Avoiding Mockpowerment

Welcome to the world of "Mockpowerment," where leaders speak about empowerment from a distance, while their teams navigate the challenges of complex, demanding work environments. It's empowerment in name only, and we need to address this disconnect.

Rather than just promoting the merits of empowerment and swift decision-making, let's recognize the realities our teams face:

1. Complex Organizations. We’ve built intricate, highly interdependent organizations that resemble an electronic circuit more than a blueprint for efficient decision-making. Even the simplest issues frequently touch many departments and silos. Let's face it, even a 25% reduction in complexity leaves teams in a very complicated world. The reality is that most decisions require organizational alignment, particularly in highly regulated, litigious industries.
2. Unsafe Organizations. In the land of Mockpowerment, leaders claim that "failure is part of learning", but the reality is very different: leaders wash their hands from bad outcomes and don't support teams when they fail. When this happens, people see it and remember it.

So, what can leaders do to create an environment where decisions naturally receive the right level of attention?

Create a Decision-Making Framework.

Rather than convoluted RACI models, start with a simple framework to help create a conversation about how to optimize decision-making. McKinsey suggests starting with two questions:

1. How familiar and confident are you that your solution will work? Perhaps you’ve seen this exact situation before and know firsthand it’s likely to work.
2. How critical is the issue? Does the problem impact customers? Does it affect your reputation with opinion leaders? What’s the impact of a botched response?

From these inquiries, the following scenarios emerge:

Once teams have really understood the context, they can have a realistic discussion about how to move forward. If it is a Delegated decision, they lets agree to go fast and take risks. If it is a Big Bet, then lets stop discussing empowerment and get the Gant chart team working on it. Context matters, and having a language and framework to discuss this will help everybody get on the same page about the way forward.

Be A Decision Coach

A leader's primary job is to create a safe environment for high quality work to happen. Leaders should never absolve themselves from involvement in decisions. Instead they need to focus on the different roles they can play. Even in a Delegated or Ad Hoc scenario, leaders should coach teams through their thinking. This is a prime moment for training and development in real-world situations. It creates a learning environment while still empowering teams to make the final decisions.

Coaching conversations might look like:

1. Sharing ideas that have worked but might not have been considered.
2. Using the Decision Framework to validate how the team is looking at the issue. Discussing risks and mitigation plans.
3. Asking how you can support the decision.

So let's get real about Mockpowerment. Let's acknowledge the complexity of business, and move forward with creating a common language and framework for discussing scenarios. Then let's adopt a coaching mindset to help guide and support teams at the front line.