Communicating: The Hardest Thing We Do

The biggest barrier to good communication is human nature. 

When implementing the system sustainment management model, you quickly find that information-sharing becomes a top priority. The results of great assessment don't automatically become known to the teams that are identifying risks. And the ins and outs of a risk aren't immediately apparent to those designing programs to mitigate the risk. 

All mentally healthy humans see ourselves as something special. Why not? We are the stars of our lives. We came from somewhere and many of us have a solid plan on where we are going. 

This does result in some illogical behavior. 

Researchers have put slightly embarrassing T-shirts on people and put them in a room with others. The T-shirt person consistently reports feeling as though everyone was noticing them and judging them. The others consistently report not noticing the T-shirt and certainly not caring who might be wearing it. 

So much for special. 

Being all wrapped up in ourselves leads to a very predictable behavior during technical briefings. The person briefing launches immediately into the middle of their topic without setting the stage.

Anyone in the audience from ally to enemy, minion or decision-maker, is immediately at a loss as to what the topic is, why it is important, and how it affects them.

Start your briefings with:

A title that reflects the topic and is easily remembered, e.g. "High Failure Rates on Depot G7 Gyro Final Acceptance Automated Testing Equipment"

A one-sentence pitch on why this is important: "If we don't do something soon, we won't have enough gyros within 18 months. And then we will lose sorties."

A reminder on where you left it: "Last time we talked, we didn't yet have data on how often the testers were down, now we do." Then recap the conclusions of your last briefing and where you are going with this one. 

Help your audience just a bit!

DON'T make your briefing into an Agatha Christie novel where whodunit remains on the last page. Tell people what your conclusions are right up front: "I am going to show you data that tells us we have 18 months before serious impacts. And by "serious", I mean...."

It's only polite.

Start of Chapter 7: Lead People

More excerpts from my upcoming book, Fundamentals of Complex System Sustainment.

This is the start of the chapter on the first of three enabling elements: people, tech, and process.

_________________________________

The farther you are from a person, the more they appear to be evil, stupid, or both.

Chapter 7: Lead People

This chapter discusses the most intensely complex part of any complex system, people.

Your team, whether you are the manager or team member, will have brilliant, captivating, and far-thinking folks. It will also consist of the most aggravating, foolish, and stubborn individuals. Many times, these will be the same people. Most will have frustrating characteristics that pop up consistently or at random. Most will think the same of you, if they think of you at all.

Unproductive arguments pop up by surprise and monopolize entire meetings. Anxious managers make clumsy attempts to motivate teams. Rumors break out and destroy relationships. Sadly, you can’t really cure it all.

But some steps can be taken. People, after all, are also the most critical part of any strategy to sustain your complex system. So effort here pays off a hundred-fold.

This chapter discusses in 7 sections the most important 7 techniques that help all of us to stay on a useful path.

1.     Everyone benefits when everyone is a leader

2.     Leaders remind people their purpose is worthy, useful, and valued

3.     Coach as needed, but keep corrections private and focused on behavior

4.     Don’t pretend you can accurately peer into the other person’s inner world

5.     Notice those losing heart and encourage them

6.     If you have the power, organize people to achieve their purpose, not yours

7.     Don’t descend into stereotypes, get to know the person

Everyone benefits when everyone is a leader. You, yes you, are a leader. It does not matter how you see yourself in your mind or on the organizational chart. Practice leadership techniques and you, and those around you, will be better off.

Leaders remind people their purpose is worthy, useful, and valued. One of the most loving things that great leaders do is they remind people, one at a time or in groups, that they, and you, are pursuing something important, perhaps even critical. At the core of every human being is a desire to be needed and valued. This is especially amplified at work where even the less astute realize that unneeded people could be “let go”.

Coach as needed, but keep corrections private and focused on behavior. Praise in public. Criticize in private. It just works better for everyone that way. Sincere praise should be plentiful, but it takes practice. Criticism of another, done well and away from audiences, often results in you finding out things about you – things that you, personally, could have done better. Good coaches know that they can improve as well.

Don’t pretend you can accurately peer into the other person’s inner world. The Bible’s command of “Judge not!” combined with other commands to “correct your brother” means that people have always had a hard time separating a person’s actions from their motivations. It is better to say: “Marcia, we can’t charge toys to our business travel credit cards. It really has to stop. Can we agree that you will do that?” If you start with: “Marcia, I know you love your kids and you feel bad you can’t provide them all they need and you want to use your company credit card in places you know you shouldn’t…” you will soon find yourself in a self-made quagmire.

Notice those losing heart and encourage them. It may seem that nothing is sadder than a person who has quit in place. But that person can be “patient zero” who starts to rot the organization’s morale and make everyone feel hopeless. THAT is much sadder. Help them before they are excised and discarded like surgery to remove an infection. Lend an ear. Try to help. But don’t get infected yourself.

