Diagnoses

One of the most vexing challenges a leader faces: Doing everything right, and having unacceptable, even terrible, results anyway.

When you know you need to dig deeper to understand the "root causes" underlying your organization's troubles, how do you do that?

In our consulting work, we see patterns repeat themselves in widely diverse organizations. (No matter your industry or your firm's unique attributes, if you have employees and external constituents then what you have in common with every other organization is greater than your differences.)

I'm going to reveal a trade secret here. Most stubborn challenges can be parsed into ten categories of underlying causes that we've identified at the Lead Well® Institute. (And remember, as a psychologist friend of ours likes to repeat, "It's never one thing." A worthwhile diagnostic effort employs a holistic, "systems thinking" approach—which will be the subject of a forthcoming edition of The Leader's Letter.)

Taxonomy of Cause: The Big 10

When you try to identify what's really driving a situation that's not going right, you can usually find roots in one or more of these ten common causes.

1. Structural-->ineffective organizational design

We once worked with a relatively small employer that had ten(!) separate business units under one roof vying with one another for limited shared resources. Managers were busy mindlessly wrestling with one another in their artificial internal competition. So they did not focus on either maximizing the success of the company or fighting their very real external battles with competitors.

Structure matters. Good structure gives you leverage. Bad structure impedes cooperation, increases destructive turf wars. And dilutes energy to counterproductive internal squabbles instead of marshaling resources toward meaningful objectives.

2. Political-->power, roles & responsibilities

We've seen senior executives fight like little kids over toys in the sandbox—not because they were selfish power mongers but because the boundaries of their responsibilities were ill-defined. These otherwise decent and responsible managers engaged in what appeared to be petty and self-aggrandizing political power grabs.

But it wasn't mere egoism at work. As it turns out, these execs were genuinely afraid that important decisions would go unmade because there was a vacuum in the power structure. No one was clearly accountable for making some important decisions, so everyone stepped in to make them. Chaos and power struggles ensued while interpersonal relationships deteriorated—until the real problem was openly identified and addressed.

3. Procedural-->work processes that are confusing, ineffective, even counterproductive

Often this is the result of far-removed senior management cluelessly dictating work processes (resulting in what some wags call "malicious compliance"—where workers defy common sense and defeat productivity by doing exactly as they are told). Or it could be a lack of attention to how the operation would function best. Many times, it's a case of "we've always done it that way" triumphing over a more enlightened attitude of "how would it make most sense to do this?"

4. Physical-->work space, equipment, geographic distribution

Despite advances in technology of all types, time and space still matter. Physical layout of workspaces, distance between functions, barriers between people who need to communicate with one another, can all impact work effectiveness.

Many times, a boss physically far removed from the people she's charged with supervising has nothing but formal contact with her reports and is thus denied the insights born of spontaneous and more casual interactions.

Physical accessibility to information, tools, and colleagues can impede or speed throughput.

5. Cultural-->shared assumptions, traditions, shared values, unwritten rules

In a conflict between formal policies and long traditions—stemming from what employees believe their organization actually expects from them (or what's become merely comfortable ways of doing things)—the familiar, unofficial norms win. That's why so many top executives who try to inject meaningful change into an established culture usually face a very tough time.

This is the kind of struggle that lies ahead of the managers in the USA's new agency for Homeland Security. Several government agencies that have operated very independently, often secretively, and even with deep rivalry against fellow agencies are now being told to reverse their thinking, to shake off their often near-paranoid mind sets, to cooperate, to share information. How fast would you expect that change to take place—even with the stakes so high and potential consequences so vital.

6. Personal-->actions by an individual, often not in accord with official policies & procedures

Lazy problem-solvers often first point to a particular person as the source of the organization's troubles. Sometimes an individual is culpable. And that could be for several different reasons: They did not know what was expected from them; they are not adequately skilled or trained; they are not receiving adequate support to accomplish the job. Or, it could be that they're simply the wrong person for the job.

It's not enough to identify a person as "the problem." You also need to understand why that is the case, especially the organization's systemic contributions to the situation (e.g., hiring and training processes, review and reward systems, etc.)

7. Ethical-->failure to abide by accepted principles of conduct

Reports of this essential aspect of organizational life have been so prominent lately, little more need be said beyond this: Trust and ethical behavior fuels efficiency.

Think about it. When people don't need to spend a second second-guessing the motives or methods of their colleagues, when they don't need to spend even one moment playing "cover your tracks," they can be much more productive. Conversely, when they are distracted or troubled by ethics concerns, they cannot deliver their best work. Period.

8. Betrayal-->breach of trust, unfairness, mistreatment or abuse

Because trust is so essential to every relationship, defiling it is so harmful. When an employee, or a workforce, feels lied to, treated unfairly, or betrayed in some way, they flat-out fight back in subtle or overt ways. Many times, employees "suck it up" and hide their anger, so the root cause of their ebbing productivity may not be obvious. But it's there.

Interestingly, many times in our consulting work when we've identified this factor as a significant cause of productivity problems, the wound went back many years. In some cases, decades! As a former boss of mine once observed, "Credibility is like an egg, drop it once and it is impossible to get it back as it was before."

9. External-->social, economic, regulatory, market factors

Poor leaders find blame for all their challenges far from themselves. But, still, the outside world very much impacts a leader's work. Ignoring developments in the world beyond the organization can cause tremendous repercussions inside it.

Unimaginative managers instantly lay blame for their troubles on their inadequate budget. The reality: Virtually every manager on the planet rightly feels he or she has too few resources to do their job. Fingering the finances as the culprit should be the last course not the first.

~~~~~PARTING THOUGHT~~~~~

Many bad situations find their heritage in multiple factors that combine over time to cause big problems. Like most erosion, this usually happens quietly and invisibly until the situation reaches the critical stage.

Effective leaders are in touch with their operations and prevent potential problems by arresting them long before they reach crisis proportions. When serious situations do arise, a good leader accurately diagnoses and effectively addresses the true underlying causes.

Let us know how we can assist.

Lead On. Lead Well. Peace.

Don Blohowiak

Lead Well® helps organizations to improve measurable results by developing their current and future leaders. For more information, please contact us. By phone, toll-free in the USA: 1-888-LeadWell (532-3935), or 1-609-716-9490. By email, Info@LeadWell.com.

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Don Blohowiak, a management consultant and popular conference speaker, is the author of several business books. The executive director of the Lead Well® Institute in Princeton, NJ, he may be reached at http://www.LeadWell.com/.

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