People System

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I nodded. “So, shifting things around inside your system requires that you be alert to the immediate proximity, but also for unintended consequences in a remote part of the system.”

Luke agreed. “It is easy to see when it is a defined step in the system. We can always move things around. But, I saw something else.”

“Pray tell?” I said.

“We have workflow systems,” he started. “In our workflow we can identify discreet steps that are contained. A step starts here, a step ends there. This step impacts that step and impacts another step way over here. But there is another, more complicated system I have to pay attention to. My people system puts players in proximity that have to work together. Working relationships are like steps in a system. If I change a person out, I change the working relationship. A new relationship emerges that starts from scratch and has to be built around these two questions. In this working relationship, what is the accountability for one person to the other person? And, in this working relationship, who has the authority to make what decisions? So, steps in a workflow are easy. People in a workflow, not so much.”

Unintended Consequences

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“I thought we had it fixed,” Luke shook his head. “We had a problem. We solved the problem. We implemented the fix. But, the fix caused two other problems.”

“It’s always something,” I smiled. “What did you just learn?”

“I learned that the steps in our process are not just a sequence of things one after another. The steps have an order, but each step has an impact on things around it.”

“And?” I asked.

“Two things,” Luke replied. “Each step has an impact on the work flow with what immediately precedes and comes after. But, a step might have an impact on something far away, that you cannot see or that you might not connect.”

“So, how do you most effectively make a change in your system?” I wanted to know.

“Obviously, our attention is riveted to the immediate area, but we also have to widen our picture to include the whole system and have metrics at key points that let us see unintended consequences.”

Meaning to the Words

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“It’s good to have everyone back in the office,” Conrad explained. “It seems convenient to have people video conference, but it just wasn’t the same.”

“If you look at your team as a system, realizing that everything, every person is connected to each other as a system,” I said, “what qualitative difference does it make in your communication system?”

“For sure,” Conrad nodded. “Sending an email is a one-way communication. Even texting loses a non-verbal component.”

“And what about a video conference where the camera is off?” I asked.

“Most definitely. Without the visual, the connection is lost. No confirmation the person is paying attention, has a question, in agreement or out of agreement. Sometimes spoken words don’t convey the whole message.”

“And, is there a difference between video communication and face-to-face communication, in real proximity?” I asked.

Conrad nodded. “Yes. I communicate something very powerful simply by the physical distance between us. Talking in a meeting ten feet away is very different than talking to someone two feet away. Even that physical distance gives meaning to the words we say.”

Earning Trust

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“I want to empower my team members,” Reese explained. “I know you prefer I use the word authority instead of empower, but I can’t give my team the authority to make decisions. I am the one with the authority.”

“And, if that is the way you think, then you will be the same manager with same underperforming team until you grow old and gray,” I nodded.

“But, I don’t trust my team to make the right decision in the crunch of a problem,” Reese protested. “How do I give my team the authority to make the wrong decision when the stakes are so high?”

“Lower the stakes,” I said. “Do not empower someone by giving them a promotion. The risks may be too high, and you, as the manager have to manage the risk. Do not give them a promotion, give them a project, and manage the risk in the project. If you give someone a promotion and they fail, you have a chocolate mess on your hands. If you give someone a project and they fail, you just have a failed project, and you manage the risk in the project.”

Reese was quiet. “And, if they successfully complete a series of projects, my trust will go up. If there is a promotion, it will be an earned promotion.”

It’s the Golfer, Not the Clubs

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“So, you have the best tools, the best machinery that money can buy?” I asked.

“Yes,” Rolo replied. “The very best.”

“And, yet your team still underperforms?” I continued.

“Yes, and we purchase the best in raw materials of highest quality, minimum defects,” Rolo nodded.

“And, yet your team still underperforms?” I asked again. “And, your training. I assume you have the best in training?”

“Of course,” he agreed. “I mean, it’s not like we don’t run into production problems, but when we do, it shuts down the line, everything stops while we figure out the problem. Seems odd that it takes so long because we have a best practice for almost every problem that occurs. We are supposed to know what to do.”

“So, what’s the problem?” I wanted to know.

“I don’t know,” Rolo shook his head. “We have invested in the best of everything for our people.”

