Familiarity Breeds Contempt

By Debora S. Ferraz

STEPPING OUT OF THE SAFE ZONE

Any thing, idea, or issue could be interpreted in many different ways depending on how we define the situation. Creative ideas can evolve in the seemingly unconnected.

Why do more management teams not approach effective leadership with this attitude? The most common reason is we allow ourselves to be enslaved by familiarity. We play by the safe rules and dare not step out of the “safe zone” for fear of losing control. The following vignette exemplifies the dynamic leader: someone who is willing to look beyond traditional problem solving and opens the door to explore different possibilities.

On one occasion during my adventures in Management Consulting, a senior executive requested my assistance in resolving an ongoing problem of team participation at company meetings. They found that staff neglected to attend departmental meetings and the ones who did attend, seemed disenchanted by the prospect of yet another meaningless meeting.

CLOSED DOOR, CLOSED MIND…UNPRODUCTIVE MEETING SYNDROME

It was this company's policy to have departmental meetings once a week followed by management meetings later that week. Departmental meetings were chaired by the department head who reported on the week’s progress in the customary defined process of relating the week's departmental sales results, overall company statistics for the week, and the projected goals for the following week. Added to that were management’s comments of their perceived departmental problems, which needed to be addressed and resolved and their interpretation of what must be done to eradicate the perceived problem. The meeting then evolved around this manager's ideas for “fixing” the problem.

I glanced around the room to see if there was any interest whatsoever at challenging this manager's self-directed theories. What I saw was a group of bored, disinterested personnel who were either doodling or staring blankly around the room waiting for this meeting to end.

Believe it or not, this same process was exercised by other managers at several of the meetings I had the unfortunate task of attending. What's wrong with this picture? The problem was management's policy of problem solving by the book and not training staff to recognize, report, and/or respond to opportunities. What is the difference between these two scenarios? The problem solver will typically focus on fixing what is broken. The opportunity-seeker takes it one step further by asking, "how can I take advantage of the ambiguity in this situation by trying something new” or “what do I see that I did not focus attention on before?”

WAKE UP TO THE WONDERS OF EMPOWERMENT

The more often we condition our leaders to do something the same way, the more difficult it is for them to think of doing it differently. By encouraging your leaders to take advantage of the resources around them, namely their team members, you begin to empower your team players. Also, by getting more diversified input, especially from the trenches, you're getting data that’s fresh and unfiltered for management’s ears and ego. There’s greater potential for turning a negative situation into a positive and harmonious solution.

To this end, I called a management meeting and suggested I work with the managers in creating an agenda and a new approach to the upcoming departmental meetings. This pilot project called for me taking the place of the departmental manager and the manager, now part of the team, actively participating at the next meeting.

I asked each manager to meet with me with their notes for the upcoming meeting and we developed an "invitation to participate" agenda that was forwarded to all team members. This invitation clearly addressed the problems and goals. Each member was asked to come prepared to tackle the problems by looking for possible opportunities that could be implemented with positive results. We also asked that teams work together to exchange ideas to accomplish this goal. The manager was asked to work with his team as a team player in this exercise and not a leader. I thought this approach would help mend some fences and would also teach the manager the importance of learning from his team by empowering them to share ideas and offer solutions. In other words, I wanted the manager to learn to see things from a different perspective.

RECOGNIZING THE KNOCK OF OPPORTUNITY

The next few days I spent observing the managers at work with their teams and the sight was positive. Creative juices were flowing incessantly and there was a tangible feeling of goodwill all around. Managers (and employees) felt good knowing their peers had faith in them to listen and accept what they had to say. Then by using humour to break down the icy barriers, the manager was able to create a happy environment for those creative juices to flow. I even had staff come up to me and excitedly announce their exuberance at looking forward to the next meeting. The managers had redeemed the respect and trust they earned by believing in their staff instead of imposing an order governed by cultural assumptions. In short, they dared to step out of the "safe zone" and the result was amazing.

SHARING OPPORTUNITIES TO STRENGHTEN LINKS

Now for the last step: I invited senior management to attend each departmental meeting simply to observe the results and hopefully adopt the same attitude for their management meetings. Needless to say, what they saw was a well-oiled machine working at full capacity – a motivated team headed by a fearless leader who achieved results by entertaining new ideas and guiding his team through a successful and meaningful meeting.

NO SMALL LINKS, ONLY SMALL MINDS

I once attended an unforgettable meeting at a company whose culture was based on empowering staff. This was a departmental meeting headed by the Director of Human Resources. The Human Resource Department encompassed a number of areas such as the Mailroom staff, Employee Relations, Benefits, etc. The meeting always opened and ended with a group motivational cheer. This served to put everyone in a relaxed discussion mode. As the Director read the results, he always followed with a well-deserved acknowledgement of the person or people responsible for attaining the results. There were never “problems” to be discussed but instead, "opportunities" for improvements, which were then thrown out to the group for their input.

The most vivid meeting memory is the continued support ventured by the mailroom staff. I was totally impressed by how knowledgeable they were about goings on both in and out of the company. The Director always knew he could count on the mailroom staff to offer insight into customer feedback; observations made by them benefited the company as a whole. There was no ego-tripping in this meeting just ordinary people doing extraordinary things and achieving great results. Every person in the room was treated with respect and the added bonus was a productive and fun meeting.

As a consultant, whenever I tell this story to other company management, I invariably get the rhetorical comment of, "now what could a mail person possibly bring to a management meeting, after all he/she is last on the totem pole, so to speak."

A manager, whose mind has been opened, when passing a mail person in his or her company, will more likely stop and acknowledge this employee for who he is and what he truly represents. Hopefully, decision-makers will always remember, "nothing evades our attention quite so persistently as that which we take for granted." (Roger Von Oech)

Debora Ferraz is a well-known seminar speaker, corporate trainer, and management consultant with AIM Corporate Training Solutions. Debora can be reached at aimcorporate@sympatico.ca.

Published in Networking Today, April 2002.