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Issue #33: January 27, 2004
To our readers:
Have you been trying unsuccessfully to get an employee, a colleague, your boss, your Board of Directors, or someone else to do something? Have you tried again and again to make something happen that just won't happen?
The beginning of a new year is a good time to recall a famous saying
attributed to Albert Einstein: Insanity is doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting different results. If you are falling
short of a particular target, is it because you've been doing the
same thing over and over again hoping this time you'll hit that
target?
If you find yourself repeatedly failing to accomplish a task,
it's time to reassess the task and your approach to it.
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Five Tips for Moving from Repeated Failure to Success:
1. Identify what you've been doing over and over and stop it.
Determine exactly what you've been doing in your effort to make something happen; then determine
not to do it again. For example, if you've been trying to get your department to begin the
weekly management meeting on time and it never happens, look at what you've done so far.
Have you sent reminder e-mails, made reminder telephone calls, sent reminder memos, made
speeches about how important it is to begin on time so everyone can get back to work at a
reasonable hour? If these haven't worked, don't send any more memos or make any more speeches.
2. Identify what interferes with the accomplishment of your goal and figure out how
to neutralize it.
Find out what is competing with your agenda. What keeps department heads from getting to the
meeting on time? Do they arrive at the office too late to make the meeting? Are they
getting coffee and chatting in the break room before heading to the meeting? Does someone
waylay them on their way to the meeting? Do they do whatever they can to avoid the meeting
because it's boring or keeps them from "doing their jobs?" If people don't make it to the
office in time for an early meeting and you lack the power or desire to insist they arrive
earlier, move the meeting to a later time. If people are chatting and getting coffee when
they should be in the meeting, arrange to have coffee in the meeting or move the meeting to
the time they do get there. If someone with greater authority holds them up on a regular
basis, see if that person is willing to wait until after the meeting to talk with them.
Or, again, move the time of the meeting to a less busy time slot. If they avoid the meeting
in order to "work," it's time to reassess the value of the meeting itself.
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3. Determine if what you seek to accomplish is really worthwhile, or if you should adjust
your goal.
If, for example, enough people avoid a meeting because it interferes with their work, then the
meeting is not useful to them. You must determine if it is actually useful to you. Look at
it with a cold, objective eye. If you can determine that the meeting is not accomplishing what
you want, then perhaps you can cut it out altogether and save yourself and the others time. If
the meeting provides you with useful information or insights, is it worthwhile even with
partial attendance? Perhaps you don't need everyone to attend every meeting.
If the meetings don't in fact provide you what you need, ferret out other means
for obtaining the information or insights you're looking for. Turn the same cold,
objective eye on other goals you have which you've failed to achieve.
4. Ask the people whose behavior you are trying to influence what they
suggest.
Once you've identified what your true goals are (e.g. getting information and
insights vs. having everyone attend a meeting), solicit suggestions from those involved
(e.g. the department heads). How do they suggest you get what you need? You might be
surprised at their willingness to help you achieve a focused, worthwhile goal.
5. Figure out what will act as an incentive to obtain the behavior you want.
What will get people to provide you what you want or need? What will serve as a reward for them for providing it? What would make it worthwhile for department heads to get to a meeting at the appointed time? Offering people what they want as a reward for helping you get what you want can lead to many successful exchanges. And what they want might be as simple as an opportunity to present their own ideas in a meeting, or the chance to eat a sausage and egg biscuit at a breakfast meeting.
Remember, if you find yourself repeatedly running into a brick wall it's time to try something new. Run around the wall, cut a door through it, or find what you need on your side of the wall. But stop running into it.
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