The miraculous practice of not answering subordinates’ questions. A counter-intuitive strategy for high performance, yours and theirs.
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Category Archives: People
Managing for Weakness – a mis-management myth
Managers spend a lot of time worrying about the weaknesses of their employees. “If only I could get her to perform better we would have a really great team.” And countless more along that line. Companies have performance evaluation systems that focus attention on how employees should overcome their weaknesses by additional training, supervision and mentoring, and, above all, more work on self-improvement by the employee. Perhaps this focus on weakness flows from an educational system that has always been more attuned to the “Cs” and “Ds” and what must be done to raise those scores, rather than building on the strengths. Our focus on overcoming weakness is reflected in a saying like, “You can become anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough.”
In the management world, Peter Drucker, the great god-father of modern management, spoke clearly about this matter way back in 1966 in his still prescient and useful little book, The Effective Executive (still in print). “The effective executive fills positions and promotes on the basis of what a man can do. He does not make staffing decisions to minimize weaknesses but to maximize strength…. Performance can only be built on strengths. What matters most is the ability to do the assignment. Strong People always have strong weaknesses too. ”
More recently, others have also come to see that when it comes to both people and organizations the only way to build for results is to build on strengths. One example of this is the work of the Gallup Organization and Marcus Buckingham and Donald D. Clifton in Now, Discover your Strengths ( (Free Press, New York 2001) and Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0 (Gallup Press, New York 2007).
Focusing on strengths engages the best attributes, skills, and experiences. Focusing on strengths engages people where they have the most passion, energy and success. Focusing on strengths focuses on the activities that people have already demonstrated results. Focusing on strengths creates a positive relationship because you a talking about activities that the employee is good at and has the best chance of producing good results. Managers should focus their attention on how to be sure that every person is working on their strengths as much as possible.
There is another reason for this focus on strengths, it removes a crutch that managers use to avoid taking complete responsibility for their performance and the performance of the organization – the myth of lousy personnel – “If I only had better people, I could get my organization to really perform.” More on this at another moment.
Building a Positive Culture – the no jerk zone
A very common question from managers is, “How do I build a positive, supportive, productive culture in my company?” This seems like a very abstract objective until you face up to some of the negative behaviors that can be found in many companies. When you identify these behaviors, and they are not hard to notice, you are then presented with an important opportunity to improve the culture and set a better standard of behavior. But, this requires you to be forthright and take action.
Here is an example. “What do I do with an employee who is disruptive, disrespectful, in short, a jerk?” Frequently this question concerns an employee who is perceived by the manager as very productive or a key player in the organization.
One of the first steps to take is to clearly evaluate the true costs of having this person in the organization. Jerks are like zones of repulsion that disrupt work all around. People avoid communicating, or worse, working directly with a jerk. Many people will have a hard time not reacting with their own negative behavior to fend off jerks. When you add all of this up, jerks are always a negative, no matter how individually productive they may seem to be.
(Before going on to the next steps, review your company personal policy carefully concerning disciplining employees and conditions for termination. You want to be sure to follow these procedures carefully. )
So, what to do? The first step is to confront the jerk. This is best done by direct observation and immediate feedback. Wait for the negative behavior to be demonstrated and immediately take the person aside to a private space and indicate to them that this kind of behavior will no longer be tolerated. Do not engage in a colloquy or argument. This is a policy statement, not an invitation to a discussion.
To be honest, you take this step, rather than just dismissing the person, because it is the right thing to do, not because there is much hope for reforming the bad behavior of an inveterate jerk. You are doing this because it is sound human resource management practice and because it is sound interpersonal behavior. Good management of people demands observing real behavior and taking corrective action immediately. And, surprise, surprise, sometimes better behavior breaks out!
Now, you must be ready to act. Sometimes, once a jerk is confronted about their behavior they will in fact make good faith efforts to change. If you see this, be supportive and provide immediate corrective direction when the person falls back toward the bad behavior. On the other hand, confronting a jerk may just as well cause them to flee, to quit. Be ready for this and have a replacement, or backup, in the wings. Finally, true jerks will revert to their natural behavior shortly and, without repentance, continue along. Follow your company’s procedures for terminating the employee closely. If you feel that the employee is unsalvageable, do the right thing for you, the company, and the employee, insist on termination not a transfer to another department or division.
You will be amazed at how others in your company will react to your handling this situation so well. They will know that you are not going to tolerate disruptive, disrespectful behavior and they will feel positively that you handled the situation with respect and care. So, you have taken a clear step towards a positive, supportive, productive culture in your company. There is much more to be done, nevertheless, you have taken a highly visible step.
