Jul
31
Shakespeare said, “First, We Kill All the Lawyers,” But Did He Forget Congressmen and Others?
Submitted by Jack Pate under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Spouses, congressmen, lawyers, ex-spouses, and car dealers share a common place in public attitudes. Everyone has known plenty of bad ones. Most people have one of their own that they choose to deal with, and typically respect. Why?
For one thing, we can typically tolerate that which we understand. We appreciate those who seem to understand us. Moreover, we typically respect that which we understand well. Also, we appreciate that person who assists or benefits us in our time of stress. Negative feelings from being under that stress, and the turmoil involved, create an unpleasant memory and feeling. However, the “go to guy” who has consistently delivered solutions is someone we value and still want to deal with.
So the solution is not to criticize all persons of a particular class, in general. It is to find the person that will hear us out and accommodate our concerns. That one becomes our attorney, our congressmen, our spouse, our car dealer. By the same token, that listening ear and understanding voice should never be taken for granted.
Jul
23
Why Waste Time, Turmoil and Good Will on Personnel Reviews?
Submitted by Jack Pate under Business | Leave a Comment
Employee reviews are often hated by the managers who give them and the employees who receive them. I do not believe in employee reviews. Moreover, they often appear to be a colossal waste of time and other resources. Better form is to kindly offer on-the-spot correction, privately but at or near the occurrence of a problem, and move on.
Employee reviews, from extended observations, appear to be a travesty, a tragedy, and a painful experience for all concerned. Typically, personnel reviews are ignored during most of the year. Suddenly, as a time for review comes near, a flurry of activity may occur to collect information and prepare for an employee review.
I have observed employee reviews taking two very drastically different and equally useless turns. In the first case, if a manager is thinking all year long of the year-end employee reviews, then he or she may develop an attitude of creating a “Pearl Harbor” file on each of the people in the organization. Thus, he or she must keep a dossier on each employee, tracking all of the good and bad they do. Of course, the bad will predominate, because it will easily gain management attention first. Thus, management develops a poison attitude of spying on the troops. This is absolutely unacceptable thinking.
By contrast, good work often results in a smooth project, having no crisis to draw attention. Who complains about good work? In this second case, if one does not spend all year thinking about the annual review, whether the annual review comes in June or December, then incidents tend to only be accumulated just before review time. Accordingly, observations of activities, actions, decisions, and errors just prior to the time of review are collected. With the reality of our limitations of memory, those observations and their significance are blown completely out of proportion. Forgotten or dwarfed is the performance during the remainder of the year. Thus, advice, counsel, evaluations, and the like may be highly distorted toward recent, minor incidents not productive issues.
I have, however, learned about a company that provides employee evaluation software surfaces at ninedecisions.com. Their system is universal, provides 360 degree feedback throughout an organization, puts management and employees on the same footing, and takes so little time that it can be exercised one or several times a year. Outside a tool such as theirs, I cannot recommend in good conscience that any other organization conduct anything like conventional employee reviews.
Jul
10
Ask “Why?” Five Times If You Expect to Solve Problems and Make Good Decisions
Submitted by Jack Pate under Business | Leave a Comment
A successful manager I knew during my years in industry said to ask “why?” at least five times. As he put it, one needed to ask “why” in response to any complaint, suggestion, or plan in order to ferret out the needs and justification. Many people are not focused on communication, nor on deep thought as to why they are doing what they are doing. By asking “Why?” a manager begins to peel the onion as to the origins of both problems and solutions. Upon obtaining one explanation, he would ask “Why?” again. This uncovers some of the basis for the issues underlying the initial exposition of the problem.
Asking “Why?” again in response to each level of explanation eventually will uncover more of the organizational, resource, personnel, customer, and physical realities driving processes and their solutions. Asking “Why?” teaches the questioning manager much about his organization. It also develops in the person reporting a depth of understanding and a depth of communication with management.
Try it. Don’t go with the superficial answer. Understand its underpinnings until you have arrived at bedrock.
Jul
3
A Problem Solving Approach for Everyone in Business or Industry
Submitted by Jack Pate under Business | Leave a Comment
Never bring the boss a problem. Bring a solution. Years ago I worked on a crew stacking hay in the meadows of Wyoming’s cattle country. I recall a particular problem that occurred. The problem was within the purview and promises of the owner and foreman of the ranch where we were contracted to put up the hay. I suggested to my boss that we should go back to the management or ownership of the ranch and request that they correct the improper condition and circumstance as agreed. My boss replied “He didn’t hire us to bring him problems. He hired us to solve them.” Accordingly, we did whatever it took to solve the problem, even though it improperly cost us and delayed us. The owner of the ranch had his problem solved. He was happy to pay for the overall solution as contracted. He never new about the problem his foreman had caused.
In industry I found the same situation time and again. I found it best to go to management requesting only authorization to proceed with my plan. When I could present to management a plan of what to do, explain what problems that action was going to solve, and then request permission, authorization, or the resources to implement the plan, I had an easy sale to make. If one keeps showing up with problems, asking management what to do, it cuts in half the value delivered by the worker. One is expected to engage the brain as well as the brawn in bringing to pass the objectives of any organization.