Bob Richards

Discusses how to use quality circles to improve productivity and build teamwork and loyalty among white-collar workers. White-collar workers' perceptions of quality circles; Demonstration of the benefits of quality circles by conducting an orientation program; Institution of a problem-solving process throughout a work unit to make the most of workers' knowledge base.

WhiteCollar Quality Circles and Productivity

Boomers are heading for the office exits. Millennials are finally getting their seat at the big table. That whole “generational conflict” thing? That is so over. Demography has spoken:The youngest Baby Boomer is now over 50 years old.Millennials in 2015 outnumber Boomers in the workplace for the first time. So let’s just agree to drop our Boomer tirade about “these-kids-won’t-even-put-their-phone-down-while-wearing-flipflops-to-their-performance-review-where-they-all-expect-a-trophy.” Just stop it. They won. Boomers can go nice, or they can go nasty. But they’re going—myself included. Oh, wait! Before we shuffle off, the organization wants us to lead a “skills transfer program.” Boomers have been in charge so long (and over-stayed on the job), there hasn’t been sufficient opportunity for the next generation to accrue all the expertise and organizational knowledge they need to run the organization. In other words, there hasn’t been sufficient generational overlap. To address this “experience gap,” many public and private-sector enterprises have new programs offering a win/win proposition: Wise Boomer can semi-retire (with pension sweeteners) if she agrees to stay for two to three more years to help Millennials come up the curve. The Millennial, meanwhile, finally gets moving on the recession-delayed fast track, supported by nurturing Boomer mentors. Resilient Thinking, Magical Thinking That’s a very neat solution. It builds resilience by helping everyone cope with today’s demographic challenges. However, it also contains strands of “magical thinking.” Resources**.** Typically, the Boomer leader has been given no budget, no people, and no time to structure this new mentor program. Actual mentoring training or program support is rare. And how about Millennials getting the training they need to identify a mentor, engage with them, and optimize the opportunity? That does not happen. Fit**.** Although a majority (75 percent) of Millennials say they want a mentor, 76 percent of Millennials also believe that “my boss can learn a lot from me.” Millennials want recognition and flexible hours, with frequent promotions and also a community of friends at work. How is this ever going to fit into a mentor relationship with the Boomer who insists that “you’ve got to suffer and earn it like I did” to the upcoming Millennials? Pairing**.** We’ve all seen mentor relationships spring up. We all know generous mentors and eager, appreciative protégés. But setting up a matching service that efficiently, effectively pairs the most suitable mentor with the most appropriate protégé on a regular, schematized basis is a different story. Some estimates claim that less than one-third of organizations succeed. Sponsor not MentorThere is a better way: a sponsor/protégé program. This approach has three key benefits: requires little infrastructuresuits the pragmatic goals of both Millennials and Boomersavoids the icky “Match.com dating service” flavor of so many mentor initiatives. In a sponsor/protégé relationship, everybody gains. The sponsor creates new opportunities and provides support to the protégé while placing her in real-life, real-business situations. In return, the protégé puts in the effort and returns results which advance the sponsor’s agenda, as well as showcasing the protégé's talents. It is far more of a transactional relationship grounded in a practical, mission-relevant, clear rapport, in which the sponsor advocates and connects the protégé to new situations and growth networks. What’s more, the relationship is less personality-dependent than a traditional mentor role. If a sponsor/protégé pairing doesn’t work out, it fails quickly and evidently, allowing both parties to move on without too much awkwardness or drama. Some clients ask me if the sponsor/protégé approach is cold or ruthless. On the contrary; it can be far more honest, open, and mutually beneficial than lopsided mentor relationships. (An excellent presentation of the sponsor approach is found in Sylvia Ann Hewitt’s book Find a Sponsor - Forget a Mentor.) Resilient Leader Transitions The need for flexible and resilient skills transfer during this generational handover is clear to most leaders. To meet this need, traditional mentoring can be effective and rewarding—on those rare occasions when it actually happens. But if you need a higher success rate, quicker progress, and a more practical approach, consider initiating a sponsor program. The sponsor/protégé approach allows your emerging leaders to grow and develop—while also getting the work done.

The Boomer Has Left the Building…What Happens Next?

