Category: starting

A colleague called me today asking for a “teaching moment” whereby I could give him some advice.  I love those kind of phone calls!

He is wanting to tackle a process in his organization that crosses departments — meaning that everyone has a piece, but no one owns the process.  Translated, this means that everyone does their own thing and no one (up until now) has bothered to consider the whole process from a client perspective or to be intentional about how it occurs.  He was asking how he could affect change without becoming the “do-er” or permanent owner of the whole thing.

My answer: “sorry.”  As much as he would like to dream up the solution and hand it off, it isn’t a realistic option.  He is asking people who have done things the same way for literally decades to make a change.  They don’t want to; don’t need to; don’t see the purpose for doing so, and are certainly not going to volunteer to own a new process.  His best hope is to focus, over and over and over, on the “why” behind the changes he is proposing; take responsibility for doing the new work himself this year, and hope that those involved will see the improvement.  Next year it will be easier to delegate something that people have actually seen (and hopefully understand.)

After I shared my thoughts, he laughed and said “I knew that is what you were going to say. I knew that I had to do the work; I was just hoping there was another answer.”  

Those with the vision often have to assume the workload in order to see the new ideas implemented.  It is hard for people who are entrenched in a process to even fathom how it could be different, so you must show them instead of just telling them. 

So dream on, my dear friend, and then roll up your sleeves and get to it.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

I live in one of the 11 states that have “container deposit legislation”, more commonly known as a deposit on beverage cans and bottles.  

I am probably one of the most avid recyclers I know, and I hate the bottle deposit as it is.  To me, it is a vestige of a different time and should be either repealed or strengthened.  When the Iowa law was enacted in 1979, curbside recycling wasn’t even a thought on the back burner.  Bottled water was a rarity.  So deposits only occur on carbonated and alcoholic beverages — so not the millions of water bottles, power drinks or teas that are used daily.  

If given my preference, I would eliminate the deposit that forces me to drag all my pop bottles back to the grocery store instead of conveniently tossing them in my recycle bin.  But if the law is to remain, I would advocate including all beverage containers — not just a select few that make the law even more confusing.  

The middle ground isn’t always the best route to take.  Is there a practice in your organization that was a great idea at the time, but needs to be revisited — to either expand or eliminate?  Do you have a set of rules that apply only to one population but should be broadened (e.g.: why do only 18 year old men have to register for the draft)?  Is there some policy that made sense when enacted, but has lived beyond its time (e.g.: using social security numbers as ID numbers)?

As the bottle laws illustrate, once a policy is set, it becomes difficult to change it one way or the other so it remains in the middle and aggravates everyone.  Today, try to be bold and make one decisive change that warrants an all or nothing call.  

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com