Category Archives: Timespan

Gratitude

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We have a formal holiday in the USA this time of year, to give thanks for the opportunities and people in our lives.

And so, I want to thank each of you for the opportunity to come into your busy day, at least for a few moments, to stir the pot, rearrange some things in your head. I started this blog in November 2004, so by my count, that makes 20 years. I thought that ten years would be a milestone, never thought that 20 was possible. And I have you to thank. Some ask, how do you keep doing this? The real question is, how could I stop?

I think it’s time for a beer. Happy Thanksgiving, November 2024. -Tom

Record Sales?

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“You are right,” Riley admitted. “Our record sales this year depended on one non-recurring project. But, don’t you think we will get lucky next year and get another project like that?”

“Maybe so, maybe not,” I replied. “But can you relax and depend on luck? I worked with a company that increased its prices an average of ten percent, and then were so proud that revenues were up seven percent. They didn’t count the trend in units sold. A bit of self-delusion at the celebration party.”

“But, we still have record sales this year.”

“No, you had one record sale this year,” I nodded. “In the immortal words of Abe Lemmon, you scored one more point than a dead man.”

Timespan in Your Role

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

My boss feels I am very good at my work, but that I don’t take responsibility. I tried to ask him what he means by that. He said that I have to be told every time what I must do. So, I tried to do things on my own initiative, but then he questions me “who told you to do this?” Most of the time when I ask about something I think I should do, he says “no” and asks me to do something else. How do I impress my boss that I am a person who takes responsibility or is at least willing to take responsibility?

Response:

Your attitude and willingness are in the right place, so let’s make one small change. I want you to ask your boss to meet with you to plan out your work for an entire day. I want you to create a checklist on paper and then work the checklist. The problem is not responsibility. You appear to be a responsible person.

The problem is time span. You appear to work on a single task at a time and then return to your boss for more direction. I want you to lengthen the time span by creating a checklist with a sequence of tasks for the entire day.

At the end of the day, you will be able to show him the checklist and what items you have completed. That will be evidence that you are, indeed, a responsible person.

The key is time span.

The Silent Recession

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Are we in a recession or not? The S&P just made a new record high. The consultants response is always a handy – it depends.

If you are not paying attention, a recession could pass you by without hope of your own recovery. Even large scale macro-economic contractions spread the pain in different places and exert more pressure at different times. And, the winds could come from both the market side and the supply side.

In the sweltering heat of the summer, you would think a swimming pool would be a good investment. Indeed it was during COVID, when everyone was stuck at home. There were market pressures on other industries, but swimming pools were all the rage. But, now, the winds have shifted. According to a POOL report, the construction cost (materials and labor have risen 72%, from an average of $43k to $72k. In 2023, there was a 23% decline in new pool construction and POOL expects another 20% decline in 2024.

Are we in a recession or not? It depends. What indicators are you looking at, external and internal? When is your turn to go into the tank? Don’t get caught unaware.

Why Do Mission Statements All Sound the Same?

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If I broke in and stole all the mission, vision, value statement plaques, mixed them up and replaced them, would anybody notice?

Timespan gives us insight.

We are very good at planning. Planning is temporal, mostly short term, rarely extending out more than 12 months. And, we are good at it. We can imagine the specific requirements, resources, people, interim checkpoints, quality standards, inspections, proofing and format of the final output. All of this is tangible, concrete.

Beyond tangible concrete ideas, are intangible conceptual ideas. Measured in timespan, those ideas are further into the future. And we are not very good at thinking in those terms, much less expressing ourselves in writing.

But, we are told we must. We must think about the future. We must think about the future of our organization and we must do so in the form of organizing documents, mission, vision, values. And, we struggle

Sure, we can dream, but most dreams lack meaning, and it is meaning that drives our organizing documents. Those organizing documents are in the pursuit of meaning. A company can dictate a purpose, well laid out in a plan, but to gain enrollment from our teams, the mission of the company seeks to define its meaning. Without meaning, it all falls apart, eventually.

Meaning is seldom found in a 12 month plan. Meaning requires us to think further into the future. We are mostly ill-equipped to do this. We don’t spend much time thinking conceptually and when we do, we all sound the same. Hence most mission statements sound the same. “To be the premier provider, serving our customer with value add, providing shareholder value for their investment.”

What is meaningful about what your organization does?
What is captivating to your organization’s imagination?
What is helpful to your community?
What will sustain your organization beyond your 12 month plan?

Maslow and Timespan

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Abraham Maslow’s pyramid was a hierarchy. He called it the hierarchy of needs (not wants, not desires, not recommendations). Humans have different levels of needs. The dynamics in the hierarchy dictate that when we are threatened at a level below, we must immediately retreat to that level and cannot emerge until that level is satisfied. Pyramids start at the bottom.
V – Self Actualization
IV – Importance
III – Belonging
II – Security
I – Survival
Most people focus on the content of each level, but each is more complex based on timespan.

Survival needs are immediate. Air, water, food, protection from the elements, cold, heat, exposure.

Security needs are identical to survival, but the timespan is longer. We need air, but we need sustained clean air. We need food for today and we need food for tomorrow (enter the refrigerator). We need a blanket today, but we need a condominium for tomorrow. Important to note, if our immediate survival is threatened, we don’t think much about the condo.