Strategy and vision are mandatory skills for senior leaders. Our ability to plan for the future is a key leadership competency—and we’re told that failure to plan is a plan for failure. But the simple truth is that most leaders are absolutely terrible at predicting the future. We’re no more accurate than fortune tellers with a crystal ball (or anyone else for that matter). Here’s what makes this worse for leaders: Too often teams become discouraged and disengaged by the “vision thing,” especially when the intention was to encourage and engage the team in a shared view of the future. Indeed, leaders may sow doubt and sap optimism when they actually intended the opposite. When leaders believe in on their own crystal ball, they also reduce ideas and ignore options. These leaders commit resources to specific predicted outcomes when resources should be flexible. Leaders and “Magical Thinking” Why do so many leaders get it wrong? The answer is simple: They possess a human brain. Even leaders are subject to human fallacies, including: Planning fallacy—leadership plans adhere closely to the “best case” estimates and use only data collected from inside the organization.Narrative fallacy—leaders rely on the story of the past to predict a clear story for the future (forgetting that the past included lots of luck, complexities, and plenty of wrong turns).Sunk-cost fallacy—leaders embrace losses when they should let go. The thinking here is: “We’ve invested far too much in this unworkable new process to abandon it now.”False dichotomy fallacy—leadership focuses on the choice between A and B, excluding C through Z from consideration. There are dozens more fallacies, heuristics, and biases that people—and leaders—incorporate into their thinking and planning. These heuristics are extremely useful, efficient cognitive shorthand tools, except when they aren’t. (For a full treatment of this topic, see Thinking, Fast and Slow.) In addition, many leaders are prone to using strategic optimism. They often prophesize a highly positive future outcome in order to boost team energy and prepare for challenges. Later, they may gloss over any outcome that falls short of their prediction.This strategy works fine—unless the leader develops a reputation for **“**pie in the sky” thinking, at which point team members start doubting and discounting the leader’s forecast, rolling their eyes behind the leader’s back. So what is a leader to do? How can leaders keep faith with their teams when planning for the future? How can they help the team build resilience that is necessary to face the challenges of this VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world, while at the same time avoiding that reputation for “magical thinking” that diminishes a leader’s credibility and drains staff enthusiasm? Think “Planning” Not “Plan” As Ralph Waldo Emerson famously taught us, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” (Clearly, he never flew long-haul economy class.) Successful leaders understand that this same principle applies to preparing next year’s business plan: the real untapped value is hidden in the process of planning rather than in the accuracy of predictions. Consider these words from General Dwight D. Eisenhower, “I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Therefore, as a leader, it will be insightful—both for your own leadership development and for employee engagement—to shift your attention away from the plan output and toward the planning process. The next time you lead a planning meeting, experiment with one or two of the following actions: Be humble. Ask a few team members (individually, in advance) what sort of planning or optimism biases they may have noticed in your leadership so far. Invite them to call your attention to these if they arise during the meeting. This is win-win: you gain self-awareness and they gain permission.Follow a nimble agenda. Resist the temptation to “screw down the lid” on a tight agenda. Keep it flexible—or at least make space for participants to wander off-script.Hear voices. Recent research from Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups shows yet again that the most effective teams ensure that all members are heard. Try polling some opinions and seek some ideas via “secret ballot” rather than always relying on group consensus. This reduces Groupthink results.Include outsider points of view. Invite a customer or even a competitor to participate (or at least a colleague from another department). Try a new perspective—literally move people around the room or even change rooms midway through the meeting. Participants are always surprised how much a physical shift shifts the mind.Pivot your thinking. Change your mind about something during the meeting and announce to everyone that you’ve changed your mind. Happily welcome plasticity in others.Celebrate Surprises. Above all, welcome the unexpected idea with enthusiasm. Many teams (rightly or wrongly) have come to believe that the boss does not like to be surprised. You know who you are. As Donald Rumsfeld was quoted, “There are known knowns….There are known unknowns…But there are also unknown knowns; the one we don’t know we don’t know.” Leaders Are Human This secret is safe with me: Leaders are humans—with human brains and human thought processes. A leader’s thinking about the future is efficient and smart, but also unlikely to always pan out. In fact, leaders often underestimate the degree of change, the impact of unseen factors, and the role played by luck in future events. So, as a mindful leader, you should consider that your vision of the future is likely incorrect. More importantly, it stresses your team and strains your credibility when you emphatically push your solo predictions.  Instead, you should nurture new resilience and engagement in your team by expanding your planning process to generate new ideas and hear unheard voices. Shift your attention toward capturing the collateral benefits of the planning process itself. In other words, put away that crystal ball you thought was a job requirement. Will a nudge in this direction change your leadership? Only the future will tell.

Bob Richards

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