Perhaps the most important attribute a leader needs to be successful is accountability. Humans will do amazing things if they know what is expected of them. They will often do stupid things if they don't.
Consider the parable of the rock:
A village chieftain once asked a young warrior to bring him a rock. The young man, feeling excited, creative, and proud to have been asked, guessed that the chieftain wanted a new decoration for his hut. He went out and found a beautiful quartz crystal and brought it to the chieftain who shrugged and said, "Thank you. But that's not the rock I wanted. Please try again." Disappointed, but still resolute, the warrior then decided that the chieftain must be worried about the oncoming winter, so he returned with a piece of coal. "That's not it either,” said the chieftain. Getting frustrated, the warrior asked around the village and found that the chieftain had asked for rocks before and had once accepted a piece of granite. Thus, the young man traveled several days to a place where he could find granite. He chipped off a large piece and hauled it home to the chief, who didn't have time to see him, but sent a message through his lieutenant-chieftain that he had changed his mind and no longer wanted a rock.
You've probably been on both ends of that story. I know I have. The warrior, instead of spending productive time, spent time trying to divine what the chieftain wanted. What a waste of effort! Clear instructions save everybody time and improve the quality of work. Accountability is impossible without them. You can grow leaders by giving clear instructions and letting them flourish.
I once had a manager who subscribed to the “bring me a rock” school of thought. He was a smart, talented guy, but he had very stringent, inflexible notions of how things ought to be done. He would ask me to bring him a rock over and over and over again until, at last, the rock I brought was the one he wanted. Hey, I eventually brought him what he wanted, so we succeeded together, right? Wrong. Each day seemed like a continual struggle with this manager, and I often felt like I was spinning my wheels. I definitely wasn't as productive as I could have been. Obviously, this behavior turns people into drones whose purpose is to figure out the leader's will.
As a leader, you have a responsibility to help your people help you. If you have particular concepts of how things ought to be done, be clear on those up front. People need a sandbox, especially in large enterprises where standards, protocol, politics, and policy, by necessity, govern. But make those boundaries as spacious and as well-documented as possible.
Once you establish boundaries, you must set people free within them. People want to feel empowered. They want to be creative. They want to solve problems and have freedom. Turn them loose and stay out of the way! People are paid to use their brains, and the more they're micromanaged, the more they have a tendency to turn their brains off. Micromanagement can work well in very small groups with monumental challenges which require heroics. But micromanagement doesn't grow leaders. I know. I'm a recovering micromanager and I've seen the negative effects of meddling on potential leaders.
It may be easy to criticize someone's ideas. And it's human nature to think that your way is better. You might even be prescient enough to see a potential train wreck coming. But letting leaders own their decisions allows them to feel accountable and learn from their own mistakes. We can't (and we shouldn't) want to teach every person to do every job. We don't know enough and we don't have enough time. Let people learn on their own. Each time you swoop in to solve a problem that you see coming you remove a potential lesson from the people in you organization. Accept mistakes for what they are: cheap leadership training courses.
Clear expectations and defined, yet spacious boundaries with room for mistakes will create leaders in your organization.
[...] Accountablity, 7/14 Bookmark [...]
ReplyDeleteNice blog Joel.
ReplyDeleteI actually learned this principle in a powerful way on my mission, and I think the General Authorities are doing a great job putting this into the missionary program. With the implementation of Preach My Gospel (I was in the "first wave" of missionaries who used it in 2004), more accountability was placed on the missionaries' shoulders by teaching them WHY.
ReplyDeleteMy Mission President once told me that the purpose of the missionary program was, yes, to preach the gospel, but he said the idea lately was to train the future leadership of the Church. Zion's Camp comes to mind in this example. And I found that the focus of the work was definitely shifting from numbers and statistics. There was still an emphasis on goal-setting and accountability but I think the increased push for understanding WHY we were out, what we were trying to accomplish, the rules we had to follow, but mostly just why why why... and this enriched my experience so much. I'm glad I went on my mission when I did (even though I was almost 21 when it started).
Would you have any insights if you happen to work for a "bring me a rock" manager?
ReplyDelete[Joel: Demand clarity. I annoy my managers to no end when they give me assignments. I pepper them with questions and repeat what I hear until I'm sure I (and they) understand. At first it can be annoying, but it solves so many problems. Often the process helps the manager realize he doesn't understand what he's asking you to do and forces him to think more carefully.]
(I was going to say throw the rock at him, but that's why I don't manage this blog)
ReplyDelete[Joel: You're hired!]
