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Don't blame the People

by Rick Baker
On Dec 23, 2013

Business contains only 3 things: People, Process, & Situations. 

When it comes to forecasting people's behaviour, place your bet on Situations over People. [We learned this from Mark Weber] Another way of looking at it...When it comes to commenting on people's behaviour, place your blame on Situations not on People.

  • Learn how to observe better - make that a life-long goal. 
  • Learn how to observe people better, with a view to understanding them better - as Stephen Covey taught, Seek First to Understand.
  • Learn how to observe situations better, with a view to identifying patterns in real-time and knowing the consequences of those patterns in real-time.
  • Learn how to anticipate Situations - that is key to leadership and success.
  • Do not set the bar so high people will fail to hurdle it...recognize you and most other people would likely act the same way in the same situation.
  • Do not back people into corners. For example, do not ask questions that any reasonable person might answer with a lie maybe a little white lie but nonetheless a lie.
  • Do not criticize others: know from personal experience, constructive criticism is an oxymoron.

When it comes to discovering why things are not working, place your attention on People before Process.

  • Processes cannot talk on their own behalf. Processes do not explain themselves to People.  Processes rely on People to talk to People.
  • People-memory is prone to fail. Remember, People are prone to misremember. So, you must help your people improve memory & recall. To do this - get attention, generate interest, tell stories, provide real-life and relevant examples, strive to make your messages stick
  • Provide tools to help strengthen the bond between People and Process. Customize your tools so they fit both your People and your Process. Checklists are terrific tools. 1-Page Tools are terrific tools. 
Summing up...
  1. Anticipate Situations.
  2. Design Processes that will help People perform better in given Situations.
  3. Explain that good Process to your People. Then repeat, repeat, repeat.
  4. Provide tools that help People bond with Process, in Situations.
  5. Don't blame your People.

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