Which Role Do You Play?

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How many of us remember the childhood story of the little red hen?  In a nutshell, it tells of a little red hen living with other farm animals.  She finds a grain of corn and decides to plant it.  When she asks for help from the others, no one wants to be bothered.  On her own she plants the corn, tends it, harvests it, and takes it to the miller for grinding.  From the flour that results she makes a loaf of bread.  When the bread is ready to eat, she finally gets offers to help her.  The others are more than willing to help eat the fruits of her labors but none was willing to labor with her.

Think about the problems within your organization.  Which role do you play?  Are you someone who works hard to solve the problem or are you one of those standing on the sidelines, waiting?  The only time you want to participate is when the problem has been solved and the fruits of others’ labor are now available.

In my assessment, that’s not the work ethic upon which this country was founded.  Of course there were issues in the past and there are issues today which need to be resolved.  But one of those issues to be resolved should never be the question of having one or two people do all the work to solve the problems, only to have the rest of the organization jump in and reap all the rewards.  Solutions which are developed in that scenario might be excellent ones but the residual bad feelings will almost always undermine their effectiveness.  Hard work does pay off but folks need to be willing to break a sweat.  Success will follow.

Cheerleader or Saboteur?

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When it comes to problem solving, as the leader of your organization are you a cheerleader or a saboteur?  Do you sit on the sidelines while others work to find practical and realistic solutions, supporting them and encouraging them in their work?  Or are you sabotaging their efforts by second guessing their decisions and trying to force your choices on them?  When someone brings a creative solution to a problem do you give them lip service and then undermine any effort to achieve a consensus?

Does this really matter?  Yes, it does, if you’re serious about resolving problems within your organization.  Being a cheerleader reflects your confidence not only in your skills to lead but in the skills and talents of the people working for you.  Think back to a time when someone supported you and how motivated you were to achieve the goal or complete the task.  That same approach will motivate your employees to work as hard as they can to complete the tasks and achieve the goals.

What do you think happens when your employees figure out that you’re a saboteur?  How motivated do you think they will be to work as hard as they can to make the organization a smooth running operation, profitable and successful?  As the saboteur, how much support will you get for the solutions you support?

Put in these terms, which role have you played?  Honest answers may just help you begin the process of engaging in problem solving that is finally effective.  Bringing a professional problem solver into the mix can help you be even more effective.

A Progress Report

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Looking back on the topics already discussed we’ve covered a lot of ground.  How can we possibly have anything more to talk about?  After reading the blogs and thinking about them, have all your problems disappeared?  Or is Aunt Nellie still on your case, along with the stockholders (if you have any) and your employees?  What about your family?  How much quality time has been spent with the family and why is that even important?

Maintaining a balance and focus is important if quality work is to be accomplished.  How well do you listen to a recitation of the same old problem when you’ve been working nose to the grindstone for weeks and months on end with no break?  Even your weekends have been consumed by work.  Can you really say that your perspective is as sharp as it was months ago when you took a few days off to recharge your batteries?  How sharp are your problem identification skills when you’re tired, stressed, and reaching critical mass?  Go take the vacation.  We’ll chat later.

Magic and Problem Solving?

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Wouldn’t life be a whole lot simpler if we could snap our fingers, wiggle our nose, or blink our eyes and make all our problems disappear?  Why do the seemingly easy problems always cause the greatest heartburn?  The last question is the easier one to answer.  Whenever human beings are involved problems are almost always going to get complicated.  If there’s a problem with your car, you take it to a qualified mechanic, spend some money and the problem goes away.  Having a problem with your computer at work?  Call in the IT folks and again, the problem disappears.  Having a problem with two employees who can’t or won’t get along?  Why won’t that problem go away?  As a facilitator and problem solver I’d caution you about letting the egos and emotions rule.  When the problem involves humans it becomes crucial that the focus remain on the behavior or the issue – not the individuals.  It’s hard – sometimes seemingly impossible – but the egos have to stay out of the resolution.  That caution also includes you as the leader or manager.  Your ego and emotions need to be checked at the door as well.  If that ground rule isn’t followed the chances of reaching a consensus and resoluion will be greatly diminished.  Keeping your emotions in check can be easier with the help of a professional problem solver.  Save your ego for the verbal beating Aunt Nellie wants to unload on you about last month’s dividend check.

