This month's article was supposed to be
about a sales message that I think would have hit home for many of us, but a
chance encounter with a driver this past week has interrupted that message. We'll get to
it another time. I need to tell you about my new friend Abdul.
I was hustling off to a meeting when the hotel bellman presented me with an option.
"Do you want to jump into a cab or limo? This limo driver chargeHas this happened to you: You're walking down the hall and one of your
employees greets you and says, "We've got a problem.
You see, ...." As you listen, you realize
that 1) you know enough about the problem and possible solution to get involved, but
that 2) you don't know enough to make a decision on the spot. So what happens? You say,
"I don't have enough time right now. Let me see what I can come up with...." As you
rush off, the problem - like a monkey - that your employee was carrying is now on your back.
You own it. Your employee does not - CANNOT - do anything until you "see
what you can come up with."
The monkey - the problem - started off as your employee's responsibility.
Now it's your responsibility. You don't have time for yet another priority. And your
employee will be forced to wait for you. Your
employee gets frustrated with the bottleneck
you're creating. You are frustrated by the
mounting problems you have to resolve (not to mention the monkey bites you're receiving).
Both of you are becoming angry at the apparent incompetence of the other person.
Why does this happen? Because the manager and the employee assume at
the outset, wittingly or unwittingly, that the problem under consideration is a
joint problem. It isn't. The problem is - and
should remain - your employee's problem. |
