It’s Nobody’s Fault

As a youngster, when my mother or father asked my brother and me, “who did this?” we’d answer, “nobody.” At our house, Mr. Nobody caused plenty of trouble.

In business conversations with owners, executives, managers, and employees, I track how many times Mr. Nobody is at fault. Owners or executives tell us, “I know we need to improve around here and we’re all for it. The problem is [department x].”

We then speak with people in that area and they say, “We totally support any effort to change, but the real problem is [department y].” We then visit that department and hear, “The real problem is management.”

Now we’re back to management, who tells us the real problem is people who aren’t engaged, don’t align with the business strategy, and aren’t willing to take ownership or responsibility. My parents would say that’s Mr. Nobody at work.

Strategy Is Management’s Responsibility

Strategy is management’s responsibility. Unfortunately, boards and executives often inadvertently “delegate” responsibility elsewhere. Our most common response from the executive suite is, “Our strategies are great—people just don’t execute them.”

However, what passes for strategy is often little more than a wish list or taking last year’s numbers and adding 10 or 15 percent. More often than not, data is contaminated with speculation, hypotheses, and opinions.

Of course, future projections are, by definition, speculative and unproven. However, if strategies do not sit on a framework of reality, trying to execute them is frustrating at best.

Reality Is an Acquired Taste

Here are a couple of real-life examples:

Stated Strategy: Increase sales by 32 percent in X market.
Question: Where did the 32 percent come from? Why not 29 percent or 35 percent?
Answer: [After questioning], we need to cover our costs and protect our margins.

Stated Strategy: Penetrate a new and different market with our products/services.
Question: What is your value proposition?
Answer: [After questioning], we think we can do a better job than others in the market. We have added value.
Question: What are you bringing to market that is distinct from what’s already available? What are you offering?
Answer: We are customer-focused, high-quality, committed, flexible, and willing to go the extra mile.
Question: Who else can say that? [Notice we didn’t ask, “Who else can do that?”]
Answer: Uh, well, I guess everybody else.

Sorry if this sounds harsh. Reality is an acquired taste.

Approach Strategy with Connection, Engagement

It is possible to separate strategy issues from execution issues. For example, if the contrast between current reality and the desired future is unclear, most action steps are speculative at best. This requires a high degree of “buy-in” and burns valuable resources of time and money. When the contrast is clear, the path of least resistance is towards what you are building rather than away from it.

You can connect them to a strategy that resonates with their highest aspirations and deepest values.

}Executing clear strategies is the fun part for some of us. Employees do not need to be sold on a strategy; they want to be connected to it. Hearing their connection to the strategy comes from listening, not presenting. Each individual broadcasts their commitments loud and clear. But, just like the radio waves surrounding us, until we tune in to their frequency, they’re invisible.

Using this approach of connection and engagement, we’ve seen an executive’s jaw drop as they experience a surge of energy from people like never before. Tapping into intrinsic motivation has a much stronger track record than artificially “pumping people up” or manipulating them with persuasion. After all, you cannot motivate another person but you can connect them to a strategy that resonates with their highest aspirations and deepest values.

Bring Out the Best in People

We recently worked with a Canadian team of executives who faced over $2 million of receivables. They were pressured to collect from customers who were suffering from current events.

It would have been tempting to push for collections, threaten customers with being cut-off, etc. Instead, we created a vision beginning with, “Our customers pay us because they want to…”

Then we proceeded to scrutinize current reality, connect with customers on a more personal level, listen differently, and get even more interested in their goals and aspirations.

The first thing we discovered was that almost 30 percent of receivables related to billing errors. That was cleaned up in less than two weeks. As we established stronger lines of communication and focused on customer issues and goals, more receivables came in. Less than a year later, $2.1 million in receivables was reduced to almost zero and is showing no signs of returning.

Something magical happens when we connect heart-to-heart rather than operate from our own, often flawed, assumptions.

The question is, “Do our actions bring out the best in people or the worst in people?”

Dave Mather is a Corporate Specialist at Dale Carnegie Business Group in Toronto.

Dave on Linked In: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/davematherdalecarnegie