Tag Archives: rules

Is It the People or the System?

“You are saying,” Luke started, “that if I see friction in the system, I should look at the system, rather than trying to fix the people?”

I nodded affirmative. “You can have intelligently designed systems, if you create them. But, most systems emerge as a set of outcomes created by random behavior. Worse. Those random behaviors get repeated and become the norm.”

“But, we have standards,” Luke protested. “This is a hospital. We have to inspect and comply with those standards.

“Tell me,” I prodded. “A few years back, you made a change at your hospital. You had a not-so-intelligent system in your operating theatre that created a problem. Mortality rates in your surgical area were statistically above the norm. Even your doctors scratched their heads trying to figure this out. So, you asked your nursing staff what could be the problem. They recommended that you change your system, to make it more intelligent.”

“I remember,” Luke nodded. “We had to change our system of authority. Often, our surgeons were not washing their hands sufficiently prior to surgery. Of course, in the hospital, the surgeon has the authority for most all decisions. We changed our system to give the nursing staff the authority to question a surgeon related to hand-washing. We brought all the nurses and all the surgeons in the same room to discuss and create this new authority for nurses.”

“What happened?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Mortality statistically came back in line within seven days,” Luke replied.

I nodded. “You didn’t change the people, you changed the system.”

Growing Pains

“He was my best supervisor, and, now, it’s like he went brain-dead,” Marie complained. “James always followed things by the book. A stickler with rules. Some of our services are life and death, so rules are good. But, now, he questions, pushes back on certain decisions.”

“What else has changed?” I asked.

“When he pushes back, he is unsure of himself. When he enforced a rule, he was authoritative, sure of himself, gave off a sense of reliability. His team followed him with the confidence that he would not lead them astray. Now, when he pushes back, his team is confused. Execution slows down.”

“Example?” I pressed.

“We work in complicated projects with other teams. There is a project schedule that requires we show up at a certain time. James always shows up with a full crew, tools ready with all our materials. Now, sometimes, the project isn’t ready when we show up, so we can’t do our work. James always documents the delay to support our claim for costs, you know, full crew, mobilization.”

“And, our contract requires that,” I confirmed. “What now?”

“Now, James is checking the project status the day before to see if the project is ready. He questions showing up if our project segment can’t be completed the next day. I mean, he’s right, but now, his crew is confused. Are they supposed to show up if the project isn’t ready? Now, they begin to question the accuracy of our project schedules. I hear bitching and complaining that we, as a company, are unrealistic, and that James in particular doesn’t know what he is doing. Most of the time, it’s not James, the fault lies in some other project segment over which we have no control.”

Effectiveness

“So, in your mind, Edmund is not a hero?” I prodded.

Ruben shook his head. “No, and what’s maddening is that Edmund, as a supervisor, keeps describing his behavior as results oriented. It’s all about the results, he says. So, maybe he delivers, but there are body bags all over the place.”

“So, notwithstanding the results, how would you describe his effectiveness, as a supervisor? Thumbs up? Or thumbs down?”

Ruben laughed. “You know, that’s it. Effectiveness. If I can judge his effectiveness, it’s thumbs down. A supervisor is not effective when he ignores the metrics, skips steps in the process, then works overtime to save the day when the system breaks down.”

In Conflict with an Official Rule?

“Why is culture important?” I asked.

“It’s the way things are,” Ryan explained. “It’s that unwritten set of rules that governs our behavior, that determines the way we work together.”

“And why is it important?” I repeated.

“Every company has a culture, whether they like or not. It’s an undercurrent, sometimes silent, sometimes outspoken.”

“And if there is an official rule that is in conflict with a cultural (unwritten) rule, which wins?”

“Culture always wins. For better or worse, culture always wins.”