Problem solving

Frustration 101

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I have been traveling lately and have used my iPad liberally on the flights.  I’ve even downloaded a few game apps to kill some time while in the air.  I recently found myself a tad bit frustrated when a screen message popped up telling me that it appeared I was having trouble and perhaps the purchase of several expensive power boosts would help.  Ya think?  What to do with the frustration?  How stupid would it be to throw the iPad down the aisle?  Would that really make it easier for me to complete the level and move on?

How do you deal with the frustration of thinking a problem has been solved only to see it rear its ugly head time and time again?  What about all those phone calls and conversations with Aunt Nell where she tells you every little thing you’re doing wrong and why can’t you just do things her way?

Something to consider – group dynamics.  Both formal and informal groups exist within your organization and both are communication channels.  Why not communicate your sense of frustration, not so much to vent but rather as a way of seeking input from your staff?  Let your staff know that you’re aware that some problems never seem to get solved.  Will a realistic and lasting solution be found?   Consider asking your staff members how they would tackle the issue.  Keep the boundaries clear, whatever boundaries you set, but then listen as an active listener.

A Video Game May Help?

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Have you ever watched kids playing a video game as a team?  Even if they have to communicate through IM, headsets or whatever, they work together as a team.  The usual result is that the game level is mastered and they continue the positive progress.  Now, have you ever watched kids play an online video game where they have to join a group, most often not composed of players of their own choosing?  What do you think the difference is?  Are you starting to ask yourself what does such a silly topic have to do with the problems in your organization?  After all, your problems are far more serious than mastering some stupid video game, right?  Maybe it’s not the problem which is so serious but your lack of understanding which is the obstacle to a lasting solution to the problem

An effective leader – one who is confident in his or her skills – will be open to learning new skills and insights into how to get the organization functioning at peak performance.  Knowing the basics of group dynamics can give you the insight and knowledge that will help you work in tandem with a professional problem solver.

So let’s get back to what playing a video game might teach us.  Looking at the two scenarios of teams we can see a difference almost immediately.  A group that is given time to come together and function as a group will have a greater likelihood of success than a group that is thrown together and directed to achieve some goal in a short amount of time.

Yup, we can all learn something from playing video games.

Ostrich or Effective Leader?

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How have your conversations with Aunt Nell been going?  Are you giving her honest answers?  Or are you simply trying to buy yourself some time?  We both know the last approach will only work in the short term.  So what are you going to do to solve these nagging and seemingly endless problems?

One thing to recognize is that you will probably make some mistakes but make them because you’re trying, not because you refuse to take affirmative steps to solve the problems.  A positive affirmative step you can take even as you read this is to acknowledge that group dynamics play an important role in the effectiveness of any organization, including yours.  A deeper understanding of how groups function may give you some insight into how a professional problem solver will work to identify the problem and then work with all the parties to develop and implement long term effective solutions.  The groups will exist whether you like it or not.  Why not learn how to use those groups and their communication channels to your advantage and in the best interests of the people in your organization?  It has to be better than burying your head in the sand as you try to avoid yet another conversation with Aunt Nell.

Giving up the ostrich response

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How was that last conversation with Aunt Nell?   As I suggested earlier you may not appreciate the importance of group dynamics.  Just recently there’s been a real life example in the news and I’d like to share some of my observations with you.

Marissa Mayer, the new CEO at Yahoo!,  recently issued a memo to her entire staff, stating that telecommuting was ending and all staff members are expected to report daily to the office  beginning in June.  I have no inside information but I can hazard a guess that Ms. Mayer may have a legitimate concern that the lack of daily office contact with about 500 staffers had caused that group to be perceived as disconnected and remote from the remaining 12,ooo or so other employees.  There is some legitimacy to that perception if we think about it.  Having a coffee break in the employee break room provides a valuable communication channel among the employees.

In my assessment Ms. Mayer may not have fully appreciated the impact of the major paradigm shift she has ordered.  Obviously she appreciates the importance of having the employees interact with one another through means other than impersonal emails and text messages.  Getting all her employees together physically gets everyone on the same page and focused on the same organizational goals.  It improves the quality and frequency of communication and I think it gets employees more personally invested in the success of the organization.   But implementing such a significant change requires, in my view, a stick and carrot approach.  The stick would be having folks  physically in the office.  From the news reports I’ve read the change has been received with the understandable negative response.  However, I think Ms. Mayer can mitigate that negativity by offering a carrot.  It would be a reconsideration at some defined future point of reinstating the work from home option.  What standards she would use would have to be clearly defined and objectively measured.  But it can be done.  In my view, Ms. Mayer has already shown that she’s not afraid to make the hard decisions.  Making an adjustment to her earlier decision would not diminish her in any way but would show how she is willing to listen, evaluate and implement changes as appropriate.  Are you able to say the same thing about your performance?

Group Dynamics – Who cares?

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Someone once told me that the definition of insanity was trying the same solution to a problem over and over again, all the while hoping for a different outcome.  Sound familiar?  Perhaps your continuing problems might be the result of not fully understanding group dynamics and the importance they can play in the smooth operation of your organization.  But why should you be concerned with something you’ve called psychological babble?  After all, aren’t you the boss?  The problems will go away just as soon as people realize you’re in charge and they have to do what you tell them.  You’ve told your staff this in some form or another how many times?  I’m curious – if that approach hasn’t worked (and it obviously hasn’t since the problems haven’t gone away) why are you so reluctant to try a different approach using a professional problem solver?

No matter what your personal opinion might be about the social sciences, research has demonstrated that the concept of group dynamics is valid. Knowledge of how groups work, especially small groups, is essential to being an effective leader and manager.  Group dynamics affect more than just the morale of the organization.  They can impact communication and productivity.  Something to consider over the next few days, don’t you think?

