Many business owners and leaders see their problems as very serious and very unique to them and their organizations.
Having worked in, for, and with nearly one hundred organizations in the last twenty years, I can assure you, that the problems rarely are.
This is good and bad news. It’s good because the solutions can be reduced to a few commonalities that then need unique applications. Once the problem is clear, the solutions (or their applications) become obvious.
But it’s bad news because it indicates that there are some common issues in all organizations. The most frequent ones: micromanagement or laissez-faire management, poor communication and communication systems, unclear or nonexistent expectations and operating procedures, a lack of trust and transparency, and too many people rowing in different directions.
Are these symptoms of industrialized work? Are they problems with employee training, development, and education? Are they problems with the education system? Are they management problems? Or are they fundamental human problems exacerbated by putting people together all day every day to work?
Of course, it’s a combination of challenges in all those areas. But it’s also an opportunity to recognize that we need strong leaders who lead from behind. We need to constantly monitor and improve our communications by listening respectfully and with an open mind. We need to continuously train, develop, and improve our people, processes, and systems. And we need to understand the optimal level of conflict and stress that spurs people to exceptional productivity without burning them out.
These are not easy issues to solve, but if we’re all facing the same or similar issues in our organizations, there is an opportunity to look at macro-level solutions that can improve work for all of us.
Generally, knowledge workers need autonomy, mastery, and purpose to be motivated to perform at their highest level. This means they need the freedom to work how they have found is best (within acceptable constraints) to get very good at something that matters and makes an impact. All those issues can be solved by focusing on improving those three sources of motivation for today’s knowledge worker.
The real question is more often which one(s) of those are deficient in our organizations. Identifying and addressing that is likely to take care of more than 80% of the problems.
While it’s frustrating that the problems are not unique, it should be comforting that we’re all battling these things together. It makes finding a path forward much more of an opportunity than a frustrating challenge!
Want these blog posts delivered straight to your inbox each week? Click here to subscribe.
Follow us on social media at the links below.