What? No Common Sense?

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What’s the point of engaging in problem solving if common sense is absent?  Look at a recent article about the Grand Island , Nebraska Public School system “demanding” that a deaf 3-year old change his sign language sign for his name, “Hunter.”  As reported on television, the school administration reportedly found that the crossed forefinger and index finger moved up and down violates their rule that forbids anything that looks like a weapon.   First bite of common sense – Does anyone in this audience really think that this young boy is thinking about a gun when he signs his name?   According to the school system’s spokesperson, the school is “… working with the parents to come to the best solution we can for the child.”

I have a question.  What efforts were made by both the parents and administrators to resolve this problem before making it public?   School administrators and parents alike need to be aware of the lessons they may be giving this young boy and others.  Be careful that you’re not telling him that something is wrong with him and his name.  School administrators and parents – are you even talking to one another or have you drawn lines in the sand?  Administrators need to  be accurate in their communications.  Parents and others  need to make sure they’re not taking something out of context and developing the wrong perception.  Communication is important because without it you all will create a problem that didn’t need to happen and cause a young boy angst that he doesn’t deserve and probably will never understand.  What you intended to do and what you do can’t be at opposite ends of the spectrum.  You’ll expend a lot of good will credits trying to fix this.  Lesson for all of us to take away from this?  There are more than enough problems needing to be solved.  We don’t need to create any more.

Long Term Solution or Use a Band-Aid? (A follow up to consensus or compromise)

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Recently I was talking with a friend who described an issue at his church.  It got me thinking that in our lives, two of the places where problems most frequently develop are our churches and schools.  Their problems provide excellent opportunities for all of us to learn the essentials of problem solving and team building.

Problems with our schools have made the news all across the country.  Problems with our churches  – not so much.  One of the decisions many churches have to face is how to deal with large attendance.  Two solutions usually recommended are to either change the schedule to include two or more services, or to enlarge the facility by building a bigger church.  There will be resistance to either approach.  Change can be uncomfortable for a lot of people.  What’s the best way to present possible solutions and to gain a consensus on which path to take?

No matter what the organization is, a church, school, small business, corporation, community agency, etc., the options for the range of solutions is to address a long term, permanent solution or take the Band-Aid approach.  Here’s something to consider.  What exactly are you trying to accomplish?  Taking either approach will have its benefits and pitfalls.   Long term solutions make the problem go away for extended periods of time or make it disappear completely.  Band-Aid approaches may buy some time and minimize the ruffling of feathers.  The important thing to remember is to keep your focus on what you’re trying to accomplish.  Hiring a problem solving consultant will make that process a whole lot easier.

Problem solving through consensus or compromise?

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As the leader of the organization which has successfully identified the root cause of the problems, the question you may now face is which approach to take in developing and implementing solutions.  It’s a given that you have the courage to bring together both the leadership team and employees to develop the solution so let’s take a look a couple of things.

Do you develop and implement solutions through consensus or compromise?  Does it really matter?  Yes, it really does matter.  Look at the definitions of both words.  Consensus is usually defined as a general agreement or judgment arrived at by most of the individuals involved.  Think of consensus as being a general agreement reached through mutual accord or harmony.

Compromise is defined as a settlement which has been reached either through consent or arbitration with both involving mutual concessions.  So what’s really the difference here?  Compromise and consensus can achieve the same goal but there is a down side to the compromise approach.  Most folks think of compromise as a give and take approach.  If you end up believing that you’ve given up more than you’ve received, there’s a tendency to feel cheated.  How motivated would the parties be to implement solutions to problems they feel were forced on them?  What are some of the long term consequences of an unpopular compromise?  How much better off would your organization be if you hired a problem solving consultant who facilitated consensus?  You decide.

Who bears the responsibility for problem solving?

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The last blog on due diligence started a thought process I’d like to share.  I also invite any comments from you, the readers.  Perhaps a detailed discussion will result and help us all.