Belonging to a group is a basic biologic need. Animals belong to herds or packs as a matter of longer term survival. Wise animals stay to the center of the herd as the periphery gets picked off by predators. Humans belong to conceptual herds. Membership involves rituals to remain in good standing with the conceptual herd. The timespan associated with group belonging is longer than either survival or security.

Importance raises the level of complexity. Passing a membership ritual may allow a person to remain with the conceptual herd, but to cement that relationship requires meaningful contribution. It is a human need to make important contribution to a group that individual holds as meaningful.

Self-actualization is the most complex human need, some never reach this level. The timespan associated with self-actualization is well into the aspirational future. Indeed, some legacies contemplate behavioral impacts beyond death. While the other levels in Maslow’s hierarchy are self-centered, or selfish, this level is selfless, concern for contribution to community, as defined by the individual. Elon Musk wants to go to Mars.

Vertical Authority and Accountability

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What is the relationship between two people who are required to work together? Organizational structure is the way we define that working relationship with respect to accountability and authority. And, there are two types. One vertical and one horizontal.

Vertical relationships, we understand pretty easily. These are managerial relationships, with a manager and a team member. Between the two, accountability and authority are assumptive. The manager has the authority to determine what work needs to be done, how that work is done, how its output will be measured (pace and quality). The manager has the authority to make decisions and solve problems, simultaneous with the accountability for that output.

This is not a power dynamic based on a power hierarchy. This is a competence dynamic based on a competence hierarchy. It is the intelligent manager, with the authority to make decisions, who has the accountability to determine all the variables around that decision. That includes data collection, asking questions and listening to feedback from the team. Woe is the manager who fails to consider these variables in the face of a decision. For it is the manager who will be held to account for the consequences of that decision.

That’s how competence hierarchies work.

After Midnight

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Elliott Jaques was a Canadian born psychologist, scientist, researcher, practitioner who focused on organizational structure. Through the course of his research, he discovered the lynchpin. You would think the discovery would have been in the hallowed halls of a research library, or standing beside a chalkboard of mathematical equations. But it had more to do with a knock on the door after midnight with a small group of addled shop stewards who had consumed one too many pints.

Order and chaos. Order is what we know, chaos is what we don’t know. We know the past, at least our perception of the past, all the way up to the present time. But, once we move through the present time into the future, uncertainty creeps in, ambiguity tiptoes in the shadows. Chaos lives in the future. And the further into the future, the more chaos there is, uncertainty, ambiguity.

“Elliott, Elliott. Wake up Elliott. We think we found it.”

“Found what? It’s after midnight and you guys have been drinking.”

“Elliott, Elliott. Could it have anything to do with time?”

“Guys, can’t we pick this up in the morning? It’s late.”

“No, Elliott. Could it have anything to do with time? You know, the guys on the shop floor, they get paid by the hour. Their supervisors, they get paid by the week. And the managers, well, the managers get paid by the month and the vice presidents, their compensation is stated in terms of a year. Could it have anything to do with time?

“The guys on the shop floor, they are accountable for things happening on a day to day basis. Their supervisors are accountable for scheduling and lead times for the next week or a month. Their managers are accountable for annual plans and targets. The vice presidents are accountable for the longest projects, more than a year.  Could the lynchpin we are looking for in organizational structure be all about time?”

And they never looked back.

It’s Not Communication

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“I don’t think you have a communication problem,” I said.

Sarah was quiet.  “But, it looks like a communication problem.  The sales manager is having trouble communicating with the operations manager.”

“I don’t think you have a communication problem,” I repeated.  “I think you have an accountability and authority problem.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

“Is the sales manager the manager of the operations manager?”

“No,” Sarah replied.

“Is the operations manager the manager of the sales manager?”

“No,” she repeated.

“So, when they are required to coordinate together, who is accountable for what, and who has the authority to make what decisions?”

“What do you mean?” Sarah, always with the same question.

“If the operations manager has a backlog of eighteen weeks, does he have the authority to tell sales to stop selling?”

“Of course not,” Sarah looked a bit shocked.  “That decision is the sales manager’s decision.”

“So, if the output of sales outstrips the output capacity of operations, who decides to stop?” I asked, politely. 

“What do you mean?”  Sarah asked, once again.

“You see, I don’t think you have a communication issue.  I think you have an accountability and authority issue.”

Three Weeks Early

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“Okay, you want your project managers to show up early, so they can fix stuff they forgot to coordinate yesterday, but that’s not what you want?” I asked.

“No,” Saul pushed back.  “I want my project managers to show up a week early and figure out what they forgot to coordinate yesterday.  In fact, I want them to show up three weeks early and figure out what they forgot to coordinate.”

Saul stopped.  “I did have one project manager, I gotta tell you.  All my other project managers would have the excuse that we couldn’t start the job today, because the permit didn’t get approved yesterday.  This one project manager, though, would say the same thing, but that we couldn’t start the job three weeks from now because the permit wasn’t approved yesterday.  Three weeks notice for a permit gives us plenty of time to reallocate resources appropriately.”

So, you want your project managers thinking three weeks into the future?” I nodded.

“No, I want my best project managers to think three months into the future,” Saul smiled.  “Now, that would be a schedule I could work with.”