I made a strawberry-rhubarb pie last weekend in honor of another pie many years ago. It got me thinking about all the times I hear employees say, “That’s just the way it’s done,” because this pie wasn’t the way it was done! Employees fill out forms, walk through stale routines, chase down signatures, and maintain countless documents. Why? “That’s just the way it’s done.” But do you know what the real problem is, beyond the obvious waste of time year after year? They’ve abdicated responsibility for results. They are either operating without an understanding of the desired results or they do understand, but have given up and quit banging their heads against the wall trying to make changes to increase efficiency or improve outcomes. And it’s not just old procedures and habits I’m talking about. New initiatives also generate abdication and mindless execution. Classic and costly examples include the implementation of big programs such as a new performance management system or process improvement program.
Iraq is a mess. Much of the blame lies with the TE-TBD Syndrome. Too Eager To Be Done. It affects all of us. Not just a weary President faced with declining public support, increasingly frustrating Iraqi leadership, and a war he never wanted. We all wanted to be done with Iraq, some much sooner than others. It doesn’t matter. When we are Too Eager To Be Done, we stop investing the time, energy, and resources needed to continue learning, make smart decisions, manage risks, and successfully wrap up what we’ve started. Too Eager To Be Done Syndrome leads to wishful thinking, dismissal of key indicators, and hand-waving. We are bored, tired, and eager to move on. We want it out of sight, out of mind. That’s when things fall apart. Iraq. Your employee engagement project. The platform consolidation effort. That massive training program that never changed anything. Big launch. Slow fizzle. To avoid TE-TBD, you must recognize when you are succumbing to its power. Before you start dropping the ball, dismissing the issues, ignoring those employees who’ve invested their hearts and hours, and gearing up for the next shiny yellow project. When you get that first strong Urge To Be Done, take notice. Figure out why you feel the way you do. Was the consolidation effort really a bad idea or is it your implementation methods that need tweaking? Hold up the mirror, reexamine the original objectives, and invoke the discipline to make conscious, informed decisions that consider more than the obvious options and consequences. Note also that there is energy in that Urge To Be Done. Harness it to increase your focus and determination. Find a new champion, change up the team, jack up the volume on the progress indicators. Backing down may be the right thing to do.… read more →
Five minutes and 15 questions could save you 50%! Why? Because clarity produces better results faster with greater confidence and commitment. Wondering how clear your organization is? Check Your Clarity Index now!
New York Magazine announced that the secret to better meetings is to stand up because sit-down meetings last longer and produce no better results. I have news for you. By that logic, you’ll save even more time by cancelling your meetings altogether. Of course standing up shortens meetings. Because it makes people physically uncomfortable. But that certainly doesn’t mean you will accomplish more per minute. If you don’t know how to get results in meetings, you shouldn’t be running meetings at all! But I’ve got more news for you. If you can’t run effective meetings, it has nothing to do with meetings. It has everything to do with a lack of clarity about what you are trying to accomplish, a lack of shared processes for fundamental tasks such as decision-making, planning, problem solving, and strategizing, and a lack of language to quickly get a group on the same page so you can agree on where you are and next steps. Quit blaming meetings for the wandering, confusion, and lack of progress evidenced by your company’s meetings every day! Start creating clarity instead!
Most people are blind to how much time they and their organization are wasting. The farther they are from the production line, where both flow and snags are usually quite conspicuous, the more true this is. The National Center for the Middle Market shares Ann’s tips on How to Create a Work Culture That’s More Productive.
The corporate world has enjoyed huge leaps in productivity over the last several decades, but all of that improvement has been focused on physical processes, not cognitive processes. Our production lines, ordering, purchasing, picking, and shipping have all been streamlined. Anytime we are moving physical product, or even paper, we are focused on efficiency. Not so with our cognitive processes. The way we think, communicate, and make decisions is just as sloppy as ever. Our mouths are veritable Pandora’s boxes in their ability to create and disseminate confusion. Words and ideas, once cut loose, can be as tough to corral as wild horses. We do not have the shared cognitive processes and language needed to quickly agree on where we are and what must come next.
The skiing was great in Vermont this year. From mid-December through early April, the snow, on average, made for one of the best seasons I can remember. Even when conditions are great, there is the occasional slope that gets scraped off early, which totally changes the way I ski. When I can’t trust the snow, I can’t go with the flow, can’t attack the hill. I slow down and ski more defensively. Like a broken promise, it spoils the fun for me. My best clients of all sizes know that employees are held back in the same way when they can’t trust their environs. When people know what to expect, they can get in the zone and attack their work. When surrounded by confusion, shifting priorities, broken promises, or unreliable processes, they have to slow down and be more defensive. It spoils their fun, but also their productivity, commitment, and enthusiasm. The costs are enormous. There is one important advantage to skiing however. When it stops being fun, you can always just quit and head for the bar, the sauna, or a good book in front of a toasty fire!
After spending 10 years and $10 million dollars, a British company hired the company where I was once employed to build what they had failed to finish. They lost more than 10 years and $10 million. What else might they have accomplished during those 10 years had they hired us much sooner? What’s the full cost of this mistake? Work-in-progress sucks up resources. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about manufacturing, product development, or a management initiative. To exist is to consume money, space, and time. How much per day? Improvement-work-that-should-be-in-progress sucks up resources too. Anything that takes twice as long as it should – wandering meetings, slow decisions, and employees operating at half the speed of their peers are just a few examples. Can you tally the cost of those? Speed matters. Resources are finite. Life is short. Time is passing. Ka-ching! Want to move faster? Clarity is the secret. Give me call at 800-527-0087.
The first ever Clarity Award goes to the Chipotle Mexican Grill in Westford, Massachusetts. Congratulations, Chipotle! After standing in line to get the burrito I was craving, I needed to ask if it was possible to get the rice without cilantro. The placard above the counter made a big deal about their lime-cilantro rice and I am no cilantro fan! “Yes,” was the quick answer. And he turned to grab a large pan of brown rice free of the little green shreds. Eyeing the other potential components of my burrito, I detected suspicious greenery everywhere. “Does the guacamole have cilantro in it?” I love guacamole. Why would they ruin it with cilantro!?!? “Yes, but I could give you an avocado!”