by Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Leadership Solutions, Inc.®

“Do we need process or progress?”

    A very recent vacation caused this writer to contemplate two things:

» 1) In Italy, their Frecciarossa high speed trains – known as Freccis – travel at speeds of up to 299 km/hr, almost 200 mph. But the moment we approached any major city station, whether we stopped or not, the trains slowed to a crawl or stopped for a while.

» 2) When flying back to the US our plane travelled at speeds of 820 km/hr, or roughly 500mph, but, either when leaving or landing at an airport, we fretted at everything coming to a slow grinding crawl or halt.

Admittedly, things have to operate somewhat differently at the terminal points, but, when you think about it, we’ve made our society a series of excruciating bottlenecks. These are where process reigns over progress. All in the name of certain individuals possibly wishing to assert their control over everything and sustain the status quo. To what extent is your organization afflicted by the “rat” disease, where bottlenecks hold it back?

Just think of the sense of relief the Frecci train driver feels once (s)he departs the rail-station where many bureaucrats reside. Also, about liberated pilots when they finally take-off. On the other hand, the possible dread both of these groups sense when they arrive at their next port-of-call.

At such times, they will observe bureaucratized staff just going through the motions and passengers being processed like sausages through a meat factory. Hurry-up-and-wait is the mantra in their processing halls: with little respect for passengers but devotion to the system. Do you see your staff going through the motions? Do your customers feel as though they are being processed like sausages?

While a degree of organized flow is essential, we frequently have to ask ourselves whether we overdo the “rat.” As the CEO of international company Marsh & McLennan, Daniel S. Glaser, was recently quoted in a July 2016, NY Times ‘Corner Office’ article: “I’ve always felt that the world is filled with smart people who love complicating stuff.” Do such people have something to do with creating these sterile, slow moving way-stations? Consider:

» R= Rules and Rituals – To what extent do these people use rules and rituals to create a process that doesn’t require people to think at all? Do they make staff so rule-bound that implementers act like automatons or zombies, without any feeling of ownership or desire to make things better?

» A= Accountability – To what extent do these ‘rat-creatures’ hold staff accountable, to the point where those same staff members are afraid to risk or take a chance on anything that would make their organization or way-station work better?

» T= Tracking and Control – To what extent do out rats place an emphasis on tracking and control, to the point where nothing moves without an assigned code or number? Also, are our staff members so tightly controlled that they’re not inspired to ask valuable questions – other than how soon they can leave their workplace because they’re bored and want a sense of freedom?

Bureaucrats dream about doing very little. They aspire to be in control of environments where they can put their feet-up and rake in the rewards for their brilliance and with little ongoing effort on their part. With that in mind, “rat” activity is of extreme importance to them, and, once installed, they will fight tooth-and-nail to retain their dream. This is why organizational life in so many enterprises changes at a snail’s pace.

For those who wish to imbue the same rush-feeling that many pilots probably feel at the moment of take-off, or the Frecci train driver senses as (s)he leaves the rail-station, you need to look at “rat” differently; namely:

» R= Releasing Momentum – How can we prune all the tethers that are holding our venture to a status-quo? Can we build a fresh purpose and desire within our people to make things better? As CEO Glaser, quoted earlier, went on to say: “Working to simplify, to try to get down to that first principle, is really important.”

» A= Autonomy and Empowerment – How can we give our people a greater sense of autonomy and empowerment, through solid but flexible guiding principles that they can use as a framework for operating on a daily basis – instead of leaving their brains at their front-door every day?

»T= Teamwork – How can we encourage our people to work more as interdependent teams, rather than fighting to control their own fiefdoms? As they say: T-Together; E-Everyone; A-Achieves; M-More.

Such changes mean we have to rethink our executive team, since everything starts and stops from there. What sort of people do we have on our executive team? Are they empowerers or controllers? Are they open to collaboration or do they prefer fiefdoms? Are they primarily interested in process or progress? Only when you have seriously answered and implemented the output to these questions, will the old rat disappear and the new rat become evident. Instead of having bureaucrats you will have leaders and momentum will soar.

Considering the benefits of such a change can become mouth-watering. Transitions from rail-road stations to far off cities could minimize wasted travel time. Transitions to inter-connecting flights could become enjoyable social experiences versus bureaucratic nightmares. Transitions within our own organizations could become a breeze because our people really care, as opposed to feeling like slaves within cookie-cutter boondoggles.

So, put a lot of care into placing leaders rather than bureaucrats into your key slots. Leaders facilitate momentum; bureaucrats aim to control. Leaders are interested in progress; bureaucrats are interested in process. Leaders are concerned about momentum; bureaucrats are concerned about status-quo.

While we need a modicum of bureaucratic talent  to organize a degree of stability; we need leaders to fly our planes or drive high-speed trains. We just have to change the airport or railroad station experience. Start with taking a good, hard look at how your organization operates. Does your staff feel like zombies and do your customers feel like sausages within a meat factory? 

To learn more about the new ‘rat’, talk with: