Category Archives: General

The Journey

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“I know I need some help,” Ellen explained. “I am in a new role, I have to step up my game. I know you and I know that many people trust you to help them. I need you to teach me, so that I can become a better manager.”

“I am flattered,” I replied, “but I must tell you a story.”

There was a young woman searching for the meaning of life. She had heard of a wise man who lived at the top of a mountain, who, by all reports, could help in her quest. So she made preparations for the journey.

It was a long journey, traveling by foot. Many overnights before she arrived at the mountain. The mountain was not particularly dangerous to climb, but the path was another two days journey into a higher elevation.

Finally, she arrived, and sat with the wise man she had heard so much about. After explaining the reason for her travel, she asked the question. “Sir, what is the meaning of life?”

To which, the wise man quickly responded, “My child, Life is a River.”

The young woman was clearly taken aback. “I heard you were a wise man, so I traveled many days to arrive at your mountain, then traveled two more days into the clouds to speak with you about the meaning of life, and all you have to say is that Life is a River?”

The wise man looked directly at her, “You mean, it’s not a river?” -TF

A Hundred Reasons

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“I just hope this delegation with Joe goes okay. We have a lot on our plate this week and a couple of serious issues,” Ruben hedged.

“Ruben, there are a hundred reasons why this delegation could fail. If it succeeds, it will not be because everything was right with the world. It will succeed in spite of everything going against it.” -TF

Discretionary Decisions

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“How do you talk about discretionary judgment in the Job Description?” Corina asked.

“Right at the top,” I replied. “And attached to each Key Result Area.”

“Okay, I have a supervisor position. The Key Result Areas are:

  • Scheduling
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Safety
  • Production

“The prescribed duties are easy,” Corina explained. “The supervisor has to post the schedule, maintain the equipment, prevent time-lost accidents and meet the production schedule. How do you figure in discretionary judgment?”

“The first element to establish is the Time Span of Discretion. How long do you, as the Manager, expect the team member to be able to make routine decisions (using their discretionary judgment) without having to come to you for direction? And that Time Span may be different in each Key Result Area.

“Let’s start with scheduling. How far into the future do you expect your supervisor to schedule your team members in their work assignments?”

Corina squinted, “I believe next week’s schedule is always posted the Wednesday before.”

“And what about the week after that, and two weeks out and three weeks out?”

“Well, those aren’t posted, but the supervisor has them in a notebook on his desk. They’re not finalized because some people may have vacation, or the production schedule may require overtime.”

“So, the supervisor is looking out four weeks into the future, using his discretionary judgment, making decisions about work assignments based on things like vacation and production schedules. Would you say the Time Span of Discretion is about four weeks?”

“Yes,” Corina began to nod. “It’s not just that the supervisor posts the schedule on Wednesday. To do an effective job, it’s the discretionary decisions being made four weeks out, in his notebook, looking ahead.” -TF

Is Your Market Changing?

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“Good work, so far,” I said. “If things work out this way.”

“Well, it’s a plan,” Miguel replied.

“What if things don’t work out this way?”

Miguel closed his eyes, trying to visualize something he had not considered. When he opened his eyes, I could tell he had drawn a blank.

“You expect things to occur, your customers to want a certain product line and your volume of orders to reach a specific threshold. What will you do if these things don’t happen?” I continued.

Miguel shifted in his chair. “I know. I was thinking, as I put this plan together, am I working to finish the plan just to get it done? Or am I really thinking through different scenarios. This year already seems a bit weird. Sales have been sluggish even though we have really been working our bids.”

“So, what do you think?” I asked.

“I think I need to spend some more time playing the what-if game.”

And to All, a Good Night

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Originally published December 23, 2005.

As Matthew looked across the manufacturing floor, the machines stood silent, the shipping dock was clear. Outside, the service vans were neatly parked in a row. Though he was the solitary figure, Matthew shouted across the empty space.

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.”

He reached for the switch and the mercury vapors went dark. He slid out the door and locked it behind.
—
We hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Management Skills Blog will return on January 2, 2008.

Don’t forget that our Leadership program kicks off the New Year on January 9, 2008. Register now at www.workingleadership.com.

The Manager’s Meeting

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In response to Michelle’s comment to yesterday’s post.

Question:

Will you expand upon the idea of planning like a democracy? Democracy implies to me that decisions are up for a vote and majority wins.

I am certainly all for a manager soliciting the best advice from his team, but ultimately the manager must have the authority to decide, as it is the manager who is accountable for the output of the team.

My experience is that teams are OK with the ultimate decision being that of their manager, as long as they know this upfront. Employees advise and recommend, but the manager decides.

Conversely, when a manager says or implies he’s running a democracy and the majority recommends something that the manager ultimately overrules, the team feels betrayed – and rightfully so.

Your thoughts?

Response:

In his book Driving Force, Peter Schutz characterizes the distinction between planning and implementation using analogies to organizational processes of dictatorship and democracy. His distinction is to make the point that most managers reverse the process, making decisions like a dictator and then wondering why the implementation is wrought with democratic slowness.

For implementation to be competitive, it requires the streamline efficiencies analogous to those found in a dictatorship. In implementation, there is seldom time for discussion, divergent opinions or tactful instruction.

