From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I have been following the past few days where you have been talking about Time Span. Yesterday, you talked about the four elements of success. I am interested in the last element. The one, where you talk about negative temperament. What is that?

Response:

We have all known people with a specific negative temperament. It is not something observable all the time, but it is there and almost predictable in its display. In his book Executive Leadership, Elliott Jaques describes those personality traits that might have significant impact in disabling a manager from being effective. Here is how the list begins: “obsessive, joyless, hopeless, heartless, frigid, frenzied, destructive, anti-social, gluttonous, bigoted, paranoid, dishonest.”

So, while Jaques endorses no personality profile for success (because there is an unlimited variety of successful profiles), it is these negative personality traits that are most predictive for failure in the role of a manager. -TF

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Yesterday, you talked about evaluating capability using Time Span. Just because someone has the capability, does that ensure success in the role?

Response:
Capability is one of four elements necessary for success in the role. This methodology is rooted in the research of Elliott Jaques and documented in several books (like Requisite Organization). I start my evaluation with capability, because if the person is not capable (measured by Time Span), then the other elements are moot.

The second element is the necessary skill or experience. This element may be enhanced by training, coaching and experience.

The third element is commitment. Commitment may naturally occur through interest or passion for the work, but may artificially be stimulated by an external circumstance. Understand that artificial commitment is usually not sustainable over the long haul.

The fourth element is related to behavior, but arrives through what Jaques describes as negative temperament. A psychologist might call it dysfunctional behavior. While there are many positive behaviors that might contribute to success in a role, Jaques was concerned about the negative behaviors that would prevent success.

It should be noted, that there are many assessment tools in the marketplace looking for the “perfect profile” of positive behaviors. Jaques describes these assessments as “parlor games,” indicating suspect correlations with success, most no better than 60 percent.

Jaques concern centered on the occasional negative behavior, which most certainly prevents success in a role. This, he says, does not require the use of a behavioral assessment. The negative behavior sticks out like a sore thumb and everyone knows it. -TF

“So, how do we measure Hector?” Eduardo asked. “I’m all ears. I understand how to measure the Time Span of the tasks that Hector is responsible for. And, the longest task is three months. But, how do we measure Hector?”

“It is really very simple. You now know the Time Span of the longest task in the role that Hector plays. Here is the question.

“Does Hector, in your judgment as his manager, have the capability to perform the tasks in his role as freight supervisor? Or does he have the capability to perform tasks with a longer Time Span, or does he fall short in his capability to perform those tasks?

“It’s like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Is the porridge too hot? Too cold? Or is it just right?”

Eduardo squinted, “That’s it? Too hot, too cold or just right?”

I nodded, “Which is it?”

“Well, Hector does most of the job okay, but when it comes to the more complicated stuff, he falls short.”

“So, to recap your judgment, as his manager, Hector falls short?” I repeated.

“But, I knew that already,” Eduardo complained.

“Yes, you did, but you did not have a way to measure what you already knew. Now, you know that Hector falls short in capability at three months. If you define the Time Span of the shorter tasks he completes, you will have a very precise measure of his capability.”

Eduardo was quiet, then spoke. “Hector handles the one month stuff well. But falls short on the three month stuff. Hector’s Time Span is on the up side of one month, but the short side of three months.”

“So, now, is the question. How is this helpful to you as his manager?” -TF

“Where do we start?” Eduardo asked.

“Where do you think we should start?” I replied. We were trying to determine whether Hector was big enough to handle his current job.

“We are trying to measure his capability. That’s the goal of this session,” Eduardo established.

“Yes, so what Unit of Measure have we talked about when it comes to defining the tasks involved in his job?”

“Well, we have talked about Time Span,” he said.

“And, what was the measure of the longest task in Hector’s job?”

“We said, one month. Hector is in charge of shipping, but it’s more than just getting freight out the door. He is responsible for proper crating, working with vendors to select the proper crating materials, collecting information about product damage in transit. It is really a big job. Some of the problems that have to be solved involve testing in-house, you know, crash testing and then field testing.

“I don’t think one month is accurate. I think, to be successful, the longest task is three months. It takes that long to solve some of our material damage issues in that department,” Eduardo concluded.

“Okay, three months is the longest task required. To be successful running the shipping area requires the ability to work three months into the future, without direction, using his own discretionary judgment?”

Eduardo nodded, “Yes, I need Hector to carry the ball to whole way. I may check up on him more frequently to see if he still has the ball, but I need him to supervise the resolution to some of these issues without me. If I really have to get involved, then Hector is not doing the necessary work.”

“So, success in the job requires a Time Span of three months?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“That is Step One. Firmly establishing the Time Span of the longest task, establishing the required Time Span for the role.

“Are you ready for Step Two? The next part is to measure Hector.” -TF

“And what about Hector?” I asked.

