In the Gaps

October 14, 2024

Dear Leaders,

Gaps – those dreaded places where that little thing you don’t see comes back to haunt you, even before Halloween.? While it is easy for leaders to deal with the obvious, the many things not readily in your purview can bedevil you when you least expect it.? Good leadership includes seeing the gaps and what’s in them, or what’s not in them.?

The military is well known for conducting inspections, not for show, but to ensure readiness.? Given the preparation needed therefore, the rank and file are usually not so enthusiastic, but the necessity remains.? One of my past commanders had a habit of looking in the most obscure places where he frequently found something wrong.? Beyond his talent for looking in the shadows, he asked the subordinate leaders why they thought he was doing it, and putting aside our annoyance, we individually and collectively realized that it was attention to detail.? In looking at the little things, you avoid the problems in the bigger things.

Searching for the gaps reveals more than just the physical missing, for in looking at your operations and methods, you will often find gaps in training, policy and procedure, and even execution and supervision.? The best plans in the world, poorly executed, result in failure.

In transitioning from the military to the civil service, I had a cavernous learning gap that I had to close quickly, so I started not only reading, but seeking people to give me the answers.? What I learned in the latter was that I was quickly surpassing the accumulated knowledge of many of my co-workers who were experiencing yet another significant gap:? perception.? They had long since developed methods to process cases quickly, but in doing so, they cut corners on quality and rationality, for rather than apply any thought to their work, they simply followed a checklist.? From this, the knowledge gap grew wider, as misconceptions and misinterpretations came forth that made a bad situation worse.

Seeing the problem, I realized that simply pointing out the gaps wasn’t going to solve anything, so I had to find solutions to close them, and I wasn’t going to do it alone, so the first part involved building alliances with those who understood the need and were willing to help.? After that, we had to provide the proof necessary to show that the process in place did not work, so we conducted site visits to verify that the businesses and schools they were approving were either non-existent or were not eligible.

From here, we knew we had to close the most significant gap:? knowledge and doing so meant revamping the training program.? Rather than calling them in to berate them for doing it wrong, we started with the eye-opening findings and then added counteractive measures weaved into the law and regulation to show how our intentions were part of the process rather than in contradiction thereof.?

The success was immediate, as within the first month, denial rates skyrocketed, and by the second month, new applications and petitions plummeted, as the malefactors realized we were on to their nefarious ways.? Aside from a few disgruntled employees who liked life easy, the enthusiasm among the workforce was evident, as they came to that same realization of the importance of diligence in duty. ?

A centuries-old proverb tells of the pitfalls of not paying attention to the details:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the message was lost. For want of a message the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Leadership is all about checking for what’s not only under your feet, but what is under the feet that support you.? ?

Sincerely,

Tim

P.S. Happy Columbus Day to those in the USA and a Happy Thanksgiving to our neighbors in Canada.