Aaron J. Crowley

Crowley’s Granite Concepts

When was the last time someone in your company failed to perform an important task correctly or on time, or made a costly mistake?

Was it last week?  Yesterday?  This morning?  Perhaps it was only a few minutes ago.

How did you respond?

If you’re like many, you lost your cool, caught up in the emotion of the moment and maybe said the first thing that came to mind.  Or perhaps you maintained your composure just long enough to get to a quiet place where you could vent your fury in private.

Either way, if your automatic reaction was anger, accusation, and the instinct to fire and replace the employees you believe responsible without dealing with the underlying cause, you have a problem.

Yes, this conditioned response is a problem.

If this response isn’t re-conditioned, your ability to systematically prevent these situations from repeating themselves in the future is limited.  And that right there will limit the size and success of your business in the future.

As such, it is crucial that you adopt a different and better response that is activated when failures and mistakes occur.  When this better response becomes second nature, the entire business-owning experience and the business itself can be transformed.

First, a bit of history, and then the better response: the conditioned response of anger, accusation, and instinct to replace has its origins in the old saying, “If you want something done right, you better do it yourself.” Think about how impractical and absurd that statement really is for a business owner with employees.  Can you, the owner, really do it all yourself?

Obviously, the answer is no.

But despite the obvious foolishness, it’s a very seductive belief because it leads us to think that failures and mistakes are the result of ignorant, negligent, or indifferent employees, instead of our own shortcomings as managers and leaders.

Believing this lie enables the vicious cycle of anger at the employee to continue, including accusation or assigning blame (not my fault), and the short-sided remedy of replacing, or day-dreaming about replacing, the employee who supposedly made the mistake.

So what’s the better response?

Prepare yourself, it’s not a popular concept these days because it requires…

Humility.

The response is simply and humbly asking three questions about the failed task or mistake.  They form the foundation of effective leadership, management, and delegation.

1. Did I as the owner fail to make it clear “who” was responsible for performing this task?  Very often failed tasks and mistakes are the result of confusion as to who was actually responsible doing the work.  If so, make it clear.

2.  Did I fail to provide sufficient guidelines and clear-cut standards for the task in question?  If the employee wasn’t told “when,” it’s likely it will be late.  If so, provide the measurable standards, in timing and tolerances.

3. Did I fail to provide resources necessary to accomplish the task?  These can be step-by-step instructions, information, and even adequate time to perform a job.  If so, make sure they have the resource from now on.

You see, employees are human beings just like you and me.  And 99 percent of them want to “do things right,” and go home at the end of the day knowing that they did a good job and contributed to the success of the team.

The problem for so many is that they can’t, because the boss has failed to make it clear who is responsible, provide guidelines and standards, and/or provide the necessary resources!

So if that boss is you, renew your mind and develop a conditioned response that assumes responsibility for asking these questions and acting accordingly when the next (and the next and the next) failure or mistake occurs.

Comments? Contact the author at  aaron@crowleysgranite.com .