The look on Eduardo’s face was unmistakable. He was not happy with Hector. In the two minutes that Eduardo had been talking about Hector’s job performance, I could tell he was disappointed.

“You are right,” he said. “Just because we are better able to define Hector’s job by using Time Span, doesn’t mean that Hector has the capability to do it.”

“Do you think it is a matter of capability?”

“I don’t know,” Eduardo replied.

“How can we measure Eduardo’s capability?” I pressed.

“Measure? What do you mean? I hardly think an IQ test is going to help us.”

“You are right,” I responded. “An IQ test is a lousy predictor of whether Hector has the capability, whether he is big enough for the job. So how can we measure, if he is big enough for the job?”

“Well, the only way our company decides that, is this math test you take when you apply for a job here. It takes a couple of minutes and you get a score, but I don’t know if that’s it.”

“Eduardo, what if I told you that your scores are no better than Hector’s scores? Would you look for a different way to measure capability?”

Eduardo’s eyes perked up.

“Meet me here on Monday, and we will look at an entirely different way to measure capability.” -TF

“And how big is Ron’s job right now?” I asked.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Eduardo protested. “I am just trying to get my arms around measuring the size of the job by using Time Span.”

“I understand,” I replied. “So, think about it now. Measuring the size of the job using Time Span will become clear.”

“Okay,” Eduardo started. “Ron’s role now is to manage two supervisors with a total staff of twelve people. That’s two supervisors and ten workers.”

“So, what are the tasks and what is the Time Span of the longest task?” I prodded.

“Well, Ron has to teach his supervisors to use the same process he used when he was a supervisor. But he had all that in his head, so now he has to either write it down, or draw a picture, flow chart it out, or something. He has to create the system for his team.” Eduardo stopped. “This is really a different job. I think one of his supervisors isn’t doing that great and needs to be replaced. Ron is going to have to figure out what skills would be valuable to interview for and then he has to go out and recruit.

“He also has some equipment that needs to be replaced with more sophisticated machines, get a bit more automated, but he is going to have to make his case. And he has to budget for it. And he has to get that budget approved. Our budget process alone is done on an annual basis.

“Without thinking much more about it, I think the Time Span required for Ron’s job, now, is about twelve months.”

“So, based on Time Span,” I said, “the size of Ron’s current job is twelve months?” Eduardo was nodding. Time Span as a unit of measure was beginning to sink in. -TF

“How do you measure the size of the job?” Eduardo whispered, talking to himself, but making sure I knew he was thinking.

“We have to make a judgment call here,” I said. “We have to decide if Ron is big enough for the job. But to do that, we have to decide how big the job is.”

Eduardo had never thought about work this way. Measuring the size of a job was a little off-the-wall for him, but I could see in his face that it made sense.

“I am thinking, and your question seems logical, but I don’t have a clue how to really measure something like the size of a job.” Eduardo was still with me, but he was out of ideas.

“Think about when Ron was successful, when he was supervising the work to be done. What was the longest task that he had to accomplish, in terms of time?”

Eduardo was thinking. “Do you mean, that he had to hit his daily production targets?”

“In a sense, but I am guessing, if he was supervising, he was working toward a goal with a longer Time Span than daily production.”

“Well, yeah, I mean Ron was in charge of daily production, but some days were up and some days were off and some days, we shut down production for preventive maintenance. We looked at production on a monthly basis.”

“So every month, he had to hit the same number?”

“Well, no. Some months were up and some months were down. Ron had to work to the sales forecast. There was some seasonality to it, and some of the production orders took more than a month to cycle through. We really looked at things on a quarterly basis.”

“So, the Time Span for Ron’s role as a Supervisor was around three months?”

A light bulb went off in Eduardo’s head. “Time Span? Is Time Span the measure of how big the job is?”

“I don’t know,” replied Eduardo. “I just hope he snaps out of it. Ron was our poster boy.”

“Is it a matter of skill, something he can learn, or is it a matter of capability?” I repeated. “You can hope all you want, but if it is a matter of capability, you may not be able to wait.”

“What do you mean?” Eduardo had a new sense of curiosity. “Ron has to snap out of it fast.”

“Tell me again, what has changed with Ron’s role?”

“Well, a year ago, he was supervising a couple of people, making sure the work got done. Now, he has to manage other people who are supervising that work.”

“Is the job bigger, now?” I asked.

Eduardo looked at me, puzzled. “Well, yeah. He has more people, I guess it is more complicated.”

“So the job is bigger now. How do you measure, how much bigger the job is?”

“Measure?” Eduardo had never been asked to measure the size of a job before. “I don’t know,” he continued. “It’s just more complicated, I guess.”

“So, how do you measure the complexity of Ron’s new job?” -TF