If you have the power, organize people to achieve their purpose, not yours. There are good organizations that make the work flow easier and there are bad ones that seem designed to stop all progress. The perfect organization for sustainment is described in this chapter under the “organizing people” section. These organizational constructs come with helpful rules to be applied in sustainment organizations.   

Don’t descend into stereotypes, get to know the person. There are more prejudices deeply buried in your psyche than the obvious racial, religious, or political ones. In a Department of Defense multi-faceted team, for instance, it is easy to think every contractor is looking only for company profit, every civil servant is there to homestead inside a comfortable bureaucracy, and every uniformed military member focuses their thinking on how to attain their next rank. Your team will have similar prejudices. Don’t fall for them. Everyone is an individual.

In the final sum, it all starts with you, not the other guy. And it starts with you seeing yourself as a leader. However, leadership is a life-long pursuit. Seek out other books, forums, classes, experiences, and people who will help you become a better leader.

Faux-LeMay Syndrome and a Few "People" Rules

....another excerpt from my upcoming book that I am particularly proud of:

A word should be said here about the “faux-LeMay” syndrome which has occurred within the ICBM community and elsewhere. General Curtis LeMay was a genius and a “tough but fair” commander whose rants are legendary. He left a trail of fired subordinates in his wake. Many leaders within the ICBM community copied the “tough” part of the LeMay leadership approach to the dismay of their subordinates. In general, most of these top-flight sustainers were able to adapt to any leader’s approach as long as it included the “fair” part and everyone seemed on-board with the mission. But tough does not mean “praise in private and criticize in public”. Ranting and raving in public meetings, or other behaviors that send the message that the subordinate is a mindless minion should not happen. The person picked on will live up to (or down to) expectations. Sustainment of complex weapon systems requires everyone to be in the game 100%.

Nowadays, the faux-LeMay syndrome has been almost completely replaced with a cooperative leadership style that can still be “tough but fair”. It leans heavily on motivation, cooperation, and mutual respect. Leaders are told they should adopt the “servant leadership” model which focuses on helping the individuals in the organization with training, tools, and coaching.

A few “people” rules were taught to Minuteman sustainers:

1. Despite all the complex rocket science and convoluted government regulations, simple communication is the hardest skill to master. When talking, always allow the team member their say remembering to listen respectfully and asking probing questions. They might turn out to be wrong, but you will always learn something. This helps the mission.
2. Never speak ill behind someone’s back. It is morally wrong, but it also carries its own punishment. Even if not caught, they will sense it. Karma will be satisfied and then the mission will suffer.
3. There are many secrets that cannot be shared among contractors and government people. Don’t create any more than is absolutely necessary. For the sake of the mission, share as much information as you can.
4. The further you are separated from another person, the more they look either evil, stupid, or both. This pertains to especially to physical distance. Make the effort to share the mission and understand their approach to it.
5. Deal with issues in private. Give credit where credit is due. Sincere praise and thanks, especially across different groups, boosts cooperation and supports the mission.

People

As promised in the previous blog, the next few blogs will expand on the charts from my presentation at SciTech 2016 on 5 January in San Diego. 

Although this chart appears towards the end of the presentation, this is a good chart to start with since it seemed to invoke the most response, and the most positive response, from the audience. 

People are motivated by meaningful work. And it is important that the leadership continuously reminds them that their work and their contribution to that work is important. Laying down a culture of supporting the warfighter may start with managers and leaders, but will spread to the point that team members will remind each other of the importance of their work. 

Personal frictions will happen. Tempers will flare. But when these conflicts happen in support of the mission people always find a way to pull together in the end. 

Here is an area I did not have the time to delve into, a corollary statement: people want to feel competent in their work. How can you feel you are making an important contribution to an important goal, if you do not feel you know what you are doing?

In fact, large numbers of people in weapon system sustainment do not feel competent, they feel very uncomfortable. I am referring to those who have just gotten a new position and are still learning their jobs. 

In addition, others who are very, very competent, from great training and years of experience, can still have days were they feel completely overwhelmed. They can wonder if they have been "faking it" all this time.

So, really, anyone can be teetering on the edge of a bad day. If that is the day you choose to point out all of their faults, the result will not be a better team member, the result will be one less engaged person on your team. 

Personal critique, however, is necessary in order to meet the organization's goal of sustaining the weapon system. The trick is to provide it in a positive and helping manner.

Formal classroom training and personal one-on-one coaching are great ways to help your folks feel more competent and engaged. If you are a supervisor or boss, take the time to coach folks in areas that you are more competent in. DON'T JUDGE them personally just because you know the area very well. And don't just offer your assistance. Provide your expertise in the form of one-on-one training, and then follow up to see if they have learned what you have taught. 

If you are not a supervisor or manager and you provide your team members with one-on-one time then you are a leader and will soon be a manager if you wish to be.