[...] Accountability [...]
ReplyDeleteI think that sometimes we also have to be careful how much we press for information too. I have worked with people in the past that have been asked to "get a rock," and in turn asked their chief to provide them with a sample of the rock they were to go get.
ReplyDeleteThere is a fine line between being a useful part of a project team and hindering your teams progress.
[Joel: It's a great point. Thank you, Mario. Sometimes people invite management to get involved by asking questions in the wrong way or asking the wrong questions altogether. Employees should gauge the propensity of the boss to micromanage or to want things done a certain way and throttle questions accordingly. Managers should encourage people to ask questions, but try to be perscriptive only when it really matters.]
Thanks for the article. One thing I would suggest is taking precautionary measures (if needed) before assigning things out. For example, if you are going to assign someone to modify your organization's website, it would be a good idea to make a backup of the files in case an accident does occur. (Such as the files get deleted.)
ReplyDeleteYes, people need to be responsible for their actions, but you can try to make it so that an accident doesn't cause a detriment.
Very insighful! An excellent and practicle application of agency within the Lord’s boundries or within covenant.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! At my first job I was blessed with the opportunity to work for your village chieftain. I say I was blessed because I got to learn very early in my career the management principle that you’ve outlined here.
ReplyDeleteI was an intern on the Nintendo Power magazine staff and my primary responsibility was to take screenshots of that month's featured video games. On one project I was given the added responsibility of making callouts for the location of items on every map in a 120+ page guide book. Because the game was still under development these item locations tended to move around from week to week. I had no documentation and was forced to play thru the game and recheck all of these callouts each time I got a new drop of code, which took time. Before the project started, my manager had given me a vague, loose description of what she needed me to do. She told me that it was my job to make sure that the maps were correct. It wasn't until we were doing the final check of the proofs on the day before we went to print that she asked me if I had made sure that the locations of some ultra-rare items were correct. She was extremely anxious because as she put it, the game wasn't very complicated, but that those items were difficult to find, so revealing how to find them was one of the most important value propositions of the guide. Luckily I had figured that out on my own and had checked those items on the final build and sure enough, they had moved.
Long story short, from that experience I learned that as a manager I need to define what success looks like and that on the flipside, I need to ask my manager to do the same.
I agree so much. Those things really apply to parenting as well. Sometimes I micromanage my kids, and they end up ornery and impossible to deal with. This was a great reminder to set them free within proper boundaries.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see how much accountability you take on for ICS. When I started working in ICS, I was impressed with how much trust seemed to be floating around. It made a little more sense when I was introduced to the cultural beliefs, and now it makes even more sense now that I've been reading "Journey to the Emerald City." I am personally very impressed with how accountable you hold yourself, and in turn how accountable it makes each of us employees. (Would that I could remain with ICS, but alas, I'm a temporary! Tomorrow I interview with the company that published "The Oz Principle" and "Journey to the Emerald City" as a staff writer. I feel prepared for their culture based on the one I've experienced in ICS, so thank you!)
ReplyDeleteI have learned that to be able to provide effective accountability-based leadership, many times I should assist first (and some times force) my managers (yes, managers) to understand what they want, how much effort (and money!) it requires, their willingness to compromise in some areas and to identify those areas where they wont compromise, and many times to re-asses the priority of the assignment regarding the cost/benefit that will be achieved after the mission is successfully accomplished. IT projects are not static, so we need to identify those core accountability-benchmarks that we need to focus on first. I know by personal experience that this principle of accountability is critical for the success of all organizations. I have successfully applied these principles in multi-country IT and cross-organizational environments and I would feel blessed of having the opportunity to do the same within ICS. Thanks for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of micromanaging is such an intriguing one. It bugs me that so many good people, when they get into management turn to micromanaging styles. Micromanaging makes people feel insignificant, except the manager who then feels over significant.
ReplyDeleteI think it intriguing, the leadership of the LDS church concept. The leaders, yes they lead when they need to. But they have such love for the peope, they would rather give service to those who need it, rather than play the boss and kick back and do nothing but order and watch. To be of service to those undeneith you flies in the face of typical world management styles, yet it appears to build more people's character than micromanaging does.
The true mark of good management tactics are good communications, return and report expectations, help when you can, even in small things. Don't play games with people. And last of all (there are others, but we will stop here), treat all your employees with great respect.
I like the sign in a business that says "Treat your employees like you would like them to treat your customers". I think that somewhat summerizes it.