In a more modern context, one of the Agile Principles states: "Build projects around motivated individual. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done."
Get the Right Tools
When I told my new boss my team needed credit cards he was skeptical. This sort of decentralized spending was not currently embraced by the organization at that time. I explained the trouble with the reimbursement process, consuming the employee's money and requiring more paperwork to get it back. He expressed concern about "the budget," as would be expected by anyone in his position. The organization was growing, on a truly finite budget, and the tight controls were something of a mantra playing on repeat in the background. My response was fairly simple. Either the budget was my concern or it was not - who was managing the department, him or me? To be fair, I was quite tactful and he was not a difficult person when given meaningful evidence. The credit card paperwork was available that afternoon.
Sometimes money is not all that is needed. Consider what other tools, literally and figuratively, might be useful. Is actual tools? To some extent probably. Is it an extra monitor? Laptop versus desktop, or maybe a tablet? Maybe it's commonly needed spare parts. This could include tape, staples, paperclips, and so on with office supplies, not to mention file folders of various types. Maybe its batteries, screws, nails, cables, cords, and adapters. Whatever they may be, having them saves time. With the right tools nearly anything can be possible, right now, rather than when we get to it, or when we can get to it. Remember this proverb:
For Want of a Nail
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
What were the results? Well, morale improved immediately. Show a little trust and those that understand what that means will act accordingly. Either we're all big kids and can play by those rules, or maybe I put the wrong people on the team. More noticeably was the immediate affect on simple solutions. In Getting Things Done, David Allen lays out the rule of just doing any task requiring less than two minutes. It's okay to take this principle and "zoom out" into a different context. Something that might take twenty minutes can just be done, and be a reasonable use of time if the other options involves planning, travel time (round trip), and potentially an impact on completion time of some other task. This is very vague, I acknowledge, but bear with me, please. Those problems resolved now come at a rate that is swift, certain, and practical. The right person on the ground is more likely to find an elegant and economical solution because they are doing it. No one wants to make their own work more difficult, and, once again if you have the right people, they will find solutions at a near optimal cost (time, money, other resources).
In Practice
Here's one example. We had received reports that employees were hiding merchandise in unused lockers located in the breakroom. The real problem being that the lockers were damaged and "could not" be locked. I was a little frustrated by the attitude of the reporting store manager. We were a new department still, but there was a core group of store managers that insisted such things were "your [read LP] problem" and not an issue for facility maintenance. You see, facility maintenance costs fell onto their store's P&L statement, while LP was expected to absorb all costs into it's own budget. In response, I turned to one team member who had come to our team highly recommended. Mind you, we were a new department and everyone only knew each other for a handful of months. In his previous position he had adjusted systems to meet his needs, rather than just working with what he was given and how it was given to him. Humans adjust their environment for their own comfort and survival. He was not one to walk in a circle and lay down, more like build a shelter and a bed. I sent him on his way with the simple direction of, "Please go solve this problem today."
The solution was simple. He put hasps on all the lockers that "could not be locked." Was the solution perfect? Maybe not, but as there was no other meaningful solution on the horizon it was the best solution. Incidentally, this became a common practice for the facility team in similar situations for the next decade.
In another, more serious instance, there was a shooting outside of a store where an outdoor festival had been underway. This particular team member happened to be a short distance from the store. It was on the weekend and he was not working. When he walked out of the restaurant where he had just finished lunch, a stream of police cars screamed by. About the same time the store had called our department's after-hours phone line, our Duty Phone, to report the event. Before this team member could be informed he had headed toward that store, just in case. He received the phone call while enroute to the store and agreed to handle the situation. Now we're talking about an event that had a crowd shot at by n individual where the store employees and locked-down the store. When our team member arrived the employees were just anxious to leave. He had the key employees write statements and then did something well "above his paygrade." He sent the staff home and kept the store closed. Why? Well, after talking his way past the police on the shopping center perimeter by promising to get any video from the store copied quickly, he was informed by the police that the center would be closed to the public until they were done - as might be expected. Was there any fallout from his decision? None. He communicated his actions to everyone that needed to be informed, and those that would ordinarily make such a decision were clearly pleased they did not have to go to the affected location.
Where it Leads
Later, from time to time, if a team member was thoughtful of their decision they would ask if I "had a problem with" this or that solution. And, sometimes it might be better to put off, or pass off, the solution, although in a fast-paced or dynamic environment a solution delayed is often a solution ignored. However, it is important to remember why you hired these individuals in the first place, and then put the time into their training and development. Either you have the right people on the team, or as Jim Collins states in Good To Great the right people on the bus, and you ought to trust them to act accordingly, or you need to get them off the team. Your role must be to allow them to fail, but fail small, so they can improve with confidence.
If you find that you are unable to get out of their way and hold them responsible for their own performance, including their failures, then maybe you are the wrong person on the team.
Contact me for other examples, or questions on building such a trusted and capable team.
Leave a comment if you have your own examples or a better process.
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