Doorknobs and Management
As I depart my most recent employment, and get ready to start a new and exciting opportunity, I've been thinking a lot about management and leadership, and how corporations tend to interpert and execute both of those principles.
I have been looking back at my experience here, and evaluating the reasons I am leaving. I am reflecting on particular milestones, and whether there were things that could have been done differently at those moments, that would have altered the progression of events that led both my employer and I to being here, with me leaving, and them needing to find a qualified replacement.
And then, on my walk down the hallway of my office building, I noticed something. A small, trivial detail most people have probably missed, but a detail I found to be profound. Something that I think perfectly illustrates, in the simplest way, the attitude that seems to be pervasive among senior management.
As you walk through one of the halls, you arrive at a door. This door opens up against a yellow wall. For a long time, there has been a scuff on the wall where the doorknob hits it. As busy PA's and impatient employees pass through this door, and push it too hard, the knob repeatedly bangs up against the wall.
About two days ago, as I walked by, I saw the scuff was now a full-fledged hole, exactly the shape of the doorknob. It seems as if someone finally pushed this door a bit too far, and punctured the drywall.
Yesterday, I see a painter patching the wall. He spackles it, let's it dry, returning later to sand it smooth, ready to be painted.
When I come in today, the doorknob has already punched a hole in the patch again.
Here is how I viewed this incident: There is a problem (the knob hits the wall). Since the result of this problem is still relative minor (just a scuff), nobody bothers trying to correct it. It continues to get worse, and when it finally does reach a breaking point (a hole in the wall), the result of the problem is what gets the attention, not the cause. An attempt is made to patch the result (the hole in this case), without correcting the original problem (like by adding a doorstop). This not only leaves the original problem unresolved, but make its even more likely the result will occur again (because the patch is weaker than the original wall.) Now you're left with two problems (a broken wall, and the doorknob) that need to be fixed.
As managers, people are often not proactive enough. Whether it is project related, or involves an employee, they tend to neglect problems as long as the result doesn't really impact them greatly. They will let things escalate until they have a bigger problem. When you're dealing with a doorknob and a hole, though it requires extra effort, both can still be fixed. If you're dealing with making your employees happy and reducing turnover, once the problem gets your attention, it may already be too late...
posted by Mark @ 3:30 PM
