Wisteria is a climbing vine that drapes big, gorgeous clusters of lilac-colored flowers like a cascading waterfall. It is fairly easy to grow, so much so that it can get out of control and spread wildly.

However, did you know that Chinese wisteria twines counterclockwise as it climbs and Japanese wisteria climbs clockwise? If you try to train these two plants in the same direction, you will succeed brilliantly with one and fail dismally with the other.

The same is true of people. Your employees are as individual as the multitude of plants that thrive in widely varying conditions. Techniques that help one person thrive drive another person crazy. I think you know this as well as I do.

And yet, what do companies do? They treat everyone pretty much the same. The traditional managerial practices—status reports, one-on-one meetings, incentives, recognition, annual reviews, training, rules, policies—assume one size fits all.

Sure, many employees are doing fine, but imagine what they could be doing if they weren’t being wrapped the wrong way around the pole!

So let’s look at what employees really need to be super effective.

What – How – Now

The secret to productive, effective employees can be summed up with three words: What-How-Now.

1. What

Awareness comes first. You can’t be truly effective and productive if you don’t know what you are trying to accomplish. And you don’t really know what you are trying to accomplish if you don’t also understand why, how well, when, and what is of lesser importance.

Super effective people are quick to recognize when they aren’t clear enough. They ask clarifying questions. They test for understanding to be sure others really are on the same page and operating with the same expectations.

Super effective managers are particularly adept at developing this awareness and ensuring their employees are sufficiently clear to proceed effectively and exercise good judgment.

2. How

Skills and technique come next. Effective employees are skilled. That much is obvious.

But it isn’t just skill in a particular area of expertise that is important. Super effective employees work with intention, following concrete steps. I call this process clarity. It prevents wandering in and about, fishing for answers and hoping for progress.

When super effective people lack process clarity – a proven series of specific steps to the desired outcome, they establish those steps from hypothesis to learned approach so they can avoid wandering. They pay attention to where they are and consciously think about the process that will get them to their destination. They consciously think about what they know, what they don’t know, and what they have to learn in order to choose next steps. They consciously consider others and involve them as needed, whether they are needed for their expertise or their commitment. This attention to process and the resulting ability to move forward effectively and quickly with intention may be the most important skill of all. And among the least common.

3. Now

Concrete objectives and process clarity are critical. But that’s not all. It takes a multitude of productive, intentional minutes to accomplish anything of significance. How you work Now – minute to minute and hour to hour – is a huge difference maker. Super effective people learn how to manage themselves and ensure they have the right kind of structure and support to fit their particular needs. They always assume they could be more productive and more effective, so they consciously and continuously strive to improve their self-management. But like the wisteria, the natural proclivities and existing habits of every employee ensure the journey to greater effectiveness is as individual as each person.

Some people can tune out anything and others are easily distracted. Some are linear and logical, others are more impulsive and intuitive. Some like detailed instructions to follow methodically, others can’t help but experiment and invent new methods every time they do something. Some readily ask for help and others are so determined to figure things out for themselves that whole days pass unnoticed while they struggle and search. Some people work best in the morning and others are worthless before 10:00. Some thrive in meetings and others dread them and rarely contribute. Some are assertive and others are tentative. Some need daily check-ins to be assured they are on the right track and others are adept at charting their own course and knowing when to touch base. Some thrive under normative pressure and others rebel.

There is no way a one-size-fits-all approach can work for all these variations!

So what’s a supervisor to do?

• Establish the expectation that each individual is responsible for discovering and securing the structure and support needed to be effective and productive.
• Support this self-discovery process with suggestions, personal examples, role models, feedback, flexibility, patience, encouragement, and resources.
• Respect the individuality of your employees.
• Resist the urge to control employees with bureaucracy that may create the illusion of control and accountability and may appear to simplify your job, but does little for your employees.

Once upon a time, I had a supervisor who believed most corporate problems were caused by putting round pegs in square holes. Now I agree that a good match between person and position is paramount, but she took it a step too far. She only wanted square pegs. She wanted to fire everyone who didn’t fit her mold. She had no tolerance for individuality. She drove the most talented pegs away, regardless of shape.

Ann Latham is an expert on the transformative power of strategic clarity and author of The Clarity Papers. Download a free copy of The Clarity Quiz Collection from her website.

This article first appeared on Forbes, June 17th, 2018