There is a great article about this topic in The McKinsey Quarterly (May 2007), Building the civilized workplace: Nasty people don’t just make others feel miserable; they create economic problems for their companies. by Robert Sutton (opens in new window).
Managers: Don’t Answer That Question! – part two
In the previous posting, I wrote about how managers are chronically undermining whatever formal delegation systems are in place and enabling dependency all around them.
One of the reasons managers answer so many questions from their staff and others in the company is that they fear that if they don’t, then really important issues and opportunities may be addressed incorrectly or sub optimally.
A key to getting out of the round of endless questions while still being involved in important ones, is to set some boundaries, some limits.
This might sound like this: “I want you to develop three solutions before you come to ask me a question. Ask your colleagues for help if you get stuck. But, in the case of the following critical customer, Immense Big Machines, Inc., I want to be informed of any issues involving delay or cost overruns in Project XZY.”
With the right boundaries set around your new rule, you can still be assured of being involved where you need to be.
Finally, to make your staff and others in the company comfortable about taking responsibility for solving problems and answering their own questions, you need to have environment in which mistakes are expected and dealt with positively. Remember, if you are not making mistakes, you are doubtless doing very little and learning not at all. Mistakes need to be analyzed and the lessons learned. Perhaps the only rule about mistakes is that they should not be repeated.
Note that this skill, “Don’t Answer That Question!” is a great precursor to grasping the opportunities for controlling your time. More discussion about this in my entry: Seizing Your Time – the first step in time management.
Managers: Don’t Answer That Question! – part one
If most managers could listen to themselves for just a few hours, they would discover that they are chronically undermining whatever formal delegation systems are in place and enabling dependency all around them.
How is this happening?
Just listen and you will hear a stream of questions coming at them followed by answers in response.
Most managers get to be managers because they have some field in which they are very strong performers. They are the organization’s experts. So, it is so natural for them, and everyone around them, to follow the reflexive pattern: ask the expert and be rewarded with answers.
However, if you want to get people to take responsibility and be involved in the business, you can’t go on answering all these questions. They will just go on asking whether they need to or not.
What should a manager do to break this pattern?
Simply announce to the troops, “If you want to ask me a question, you have to have at least three possible answers thought through before I will consider your question. If you are having trouble coming up with answers, ask others to help you. Group thinking is always the best thinking.”
In my next posting on this topic I will go into a few further refinements to make this a really effective policy. For the moment, the really tough step is entirely in the mind and habits of you the manager. You have to get up every morning and look yourself in the mirror and say, “My job as manager is to create an environment in which everyone will take responsibility and participate fully. To help this along, I will help people by not answering their questions.”
The Positive in Action – examples from leadership
Recently I visited a medium size bakery. My host was the founder, a third generation pastry chef, and, as I quickly learned, a very clever yet profoundly modest person. As we talked about how he had started the business and guided its growth, it was immediately obvious to me that he completely understood who he is and who he is not. He has assembled a team of managers around him to handle all of the aspect of the business that are not his natural bent. When I asked him, “What part of the business do you wake up in the morning and rush over here to get to?”, he immediately launched into stories of his new products, pies, cakes, torts, pastries of all sorts. When I asked him about other parts of the business, he referred to his colleagues as the holders of the reins and wisdom, though I had no doubt that he had more than a passing awareness of those fields, too. Overall, during our discussion, he focused continuously on the positive, the positives in his people, customers, and suppliers. The negatives were just factors to be dealt with, but not moaned over. So, I thought, here is a manager with a powerful sense of the strength of the positive.
Finally, we got to the tour of the plant. This is the third plant he has built. Clearly he had continued to learn lessons. The most telling point for me came when we paused in the break room and he pointed to a TV hanging off the wall to explain that they frequently used that for employee training. Then, he told me this wonderful story.
[I paraphrase his story below]
Recently we have been hiring employees who come from Brazil. We carefully sit them down in front of the TV and show them videos about the importance of cleanliness and detailed instructions for washing hands. After the video we re-emphasize the importance of hand washing, especially the use of hot water. So, I think, we have done a good job of instructing our new hires.
Then, I noticed that when they went to one of the numerous wash stations, they used cold water to wash. Well, lets repeat the lessons with more emphasis on hot water. Nothing seemed to be working. Finally, I learned from one of the employees that for many Brazilians, warm water is bad water, it is the water standing around in their tropical and semi-tropical environments. For them, cold water is rare and represents purity. Aha, now I understood how to break through. They are responding with their hearts in the best way they know how.
I was stunned. Here was his power of the positive in action and on display. No executive speech. A simple story that demonstrates how he sees the best in people around him and acts on that.