The company’s leadership or management teams obviously bear responsibility for insuring that the company operates at peak efficiency.  Their competency has a great deal to do with how successful the company is.  Does this mean that the company’s leadership bears all the responsibility when things go bad and failure looms large in the mirror?  I don’t think so.

It’s easy to pass around the congratulations and best wishes when things go right and the profit margin is at a level everyone likes.  What happens when things go bad?  Too often there’s a lot of finger pointing, generally at the leadership.  The leaders, in turn, look for excuses as to why things went bad.  It isn’t often that you have a company sit down as a group – leadership and staff – and take a good hard look at why things aren’t working.  To repeat my theme – here’s where a competent problem solver may be invaluable.  He or she can effectively facilitate the meetings to insure that the focus remains where it should, on correctly identifying the problems and implementing realistic, long lasting solutions.  Isn’t it in everyone’s best interests that the company remains operational?

Employees have as much a stake in the process as the leadership and stockholders.  Here’s the bottom line.  Employees also bear some responsibility for problem solving.  The leadership owes them the opportunity to participate in the identification of problems and the development and implementation of solutions.  Employees owe the leadership their full dedication to resolving the problems once and for all, to the benefit of everyone concerned.

Due Diligence in Problem Solving

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Recently a friend asked if due diligence applied to problem solving.  The first question to ask is what exactly is due diligence.  According to the dictionary definition, due diligence is the “care that a reasonable person exercises to avoid harm to another person or their property.” [1]

Obviously due diligence is a technical term used most frequently in the legal and business professions.  But the question and information I gathered got me thinking whether due diligence actually applies to problem solving.  Here’s what I’ve concluded.

The legal definition indicates that due diligence reflects a high level of care, consideration, prudence, and/or judgment that an individual is reasonably expected to exercise in specific situations.  For example, when a business is considering a merger with or an outright acquisition of another corporation, the leaders are expected to conduct an intensive investigation prior to that merger or acquisition in order to protect the stockholders and the company’s original holdings.  There have been a number of news reports in recent years of mergers taking place where the information used to make the decision was later determined to be faulty.  Stockholders on the losing end of that decision have questioned whether or not the decision makers practiced due diligence.

This brings me to my original question.  Does due diligence apply to problem solving?  Yes.  When we think of due diligence as a process of acquiring reliable, accurate and objective information upon which to base an informed decision, due diligence is an extremely important part of the problem solving process.  A competent problem solver will engage in systematic research to gather critical facts and descriptive information which will enable the problem solver to present solutions that are realistic and practical.

When companies fail is it because leaders can’t lead? (PART III)

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Companies that look good on paper but still fail may have a history of repeating mistakes.  Is it possible that these companies don’t follow through with their technological or market edge and fail to achieve success?  In sports such behavior is known as “choking.”  Have these companies “choked” at crucial moments?   Why?  The repetition of behaviors known to be unsuccessful may reflect an inability of  the leadership team to correctly identify the problem and implement realistic, practical solutions.  If a problem solver has been hired, does the leadership have the courage to implement the recommended programs to resolve the problems?  If not, why not?  Perhaps the failure of such companies is a result of “group think.”  Those in leadership positions and able to implement solutions don’t think through the long term and short term consequences of impractical solutions.  Instead, leadership sets a tone where everyone has to agree with the leader.  (Anyone remember the fable of the emperor’s new clothes?)  No one steps up and points out the flaws in the thinking or in the implementation of a bad solution.  This usually happens in work environments where creativity and independent thought are perceived as negative behaviors.

So now you’re the leader of a failing organization.  What approach are you going to take?  Will you have the confidence in yourself and the people around you to inspire creativity and independent thought?  Or will you simply demand that everyone march in lock step over the cliff like a bunch of lemmings?  If you haven’t done so already, do you have the confidence to hire a problem solver to help you resolve the issues blocking your organization’s progress toward real success and financial stability?  A collaborative approach to identifying and resolving the problems is certainly worth the effort if your organization is facing failure.  It can’t hurt and when Aunt Nellie calls again, refer her to the problem solver.  That should free you up to focus your energies on solving your organization’s problems once and for all.