What happens when the fecal matter makes impact with the circular air-moving device? How individuals and organizations react in this moment of truth will say a lot about individual and group emotional intelligence and the culture of the organization. The secret lies in the questions asked when a mistake is made and the order in which they are asked.
What Are You Really Made Of?
Here’s how effective people and healthy organizations approach every mistake:
1. WHAT? Exactly what happened? Do we have all the facts? Only when this is clear, go to question #2.
2. HOW? How did the error happen? Have we identified the root cause, differentiating them from the symptoms? After diagnosing the mechanics of the issue, it’s time for question #3.
3. WHY? Was this a system issue, a performance issue, or a combination of the two? Do NOT shortcut this step with assumptions. Now finally…
4. WHO? Time to talk about the lessons learned – a constructive follow-up with whoever may have been involved (INCLUDING BOSSES!). Now we are all a little smarter.
Post mortem, the healthy organization will make adjustments to address root causes. It will improve systems. And it will take opportunities to learn from mistakes. Look for patterns. If all the other questions are addressed and the same “who” keeps popping up, only then is a tough personnel action warranted.
Is that what you and your organization do? Or…
The Flip Side
Guess what question unhealthy organizations and ineffective leaders ask first? ”WHO DID THAT?” Sadly, every single time I’ve shared this concept, the people in the room give me the answer before I have to say it. They’ve all seen it at some point. The problem is that starting with “Who?” makes it difficult, if not impossible, to accurately answer any of the other more crucial questions.
Why? Because Bang & Blame is a horrid leadership model. In a culture where blame is the rule, people will rarely stick their necks out to do more than absolutely necessary. It’s just not worth the risk. Their defensive mindset kills any hope for excellent performance. They are unlikely to be forthcoming when things go wrong. And that applies to those who choose to stay, because Bang & Blame pushes self-starters out the door.
Give Up Perfection To Get Closer To It
I know that might sound ridiculous, but it’s true. Everyone will err from time to time. In the human condition, all mistakes are opportunities to learn. There’s a classic business tome about an IBM exec from the sixties whose ill-fated decision cost the company dearly. Upon being summoned to CEO Thomas Watson’s office, he prepared for the inevitable firing. Watson reportedly asked, “Do you know why I’ve asked you here?”
The executive replied, “I assume I’m here so you can fire me.”
“Fire you?” Watson replied, “Of course not. I just spent $10 million educating you.”
There are two choices. You can hold everyone to an unrealistic standard, punish imperfection, drive people into butt-covering cocoons, encourage bare minimum performance and build a culture that will aspire to mediocrity at best. Or you can embrace mistakes as opportunities for learning and find that error rate actually decreases as you build a culture of empowerment, personal responsibility, trust and growth. Only one of these is a sustainable model for profit and customer service success.