Don't Let Your Hand Burn! Give Your Teams a Way to React

I remember it like it was yesterday, although I try not to think of it at all.

My high-energy, full-of-life, inquisitive 3-year-old son had climbed up on a bar stool in our kitchen, within arm's reach of the glass-top stove.  I'd just taken a kettle of boiling water off to pour my tea, saw the glowing red circle fade to black, turned my back, and heard my son ask, "Mommy, is it hot?"

Then, in what seemed like slow motion that I could not make slower to prevent what I knew was happening, I heard the sizzle, and then the scream.

Yeah.  

Little 3-year-old right hand planted squarely in the middle of the burner.  Still makes my stomach turn (and it happened 16 years ago!).

Gruesome as the story is, it could have been worse.  Fortunately, my son had a fully functioning nervous system, and so he yanked his hand off that deceptively black circle as fast as he could.  While the doctors would warn us later that reconstructive surgery may be in order (it was too soon to tell whether or not the tendons had been damaged), if Caleb had not reacted as fast as he did, he might have lost the hand. Even more, infection could have brought serious risk to his life.

My point?  Organizations need nervous systems, too.  The stakes are just as high.

Every day, employees of any given company are in a position to send a signal to the rest of the organization of possible risk.

Every day, employees of any given company are in a position to send a signal to the rest of the organization of possible risk.  They're also in a position to make decisions, both large and small,  that will impact the rest of the company, for better or for worse.

The problem is, they don't have the mechanism to do it.  There is no internal nervous system directing these kinds of decisions and activities.

Consider the large client account that was just lost to a competitor.  Did anyone see it coming?  Sales says no, but service says yes…a year ago.  Why couldn't they alert the rest of the company at that time?

Or think about the capital tied up in inventory.  Who is making the purchasing decisions?  Based on what model?  Could there be a better signal?

Finally, think about on-time delivery of a product or service.  The deadline is just days away, but there's no way the team will make it.  Did anyone see this coming weeks ago?  When was it first apparent that the scope was too large?  Capacity too tight?  Where was the alert when the problems were still relatively small and the time still relatively abundant?

As organizations, we don't know our hand is burning until we see flames and smoke.

At Enable, we believe this is because the people closest to the early warning indicators don’t have a systematic way to notice and action problems while those problems are still small.    (Or if they do, they bring the problem to management or senior leadership to solve.  Putting out fires becomes management's job description.)

We also believe it doesn't have to be this way.  Countless organizations have implemented a mechanism for early indicator alert, decision, and action, all right at the source.  We've made it an art of bringing that same "nervous system" to organizations in a packaged program.

Countless organizations have implemented a mechanism for early indicator alert, decision, and action, all right at the source of the problem or opportunity.

Because work is not simply about doing tasks, but is about getting results, reaction ability matters.  Don't let your "hand" burn!  Give your teams a way to react.

Learn How to Give Your Teams a Way to React:

The key to success is instilling just enough structure that teams are, first, aware of their performance toward targeted outcomes, and second, empowered to make decisions and solve problems to that end. Leaders can create this environment. Visit our website to learn how we teach it. We also encourage you to download our Accountability eBook to get you started.

?About the author: Emily Bopp is shepherding a movement of excellence in execution by making over 100 years of management system evolution accessible to and adoptable by small-medium businesses. Through Enable, Inc., Licensed Enable? Consultants teach CEOs and their teams a reliable playbook for achieving outcomes. It gets everyone consistently delivering results.