At what point is performance good enough?

Imagine you’re a race car driver. You pull into the pits to get four new tires. How long should that pit stop take? If you drove NASCAR in the late 1960’s, 22 seconds was a lightning stop. Is that good enough?

Taking 22 seconds today would get a pit-crew fired. The current standard is under 13 seconds. Is that good enough?

What if you redesigned the jack that lifts and lowers the car? Or the wheels, lug nuts and air wrenches? What if you selected as pit-crew members only those who have the best hand-eye coordination? Those with exceptional quickness. Go even further and imagine that every possible factor has been accounted for, that every possible improvement that could be made has been made. Now what would you say is the fastest possible pit stop to change four tires on a racecar?

McLaren are consistently one of the top teams in Formula One auto racing. They recently set a record for the fastest ever pit stop to change four tires. Are you ready? 2.31 seconds. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? Is faster even possible? Surely, that time must be good enough.

But it’s not. Not for McLaren. They’ve estimated that if everyone does everything perfectly, then it’s possible to do a four-tire-change pit stop in … 1.48 seconds.

Again, at what point is performance good enough? Answer: Never. Always expect more.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Now just over a year since the meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, a parliamentary panel has released its investigative report. They pointedly wrote that the disaster could and should have been prevented. But that was just the start:

“What must be admitted – very painfully – is that this was a disaster ‘Made in Japan.’ Its fundamental causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture; our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to ‘sticking with the program.’”

True at Fukushima and true with many organizational initiatives. The roots of failure are often found in the soil of culture.

What about the culture of your organization? Do you promote blind obedience or well-intended questioning of authority? Do you insist on unwavering commitment to the program or detached reassessment of the program?

In short: Do you want your people simply to do or do you also want them to think?

Your thoughts?

Michael

In a small, entrepreneurial business you can get by with people not having clear reporting relationships. You might benefit from loosely defined roles and responsibilities. Yet as your company grows, the ambiguity around reporting, roles and responsibilities can start to create mayhem. People don’t know who to take direction from or what the priorities are. Focus and performance suffer. But who’s truly accountable for what?

To successfully grow into an entrepreneurial organization you need to institute a basic foundation of performance management. Communications are at the heart of this. Your people need to know the answers to these six questions: 1) Who do I report to? 2) What am I responsible for? 3) What are our goals as a company? 4) What is expected of me to support those goals? 5) How will I know if I’m doing a good job? 6) What support will I receive to help me improve?

Both the employee and the manager have a role to play in an employees’ performance. Ensuring that you continually answer the six questions helps to fulfill your responsibility. And helps to avoid the mayhem that arises when informality in a growing organization breaks down into chaos.

Your thoughts?

Michael

A dangerous consequence of the common reference to “small and medium-sized enterprises” (SME) is it implies that “small” and “medium” are more-or-less the same. They aren’t. A critical question in the life of any thriving small company is: can it successfully make the transition from an entrepreneurial business to an entrepreneurial organization?

Small enterprises often rely on passionate and committed people who will turn heaven-and-earth to get things done. Those heroic efforts are recognized and reinforced. And the stories become part of the company lore.

Yet depending on heroic efforts poses two problems: they aren’t efficient and they aren’t scalable. The ongoing need for heroic efforts indicates a lack of well-thought-out, documented and standardized processes. It’s tremendously costly, in terms of time, money and effort, to make up for process deficiencies with ad hoc people solutions. And as people move in, through and out of the business, there’s no guarantee that the next person will be as heroic as the last. The problems emerging from a lack of process increase exponentially as the business grows. Ultimately, they outstrip the capability of the business to solve them with heroic efforts.

To successfully transition to an entrepreneurial organization, a business needs to develop essential (but not excessive) processes that are effective, efficient and scalable. While there will always be a time and place for heroic efforts, they should be the exception. Heroic processes should be the rule.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Zidane, our very capable Bedouin guide, was leading our scramble up a mountain in the Wadi Rum desert in southern Jordan. This is the staggeringly beautiful and vast landscape that Lawrence of Arabia wrote so passionately about.

After climbing a testy rock wall we rested and talked about Zidane’s work with the tour company. “I could start my own business,” he explained, “but I like the people I work with here. And this way I don’t have to be in an office answering phones and problems. I like to be in the desert with the tourists.”

And what about his boss, the owner of the company? “Attayak is a good and kind boss. He treats his people with respect. He trusts them. And if mistakes are made, by guides or tourists, he is straight with them.”

Whether in the Wadi Rum or Washington, Bedouins or British Columbians, the elements of employee motivation are the same. A boss who is respectful, direct, trusting and kind. Doing the kind of work one likes to do. And being with the kind of people one likes to be with.

That’s why Zidane is not just capable but motivated. That’s what makes him a great guide. And that’s why I’d recommend him.

Your thoughts?

Michael

It was a typical form of a typical size that you typically complete when entering another country. Except for one thing. The red letters near the top of the form that demanded attention:

“WARNING. DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKER.”

Fortunately, drug trafficking is neither my profession nor my hobby. Yet the Saudis want no doubt in the mind of any traveler entering their country. Drug trafficking carries severe consequences.

A disincentive. Clear. Unambiguous. Powerful. Do you have any doubt at all that the prevalence of drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia is lower than in, say, North America or Europe?

When there are no consequences for undesirable actions people tend to do what they tend to do. Sometimes it’s important to draw a line in the sand and say, “this will not be tolerated.” Like the manufacturing company that insists that everyone, with no exception, wears safety goggles every time they step on the plant floor. And failing to do so is a terminable offence.

What about your organization? While being late for a meeting or missing a project deadline might not warrant a beheading, is there a consequence? Perhaps a verbal reprimand? Or conveying disappointment?

Do you have sufficient disincentives to ensure that the behaviors that absolutely shouldn’t happen, don’t happen?

Your thoughts?

Michael 

You’re familiar with “best practices,” the exercise where you identify your most effective and efficient practices and then extend them throughout your organization.

So why not take the next step and clear your plate of the practices that are ineffective and inefficient? Why not start a “worst practices” initiative? Identify your worst practices and then banish them from your organization.

How? Take a look at your meetings, processes, reports and tasks. Ask your people to identify which of these add little-or-no value or are inefficient in that they are a significant waste of resources and/or energy. Could some be eliminated or streamlined? Scaled back or done less frequently? Redesigned or replaced?

Time is a precious resource in every organization in every industry and sector. Clearing your plate of worst practices can create space to take on best practices.

Your thoughts?

Michael