The “Dream” Memo to Your Staff

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It’s the end of yet another difficult week and as you start to leave the office, do you think about writing just one more memo to your staff?  What about to the stockholders?  What would you want to say in that memo?  Would you tell your staff that you’re sick and tired of all the stupid little games and petty arguments that constantly undermine the effectiveness of your organization?  Would you tell your stockholders that you’re fed up with their constant second guessing?   For some, the only exercise they get is jumping to conclusions that you’re incompetent and they could certainly manage the organization better than you’re doing right now.  Does your memo include the invitation to all those who think they can do a better job to step up because you’ve gone fishing and will return when the blue cheese on the moon is being harvested?  Why is it that no real progress seems to get made?

My question to you is – how well do you understand and appreciate the dynamics of the groups that make up your organization?  Have you created an environment where a group can come together and function effectively?  If you haven’t, why not?  Do you understand and appreciate the characteristics of the groups?  Do you even know the stages a group has to go through to come together and become effective in completing the assigned tasks?  Or did you simply think that all you had to do was call some people to your office, assign the job to them and give them a deadline?  If you answered “no” to any of my questions, let’s chat.  This is a good a forum as any!

It’s a New Year!

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Happy New Year.  More than ten days into the new year and are you reviewing all those resolutions yet?  Was one of them to resolve once and for all the personnel problems which have been around for far too long? Is it finally time to get the stockholders (especially Aunt Nell and that nephew of hers) off your back? Just exactly how do you plan to do this?

Even with the new year the proposed solution from last year needs to be seriously considered. You need to hire a professional problem solver.   But keep in mind that professional problem solvers are not miracle workers. If you expect the problem solver to snap his or her fingers and shazam! – the problem is solved,  I’m afraid you’re going to be bitterly disappointed. But perhaps that attitude could help explain your procrastination. Unless you’re polishing silver or washing windows where the results of your efforts are immediately noticeable, the results of effective problem solving will take some time to be evident. Even a gourmet meal or an excellent cocktail takes some work and some time.

How much longer can you afford to ignore the problem(s) or engage in ineffective solutions? When you’ve run out of ideas please give me a call.  At the very least I can listen.

You Think You’ve Got Problems?

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I had a different idea for a blog article this week but – I made the mistake of watching a couple of talking heads tell the world how the federal government should fix the fiscal mess they’ve created and why the other side was completely wrong.  If DC doesn’t do what they want the resulting fiscal crisis will be entirely the fault of the other party and people playing politics with the country’s future, etc., etc., etc.  Fill in the name of any politician, it doesn’t matter.  I’m a problem solver and if you’ve talked with me or visited my website you know that I truly believe that when reasonable people come together and act reasonably, there is no problem that can’t be solved.  Well, I think I just found one.  Your problems will probably pale in comparison when you think of the mess both political parties have created and now they’re acting like six year olds unwilling to admit that someone else’s idea may have merit.  No one is exempt from this mess.  So folks in DC, here’s the solution – put the shovels down.  Do what every other business person in the country is trying to do – get the best common sense solutions identified and implement the one selected by consensus.  Stop the politics until the problem is rectified.  If you can’t be part of the solution at least stop being the problem.  Get the heck out of the way and let the American people do what they do best – tackle the problem head on, find the solution and implement it.

Playground or Office?

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As a supervisor, leader, or manager, are there times when you feel like you’re more of a playground monitor than a supervisor?  Do you get the feeling that you’re spending 90% of your time on 5% of your staff?  Is most of your time is spent refereeing employee disputes, almost to the point where you’re working overtime just to get your own work done?  And the worst of it is that this isn’t the first time this has happened. Despite your best efforts, it keeps happening time and time again – same stuff, different faces.

We’ve talked before about this issue and the drastic solution of termination.  But what if the termination doesn’t have the effect you thought it would?  What will it take to solve this problem once and for all so you can go about doing your job?

When the situation gets to this point, it’s time to call in a professional problem solver.  He or she brings a fresh perspective to the situation and has no other agenda than working with all the parties to find a realistic and lasting solution.  The problem solver can facilitate effective communication that aids the correct identification of the problem, the root causes and viable solutions.  You’ve tried everything you and the rest of the management team can think of.  Why not try something different?  What do you have to lose other than that chronic case of heartburn, bad morale, and Aunt Nellie’s nagging?

But I can’t fail – I’m the boss!

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Well, actually you can.   Most of us who have been in leadership or management positions have failed at some point in our professional lives.  Here’s the good news.  If handled properly, failure isn’t all bad.  None of us likes to fail but it happens despite our best efforts and intentions.  We’re human and we make mistakes which lead to failure moments. What happens then? The real measure of success isn’t what you do when you’re on top.   Patton once said that “success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.”   From our failures we can gain knowledge and experience.  We can then use both to address the issue more appropriately, increasing the likelihood that we’ll succeed.  Learning from failure is a good thing.  Repeating the failure moments with the hope of a different outcome is, according to some, the definition of insanity.

Failure to resolve the personnel issues that continue to plague your organization is aggravating and frustrating.  Recognizing the reasons for that failure and, more importantly, the limitations on your ability to resolve the issues is an important first step.  Consulting with a professional problem solver may be the  first step on the road to long lasting resolution and eventually success.  As we’ve discussed before, the professional problem solver has no other agenda than helping you and your organization find the real causes for the problems and reaching a resolution that actually addresses the issues.

When failure looms its ugly head, and it will, accept the option and possible reality and call for reinforcements in the form of a professional problem solver.  Then, when Aunt Nellie demands to know what you’re doing to resolve the problem ( and increase her monthly dividend payment) you’ll have a response which just might take the wind out of her sails.  Even in the midst of failure, seeing Aunt Nellie speechless has to be a very satisfactory moment.