“What if you don’t have the right people,” I looked at Rolo squarely. “How do you invest on getting the right people?”

Is It the New Clubs?

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“How’s your golf game?” I asked.

That was Nathan’s favorite question. “My favorite subject,” he replied with some delight. “I got some new golf clubs last week, lots of fun.”

“How was your score with the new clubs?” I wanted to know.

“You had to ask that question,” he looked at me sideways.

“Well?” I pressed.

“Well, probably the worst score I’ve had in the last year,” Nathan admitted.

“Maybe they are just lousy clubs,” I searched for an explanation.

“I know where this is going,” he replied. “If I want to get better at golf, I can either buy new clubs or work on my game. New clubs are nice, but maybe I should spend time working on my game.”

The Practice of Competence

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“When you are in the hunt for a new team member,” I asked, “what are you looking for? You have a whole pool of people from which to choose. What are you looking for?”

“Experience,” Leo said. “The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.”

I waited. “And what if that past behavior was incompetent?”

“Well, that’s different,” he replied. “I need someone whose past behavior was competent.”

“So, how do you tell?” I wanted to know.

“There is always skill,” Leo nodded. “If they have the skill, that would make them a good team member.”

“Have you ever known a candidate who talked a good game, but in the thick of battle became mercilessly useless?”

“Oh, yeah,” he agreed. “They have to be able to do more than talk. More than technical know-how. They have to be more than enthusiastic. They have to be able to do the work.”

“The best measure of performance is always performance,” I said. “So, what creates performance? Technical knowledge plays a role, it’s necessary, but not sufficient.”

“The best people on the team not only understand the technical part, but more importantly they practice. Day in and day out, until it becomes a routine grooved behavior.” Leo began to rock back and forth.

“So, when you ask about skills, you have to ask for more than technical knowledge. You have to ask about practice. What is your frequency of practice? What is your duration of practice? What is your depth of practice? What is your accuracy in practice? Because if you don’t practice a skill, what happens to competence?”

Life Happens or Does It?

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“I can’t believe what just happened,” Cora explained. “We have been waiting for six weeks for a special material. Today, it landed on our loading dock, and it’s the wrong material.”

“And?” I asked.

“It’s got a six week lead time. We’re two weeks beyond deadline already,” she lamented. “The customer calls me twice a day. Yesterday, I told them the material would be here today. And, now it’s going to be another six weeks. I checked the SKU number and saw the mistake we made in ordering.”

“It seems like this is happening a lot, lately?” I made a question out of a statement.

“I just don’t know what it happening to us. Bad luck, I guess.” Cora looked disoriented.

“Is that the way life is? A series of things that happen to you?” I wanted to know.

“Yes, isn’t that just the way life is?”

“Depends on the way you see things,” I nodded. “If you see life as a series of things that happen to you, things will continue to happen to you. If you see things as a series of accomplishments, you will behave differently.”

“How so?” Cora looked at the ceiling, then back to me.

“If this project is just something that happens to you, then the project will take its own twists and turns before it ends eight weeks late. If this project is a series of accomplishments that you personally drive, what changes?”

“You mean, we might double-check SKU numbers?” she smiled.

“Double-check SKU numbers, create a project schedule that accommodates real lead times on materials, call the customer before they call you to manage expectations. It’s all in the way you see the world and how you participate.”

Permission and Competence

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“That makes sense,” Nadia agreed. “I have been guilty of empowering my team to do things they did not have the capability to do. Didn’t turn out so well.”

“Yes, that weasel word of empowerment has very little to do with granting permission,” I replied. “Empowerment, or rather authority to make a specific decision has more to do with competence. It is competence that creates authority, not permission.”

Authority and Competence

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“So, accountability and authority go together?” Nadia asked.

“You cannot have the accountability for an outcome, unless you have the authority to make the decision that goes with it,” I nodded. “You cannot have the authority to make the decision without the accountability for the outcome. So, yes, they go together. One more element, however. Do not give someone the authority to make a decision for which they do not have the competence to make.”

“What do you mean,” she asked.

“Do not give a shipping clerk the authority to make the decision on an engineering spec for a raw material. The shipping clerk may receive it from a vendor, but it is likely the competence to determine the correct specification for the part lies with someone else. Be careful who you delegate authority to.”