A cautionary tale: New leaders and the pressure to "be the expert" and deliver results

The real company name in this story is replaced with “ABC” for anonymity; the numbers are real.

?There is a lot of pressure on new leaders, especially those being hired to “move the needle” quickly. That pressure can overwhelm one’s ability to be humble and curious. When under pressure, people tend to revert back to behaviors that feel ‘safe’ or have been successful in the past, even if they are maladaptive in a new environment.?

A leader at ABC asked me to help his new cross-functional project team, focused on fixing a monthly supply chain process that caused a fire drill at the end of every year. ?The calculated cost of this fire drill was ~$5M, every year. Most of that was not recoverable; the December fire drill was simply to recover as much as possible.

??requiring large, unscheduled purchases every December,

? throwing off December financials with those unscheduled expenses,

??distracting the sales team every January, redirecting their efforts to selling the overstock

During this project, my client got a new boss - a COO who was trained in, and deeply committed to, Six-Sigma. Less than 30 days into the COO’s tenure, the team presented their project with two possible solutions.

Solution 1: ?? the “Right Way” per Six Sigma. Timeline: 1.5 years to implement

Cost: ~$1M for complex ERP customizations and QA testing

Percent of errors eliminated: 100% (e.g., +$5M annually, in 1.5 years)

?

Solution 2: ?? the “Quick and Dirty” solution. Timeline: 2 weeks

Cost: a few hours of redirected admin time per week, no P&L impact

Percent of errors eliminated: 80% (e.g. +$4M annually, immediately)

The project team recommended immediate implementation of Solution 2??; they also recommended that $1M of the initial savings be used to fund Solution 1??, as no-one had $1M budget available to fund Solution 1. That combo approach would eventually capture that last $1M/year, when Solution 1 rolled out and replaced Solution 2

Under tremendous pressure to drive results, but not yet trusting the team or understanding the problem they were trying to fix, the COO stopped the team mid-presentation and rejected the proposal - saying he wouldn’t support/allow a “band-aid” fix (Solution 2??). It simply wasn’t aligned with the Six Sigma approach of “fix things the right way, the first time”. He was responding in a way that made him feel safe and in control; but in that moment he didn’t have the capacity to ask questions, understand the business case, or take the risk of looking less informed than those around him.

Solution 2 was off the table; and with it, the only realistic opportunity to fund Solution 1. ?

I moved on to other projects at other companies, but to the best of my knowledge those fire drills were still a problem when the COO left the company several years later.?

A new leader's first responsibility isn’t to personally fix every problem. It isn’t to even to know what all the problems are. You aren't the most knowledgeable person in the room in your first 30, 60, or 90 days (although you should be getting better that entire time).

Your job is to come in and be an EFFECTIVE LEADER. Calm under pressure, and able to ask questions and admit your own shortcomings. Focus on learning, rather than “being right”. Learn how to bring out the best in your people - knowing that at least some of them already understand the problems and solutions... they just haven’t been empowered or heard.

If you are the hiring manager, it is critical to give your new leader time to learn the team dynamics, skills/strengths of individual team members, understand the work processes, and build trust before the pressure starts. You hired a rock star, because you need someone who can learn quickly and bring new ideas - someone who is comfortable and effective in the driver’s seat. But also know that studies show that even experienced drivers have 2x chance of being in an accident for the first 6 weeks when they get behind the wheel of an unfamiliar car. Even if you hired a skilled "driver", every make/model ( team/org ) is a little different, and you have to understand that new car's capabilities and limits before ‘putting the pedal to the metal’.

Footnote: prior to this experience, I ran the Six Sigma team for a $1.1B organization; this story is not about what Six Sigma is (or isn’t). It just happened to be this leader’s “safe place” to react from in a stressful new situation