#266: Let’s call him Doug
We all have that special case on our team that we don’t know what to do with. To make the difficult decisions, sometimes it's data, others it's our gut
A previous client and I often met at a local restaurant. Because we were in public and living in a small town, we agreed to call her problem case Doug. "Doug" has become my go-to name for problems that have multiple layers. I won't get into the specifics of this case, but let's just say this one had so many layers we could have called him Onion.
When every layer of that onion reveals a potential problem, decision-making becomes more complex. We know that every decision we make has various effects. As a leader, you must try to identify these potential setbacks. Unintended consequences can lead to collateral damage, which you want to avoid as a leader. However, waiting too long to decide can be just as deadly.
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Analysis Paralysis - Catch 22
How do you avoid this phenomenon? This paralysis is where overanalyzing or overthinking a situation can cause forward motion or decision-making to become "paralyzed," meaning that no solution or course of action occurs within a natural time frame.
I am also a fan of this quote by Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.
I know what you are thinking; this is hypocritical advice. Hurry up on the one hand, and make sure you understand what the impact will be on the other. Decisions like this are why you make the big bucks. In the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell refers to this as the Law of Intuition. This is "based on facts plus instinct plus other intangible factors, such as employee morale, organizational momentum, and relational dynamics." Your intuition is the gut feeling you get when you know something is right or wrong.
When you have a Doug, you can't keep peeling away layers. What is your feeling about this? I can tell you that you wouldn't have started digging into that onion without a sense that Doug was a problem in the first place. That was your gut telling you that you had a problem. And as we wrote in the blog a few weeks ago about quitting, you know you've probably waited too long already.
People Product Process (again)
These three words come up again and again. Decisions with the most significant impact on your organization revolve around these three phases.
People
You are often called on to make choices regarding people. They are not all adverse decisions either. Will you hire them, move them to a different group, or promote them? However, when you do this, you change the balance of the team. How will moving Doug help Jane? Will it affect productivity in Group A? Are you replacing Doug with a new candidate? Your job as the leader is to weigh the net gain or loss before the decision to see if it is worth it.
Product
Like Reid Hoffman says, if you weren't embarrassed, you waited too long! Type C DISC personalities won't agree with this at all! What you need to make sure of here is that you are delivering on whatever promise your product makes. If the packaging is not what you hoped for, it should not be a reason to hold the product up. You need to consider if being first to market is more important than perfect. Adding more and more features to your product might be great, but if it delays the launch too long, it could be devastating.
Process
Concerns about improving a process or eliminating one are also choices we have to make as leaders. For example, during a launch of a new product, we may have 100% inspection to ensure things are what we say they are. When do you turn off that process? Is it when you've shipped one week without finding any errors? Or do you wait for 90-days? Your quality manager will say never take the process out, but your production manager wants it gone now because it's keeping his costs over budget. What's the cost of shipping a product that might be out of spec? Yes, it's reputation, but will someone be injured? Every decision requires some analysis of costs and benefits. But at some point, you need to pull the trigger and go or shut it down.
Net Gain
Whether it is a people, product, or process discussion - the goal is to get a net gain. When a batter walks into the box, they would love a home run. However, focusing on getting on base should be the goal. Over swinging or waiting for the best pitch can cause you to strike out.
You know there will be some setbacks here and there, but are you better off in the end? When you are new at this, your intuition hasn't had time to learn from previous decisions. That comes with time. That's why it is essential to be observant in anything you are doing or watching from afar.
How do we improve our intuition?
Is there something you learned as a dishwasher in high school that could apply to this decision you are making today? You can improve your intuition by looking at your past experiences. What things did you learn in the newspapers or history that could be used to help you make today's decision?
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog - 3-2-1 Grow. These takeaways and skills we have learned over our years build our intuition and grow our cognitive skills. The ability to use solutions found in entirely different applications and apply them to new problems comes from things you have observed and learned.
Over my years in sales, I have worked in entirely different industries. I have sold textiles, electronics, industrial products, and software. What I learned in those positions about other industries, products, and services, is that they are 80-90% the same. For example, learning about automotive seating in textiles helped me sell plastic. Likewise, problems with customers in the electronics industry were indistinguishable from the rubber industry. I am confident that over time if you pay attention, you will be able to improve your intuition.
What do you do with Doug?
Regardless of how many layers you peel, you know how the onion will taste. So once you have peeled away a few layers to make sure it is an onion, let your gut tell you what to do. If you keep peeling, you're bound to shed some tears, and in the end, there won't be anything left.
Have a Doug you want to address? It’s hard work today, but it will lead to better tomorrows. Give the Kole Performance Group a call to help you identify the pluses, minues, costs, and benefits.
Start a conversation about your “Doug” if you have one …
In case you were wondering, Isaac had a great 1st week picking the NFL games, going 8–2-1! Check out his picks from Sunday (we won’t talk about the Lions)