To implement in this way, however, requires the planning process to incorporate processes analogous to those found in democracies. Planning must include the participation of those stakeholders in discussion, alternatives, contingencies, related issues, including the impact on all parties.

Your question centers around the specific accountabilities in the process of decision making. You are correct, the manager must make and be held accountable for the decision. And in fact, team members who participated in the process do not have to agree with the decision; they only have to agree to support the implementation of the decision made by the manager. It is their participation that is critical. People will support a world they help to create.

Elliott Jaques (Requisite Organization) goes so far as to rename the weekly team meeting to the weekly manager’s meeting to clarify the accountability.

A Judgment Most Avoid

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Picking up our discussion about Results vs. Effectiveness, Kurt posed the question.

Question:
Results can be measured, how do you measure effectiveness?

Response:
Effectiveness is a matter of judgment. Effectiveness is a matter of managerial judgment. How well does Rudy perform in the achievement of the desired goal? Given all the ins and outs, the difficulties faced, the unanticipated, unplanned monkey wrenches that get in the way, how well does Rudy perform?

This is a matter of managerial judgment.

Given that:
1. Any task (or role) requires a certain capability.
2. The person assigned has the appropriate capability.

The judgment is whether the person is committing their full capability to the task (or role).

This is NOT a “matter of counting outputs, super credits for super outputs, or penalties for lateness or sub-standard quality.” * This is about bringing their full capability to the completion of the task.

It is the job of the manager to observe and account for all the surrounding circumstances and make this most important judgment. And it is precisely this judgment that most managers avoid.

*Elliott Jaques, Requisite Organization, 1989.

Thanks Giving

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We have just rounded the turn on three years at Management Skills Blog. Our first post was November 15, 2004. I had no idea. This is post #757. I am amazed.

I am amazed at the number of readers and the widespread geography. A few weeks ago, we created a survey. Here are the top ten countries.

  • United States
  • Canada
  • India
  • Australia
  • United Kingdom
  • Denmark
  • Belgium
  • Pakistan
  • Taiwan
  • Sweden

I always wonder who stumbles across this blog. (71) percent of readers are either Chief Executives (23 percent), Vice-Presidents/Sr Managers/Directors (21 percent), or Managers/Supervisors (27 percent).

I am amazed at the experience of those responding to the survey. (51) percent have more than ten years in management, (22) percent of readers have more than twenty years in management.

Finally I am amazed at those readers who tell me that their day starts with Management Skills Blog and a cup of coffee. For all of you I am grateful. As much as you may be drawn to read, I am also drawn to write.

In the United States, this is Thanksgiving week, with the actual eating festivities this Thursday. Management Skills Blog will return next Monday. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving. -TF

I Have to Stop

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Some time ago, you made a choice that changed your life. You made a decision that separated you from most other people. Each of you has a story.

We started telling your stories of management almost three years ago. Along the way, this blog has helped us create friendships around the world.

We have so many things we could talk about, that I have to stop. I have to stop and ask some questions.

If you follow the link below, you will arrive at a page that will help us in the final stages of design and delivery of a new online project. (No, this is not some cheesy way for us to get your email address, because most of you are on our email subscription list already.) I am most interested in the geographic scatter of our subscribers, the level of management responsibility and specific issues you are facing.

For those who participate in this survey, we will offer a $50 credit that you can use when we roll out this new project. We will run this survey through October 19, 2007 and publish the results soon after.

Here’s the link:

http://www.managementblog.org/survey-oct2007/

If you have any questions, just let me know. -TF

Ran Out of Gas

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“Why do you think your Quality Circles program eventually ran out of gas?” I asked. Jamie and I had been talking about how to bring people to perform at their highest level of capability.

“I don’t know,” Jamie explained, “people just sort of lost interest, I guess.”

“And why did they lose interest?”

“Well, at first, there was this gung-ho enthusiasm, you know. It was new, but eventually the newness wore off.”

“When you look at the Quality Circles program that your company developed, what did you design in to sustain the program?”

Jamie almost chortled. “Designed? We figured if it got started, it would just keep going.”

“Jamie, if you could, think back. Exactly how long did it take for the Quality Circles behavior to die off?”

“I remember, pretty clearly, we started right after the new year, but by Saint Patrick’s Day, it was over.”

“So, it took two and half months for the behavior to die off.” Jamie nodded. “And you spent a bunch of money on a consultant to show you how to do this?”

“Oh, yeah, we had a couple of books that we had to read, and we had meetings, planning sessions. It was a big production, right down to the costumes.”

“Costumes?”

“Well, yeah, we all had these shirts we were supposed to wear. It was okay, at first, but after a while, people started making fun of the people who wore the shirts.”

“So, there was all kind of activity and planning and thinking about this beforehand, but not much thinking about what happened after. Jamie, I want you to think long and hard about this sequence. A lot of activity before the behavior, then the behavior, then the behavior died off.”

Jamie squinted her eyes, clearly imagining the sequence. “So, we did a lot of stuff up front, but didn’t do much on the back end.”

“Yes, so what do you think was missing?” -TF