kind of obvious, isn’t it? Every company has to be efficient.”

“I get the concept,” I replied. “But what is the outcome, what is the result if we are more efficient?” I could tell Wes was getting impatient.

“We make more profit,” he blurted.

“How much more profit?” I pressed.

“I don’t know, whatever it turns out to be.”

“So, you have no way to measure the effectiveness of your intention to be more efficient?”

“I see all of that,” Dale responded. “Timing, urgency, quality, priority and necessity. I get it. And I see how understanding Time Span helps me make those decisions.”

“But that’s just the beginning,” I pointed. “There is one more decision. The most important decision a manager makes. As managers, we spend so much time figuring out what to do, how to do, when to do. But the most important decision is who.”

“You’re right,” Dale replied. “And if anything is going to come back to bite me, it’s the decision about who.”

“And Time Span helps us make that decision. Not only does Time Span point to timing, urgency, priority and quality, but Time Span is an indicator for complexity. The shorter the Time Span of a task, the less likely it is to be complex. The longer the Time Span of a task, the more likely uncertainty will creep in and influence the outcome.

Each person is born with an innate ability to deal with a certain amount of uncertainty in the world. That capability can be objectively measured in Time. If we understand the Time Span of the task and understand the Time Span capability of the person, we can create a match. The most important decision a manager has to make is who.”

“I never really thought about it,” Dale replied. “I figured most things would get done when they got done. Sometimes, I push people to get something done faster, when we need it. But you are right, thinking about the Time Span of a goal is usually an afterthought.”

“So, what happens when we set the Time Span for a goal?” I asked.

“It sets a follow-up date,” Dale nodded.

“And what else?” I pushed.

“Well, if the Time Span is short, it dictates the timing of the action, how urgent something is.”

“And if the Time Span is short, what impact does that have on the quality of the output?”

“Obviously, if we are in a hurry, we might compromise on the quality of the work product,” he confirmed.

“So the by when governs the timing of the action, the pace of the action, the urgency of the action, the ultimate quality of the action, the priority of the action and in many cases, whether the action occurs at all.”

“So, if I make my goals more specific, you will be happy?” Dale asked.

“No, I will only be half-happy,” I replied. “A goal has two parts to it. A what, by when. Making your goals more specific, defining a quantity and a quality standard gets us part way there. But what about the Time Span of your goals?”

“Look, we have a lot going on around here. I am sure we will achieve our goals, but I can’t really tell you when. I mean, probably sometime this year.”

“And that’s why I will only be half-happy. Like most managers, you spend most of your focus on the what of your goals. The by when becomes an after-thought, if at all. Why do you think the Time Span of a goal is as important as the what?”

“What are your top three goals?” I asked.

“Well, we need to control our costs. That’s one. We have to control our inventory. And we need to improve the morale in our team,” Dale replied.

“Those are worthy pursuits, but what’s the goal? How will you know when you get there?”

“I knew you were going to pin me down. You always want me to be more specific.”

“Why do you think I always press you?” I continued.

“I guess, if I’m not specific, you can’t hold me accountable,” Dale smiled.

“So, the first part of accountability has to do with the specifics of the goal.”

I don’t often do book reviews, but this one caught my eye.

Once Upon a Cow by Camilo Cruz, is a story about our own personal cows. The beginning parable is about a teacher and a student who journey to a small town, the teacher telling the student to look for the poorest home where they would seek refuge for the night.

The two men stopped in front of the most dilapidated little shack they had ever set eyes on.

The student watched in disbelief as the teacher sliced through the cow’s throat in one swift movement. The fatal wound caused the animal to drop silently to the ground.

The story continues one year later when the teacher and student return to the home. They find the family flourishing and learn the story of how the death of the cow caused the change in their fortune.

We all have cows that need to die.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I’ve been in charge of a project for nearly a year. I go away on vacation and come back to rumors about me all over the place and it appears my boss gave my project away to someone else.

I confronted him about it and he still says I am in charge so I boldly take charge. I think things are going ok again, until I find out both my boss and the “substitute” project manager are undermining my authority behind my back.

Response:
Politics uncovered. This is a script from Dunder Mifflin, but it’s not funny when it’s your job being worked around. You are either already out and your boss doesn’t have the guts to tell you or the “substitute” project manager has an alternate agenda, probably hidden.

Either way, your response is still the same. As you enter this conversation with your boss remember this:

The person who can best describe reality without laying blame will emerge the leader.

While this scenario seems to be all about you and a competitive threat from a colleague, the reason to get it resolved with clarity is bigger than you. Here is the way I would approach your boss.

“I thought we had come to some resolution about the ABC Project, but there still seems to be confusion on the part of my team that I am unable to clear up. This is important to both me and the company, because, as long as there is confusion, my team can’t be as productive as we need them to be. As the Project Manager of the ABC Project, I have made task assignments to achieve the goals we agreed to. Since my return from vacation, my team has received conflicting task assignments from other people. These conflicting task assignments are causing confusion, rumors, gossip and behaviors that have nothing to do with reaching our goals.

“I can get my team re-focused on the goals of the project, but not when they are getting mixed signals. I would like to get this situation resolved so I can get my team back to work. In what way can we make sure that, as a management team, we are sending clear signals?”

Then listen. Listen carefully.

Some of you missed yesterday’s busted link to Michelle Malay Carter’s post on Who is Accountable? Should work this time.

So, who is accountable? Managers have been taught to play all kinds of games with this. My favorite is Results Based Performance. When I ask a group how many subscribe to that philosophy, the hands shoot up with enthusiasm.

But Results Based Performance isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In most cases, it is a manager abdicating their managerial responsibilities. If a team member was a goose and the intended result was a golden egg, it’s as if the manager said, “I don’t know how to manage, I don’t how to encourage, support, train, or any of those other managerial things, so I will only count your golden eggs. And that is how I will judge how you are doing.”

The number of golden eggs seldom tells the story about performance. The number of golden eggs says more about the managerial system than it does the goose.