“When you sort your goals by length of Time Span, the “by when” part, what do you see?” I asked.

Colleen was actually re-sorting her list using arrows. “I am going to clean this up and put it in Outlook, but I can already see the short Time Span goals are those I can delegate. And some of the longer Time Span goals need to be split into some shorter Time Span goals, and I can delegate those as well.

“And some of the longest Time Span goals,” she continued, “well, those are mine to keep. Those will require a different kind of thinking. I cannot delegate that.”

“I still don’t know what you are getting at,” Arlene shook her head. “It’s entry level work. You are right, it’s not that interesting.”

“Don’t be so swift,” I reprimanded. “Let’s talk about this entry-level work. First, what is work?”

Arlene was looking up, retrieving the answer planted in her mind some weeks ago. “I remember. Work is making decisions and solving problems.”

“Okay. And what decisions must be made in connection with this entry-level work?”

“It’s pretty cut and dried,” Arlene related. “Our work is highly regulated. Everything we do has to be within very specific guidelines.”

“And what if it’s not cut and dried,” I challenged. “You see, the guidelines you work under only set the quality standards for the output. Let’s ask the question again. What decisions must be made in connection with this work? And as we answer, I think you will find this work is quite a bit more than entry-level.”

“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

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.”

“There must be more,” Alicia repeated. “If it is NOT Joe’s role to motivate his team members, then how is he supposed to make sure the work gets done? I understand it is Joe that will be held accountable for the results of his team. It has to be more than who he picks to be on his team?”

“Yes, there’s more, but would you agree that it matters who Joe selects?”

Alicia nodded, “Yes.”

“And as Joe selects his team, with your help, as Joe’s manager, what are the criteria that he must select for?”

“First, he has to look at their skill set.”

“And can we train those skills that are necessary?” I asked.

“It depends, some things we want general experience, but we would certainly train on our specific methods,” she replied.

“And what else? Remember, if it is NOT Joe’s job to motivate, what must he interview for?”

“Well, then, they have to be interested. I mean, interested in the kind of work that has to be done.”

“Okay,” my turn to nod. “And tell me, Alicia. If Joe is successful in finding a candidate with a high level of interest in the work we do here, how much time will Joe have to spend motivating his team?”

“So, it’s not me, but, Joe is supposed to motivate his team?” Alicia asked.

“No, that is not Joe’s role, as a supervisor,” I replied.

“Okay, so if he is NOT supposed to motivate his team, how IS Joe supposed to get the work done?”

“Alicia, when you hired Joe to be the supervisor, how did he put his team together?”

“Well, Joe had never really hired anyone before, so I helped him screen candidates and I made recommendations.”

“And what if Joe didn’t like your recommendation?”

“Well, Joe is an adult, and he had the final say. If there was someone he didn’t want on his team, I didn’t force him,” she explained.

“So, that’s the first answer to your question of how Joe is supposed to get the work done. While you may help and qualify candidates for his team, he has the authority to veto any appointment?”

“Yes,” Alicia nodded.

“And if, in his judgment, as a Supervisor, he feels that a team member is either not doing their best or that their best is not good enough to complete assignments, does Joe have the authority to deselect that person from his team?”

“Well, yes, I mean he can’t just fire someone, we have a process for that and it requires some approvals from HR and such.”

“But Joe has the authority to deselect someone from his team?”

Alicia continued to nod. “Okay, but there has to be more,” she coaxed.

Alicia was trying to make complicated sense out of this. “Each day, they are required to show up for work and do their best,” she muttered. “I don’t get it. It’s too simple. What if we are not getting the results we want?”

“If Joe’s team shows up every day and does their best, what could they do to get a different result?” I asked.

“Well, Joe could have them do something different, reassign a route, load the trucks differently to make fewer trips, double check the load for missing items.”

“Exactly, but who is responsible for making those decisions and assigning those tasks?” I continued.

“Well, Joe is,” she replied.

“So, the team shows up and does their best. It is Joe who we hold accountable for the results of the team.”

“So, if not bonuses, how do I get my team motivated to perform, to get the results we are looking for?” Alicia asked.

“It’s NOT your job, as a Manager, to motivate your team, cajole, persuade, or manipulate,” I replied.

Alicia was almost startled. “I’m not? It seems like that’s what I spend half my time doing?”

“Do you remember the contract that Joe has with his team?”

Shaking her head, she protested, “Yes, but that’s just a logistics crew. They drive trucks.”

“What’s the contract?”

“Joe’s contract? He just tells the guys, that he expects them to do their best. That’s it.”

“Yes, that’s the contract,” I confirmed. “Each day, they are required to show up for work and do their best.“

“And what about you?” I repeated. “How much of your responsibility, as a Manager, have you abandoned, thinking a bonus will be an effective substitute?”

“What do you mean?” Alicia asked.

“I mean, setting the context for the work, making the task assignments, making sure the system is appropriate for the work, adjusting the system for the work. How much of that goes out the window when you put a bonus system in place?”

Alicia was quiet. Finally she spoke. “I guess when we put the bonus system in place, we think it will do a lot of my job for me. The reality is, the bonus system may work against me.”

“Here is what I find,” I replied. “Companies put in bonus systems, because they don’t have managers who are capable of being managers. As their managers stumble around, ineffective, companies try to drive team behaviors with bonuses. What a mess.” -TF

“It’s like I don’t trust them to do their best without a bonus, and they know it,” Alicia explained.

“It sets up this stupid game and now people have excuses for their behavior. I’m not going to do this or that, because I don’t get a bonus for it. And people are smart. If this is the game, they will figure out how to take advantage.”

“And what about you?” I asked.

Alicia sat up, looking innocent.

“And what about you?” I continued. “How much of your responsibility, as a Manager, have you abandoned, thinking a bonus will be an effective substitute?”