133) Know How to Perceive Problems Effectively
So…
... 134) Keep in mind the 5-Step Process explained in Part 2.
... 135) Recognize that perceiving problems is the first essential step toward great management.
As in nature, if you can’t see what’s happening around you, you will deteriorate and eventually die off. People who can 1) perceive problems; 2) decide what to do about them; and 3) get these things done can be great managers.... 136) Understand that problems are the fuel for improvement.
Problems are like wood thrown into a locomotive engine, because burning them up—i.e., inventing and implementing solutions—propels us forward. Problems are typically manifestations of root causes, so they provide clues for getting better.Most of the movement toward excellence comes from eliminating problems by getting at their root causes and making the changes that pay off repeatedly in the future. So finding problems should get you excited because you have found an opportunity to get better.
... 137) You need to be able to perceive if things are above the bar (i.e., good enough) or below the bar (i.e., not good enough), and you need to make sure your people can as well
. That requires the ability to synthesize.... 138) Don’t tolerate badness.
Too often I observe people who observe badness and tolerate it.Sometimes it is because they don’t have the courage to make the needed changes, and sometimes it is because they don’t know how to fix it. Both are very bad. If they’re stuck, they need to seek the advice of believable people to make the needed changes, and if that doesn’t work, they need to escalate.
... 139) “Taste the soup.”
A good restaurateur constantly tastes the food that is coming out of his kitchen and judges it against his vision of what is excellent. A good manager needs to do the same.... 140) Have as many eyes looking for problems as possible.
Encourage people to bringproblems to you and look into them carefully. If everyone in your area feels responsible for the well-being of that area and feels comfortable speaking up about problems, your risks of overlooking them will be much less than if you are the only one doing this. This will help you perceive problems, gain the best ideas, and keep you and your people in synch.
140a) “Pop the cork.” It’s your responsibility to make sure that communications from your people are flowing freely.
140b) Hold people accountable for raising their complaints. Ask yourself: 1) does someone think there’s something wrong; 2) did this lead to a proper discussion; and 3) if they felt raising the issue didn’t lead to the proper response, did they escalate it? That’s how it should be.
140c) The leader must encourage disagreement and be either impartial or open-minded.
140d) The people closest to certain jobs probably know them best, or at least have perspectives you need to understand, so those people are essential for creating improvement.
... 141) To perceive problems, compare how the movie is unfolding relative to your script
—i.e., compare the actual operating of the machine and the outcomes it is producing to your visualization of how it should operate and the outcomes you expected. As long as you have thevisualization of your expectations in mind to compare with the actual results, you will note the deviations so you can deal with them. For example, if you expect improvement to be within a specific range…
… and it ends up looking like this…
… you will know you need to get at the root cause to deal with it. If you don’t, the trajectory will probably continue.
... 142) Don’t use the anonymous “we” and “they,” because that masks personal
responsibility—use specific names.
For example, don’t say “we” or “they” handled it badly. Also avoid: “We should...” or “We are...”Who is “we”? Exactly who should, who made a mistake, or who did a great job? Use specific names. Don’t undermine personal accountability with vagueness. When naming names, it’s also good to remind people of related principles like “mistakes are good if they result in learning.”... 143) Be very specific about problems; don’t start with generalizations.
For example, don’t say, “Client advisors aren’t communicating well with the analysts.”Be specific: name which client advisors aren’t doing this well and in which ways. Start with the specifics and then observe patterns.... 144) Tool: Use the following tools to catch problems: issues logs, metrics, surveys, checklists, outside consultants, and internal auditors.
1) Issues log: A problem or “issue” that should be logged is easy to identify: anything that went wrong.
The issues log acts like a water filter that catches garbage. By examining the garbage and
determining where it came from, you can determine how to eliminate it at the source. You diagnose root causes for the issues log the same way as for a drilldown (explained below) in that the log must include a frank assessment of individual contributions to the problems alongside their strengths and weaknesses. As you come up with the changes that will reduce or eliminate the garbage, the water will become cleaner. In addition to using issues logs to catch problems, you can use them to measure the numbers and types of problems, and they can therefore be effective metrics of performance. A common challenge to getting people to use issues logs is that they are sometimes viewed as vehicles for blaming people. You have to encourage use by making clear how necessary they are, rewarding active usage, and punishing non-use. If, for example, something goes wrong and it’s not in the issues log, the relevant people should be in big trouble. But if something goes wrong and it’s there (and, ideally, properly diagnosed), the relevant people will probably be rewarded or praised. But there must be personal accountability.
2) Metrics: Detailed metrics measure individual, group, and system performance. Make sure these metrics aren’t being “gamed” so that they cease to convey a real picture. If your metrics are good enough, you can gain such a complete and accurate view of what your people are doing and how well they are doing it that you can nearly manage via the metrics. However, don’t even think of taking the use of metrics that far! Instead, use the metrics to ask questions and explore. Remember that any single metric can mislead. You need enough evidence to establish patterns. Metrics and 360 reviews reveal patterns that make it easier to achieve agreement on employees’ strengths and weaknesses.
Of course, the people providing the information for metrics must deliver accurate assessments. There are various ways to facilitate this accuracy. A reluctance to be critical can be detected by looking at the average grade each grader gives; those giving much higher average grades might be the easy graders. Similarly helpful are “forced rankings,” in which people must rank coworker performance from best to worst. Forced rankings are essentially the same thing as “grading on a curve.” Metrics that allow for independent grading across departments and/or groups are especially valuable.
3) Surveys (of workers and of customers).
... 145) The most common reason problems aren’t perceived is what I call the “frog in
the boiling water” problem.
Supposedly, if you throw a frog in a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out. But if you put a frog in room-temperature water and gradually bring the water to aboil, the frog will stay in place and boil to death. There is a strong tendency to get used to and accept very bad things that would be shocking if seen with fresh eyes.