Monday Musings -- Windmill War or Quality Query?

The word "quixotic" means exceedingly idealistic, unrealistic, or impractical. And yes, it derives from Don Quixote, that overly idealistic (unrealistic, impractical...) and would be chivalrous fellow who "tilted at windmills". Created by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes in the 1600s, "this knight" didn't ask good questions or ponder possibilities about "those (windmill) giants", among other things, all that well. Sure, in the story, he was driven to madness reading about knights and their chivalrous romances, so sharpness of mind, let alone spirit, wasn't available or accessible in the reaches of this fictional character's cranium.

The short thought piece following my leading commentary struck me based on its simple, straightforward, and on point pondering, especially the last question. Over several decades, I've watched many, many leaders investigate, speculate, produce, interpret, and decide.

Perhaps leaders who received much of the same developmental decision-making training that uses a four-quadrant set of leadership tools and techniques leads them to not ask "all the right questions". The Five Whys is a powerful and purposeful tool, but it fails to ask the last question the highlighted author addresses below. Experience informs that the last question he asks here is the one most overlooked. To wit, what are we not asking? What are we not thinking through? What are we missing?

While the author indicates the reasons for not saying the unsaid are all negatively connotated, I'm expanding that thinking to sharpen brain synapses on what we're not asking because we assume everything is fine. For example, and I know I've shared this story in one or more previous posts...when I was the Wing and Installation Commander at the US Air Force Academy, during monthly metrics reviews, my chief logistician, who was excellent at his job, would tell me the in-service vehicle rate. Meaning, how many of our 330-vehicle fleet, including the largest number of buses in the Air Force (makes sense!), were in operation when the measure was applied.

Month after month, he would tell me we were exceeding the Air Force standard, usually coming in at 96.5% or higher. The target was, if memory serves, to be at or above 94% to meet Air Force standards. One month, it occurred to me, we know what is known, we discussed things like rate impacts if we had to address a recall repair. What would we do to?meet mission requirements.

We knew how to be most productive with our fleet, including getting cadets all over the place for academics, sporting events, etc., and we did discuss the so what. What we NEVER asked to that moment was, what is actually in the 3.5% not in service? Something clicked in my head during one monthly update to ask that question. The leader said, he wasn't sure, but we're exceeding standards.

Totally true, but the danger lay and lurked in that 3.5%. I said, "we have five woodland firefighting vehicles, correct?" "Yes, that's correct", he replied. I continued; "If two of those are down for maintenance. That would mean, we only have 60% capacity online. Without knowing the out-of-service details, I have no idea that my firefighting capability is actually very limited despite the overall fleet number being at 96.5% available."

"Here forward, I want to know what is in that 3.5%." That covered what wasn't being said. He wasn't trying to hide information, rather, he didn't apply the "what's unsaid" question to the rubric. BTW -- having all of those firefighting vehicles in service is very important because about 75% of the Academy's 18K+ acres are natural forest and grassland. There are going to be fires. And when that happens (and it did while I was there), there is no going downtown to find those vehicles in a pinch. We can, however, always charter more buses.

From that point one, we focused on asking the right questions, driving into the right data and details. Leaders must be interested and involved in the unknown. Probe and pour into those dark spaces. Ask questions about what isn't being said. That will lead to better organizational outcomes!

Ask Smarter Strategic Questions?by Arnaud Chevallier

With organizations facing increased urgency and unpredictability, being able to ask smart questions has become a key leadership skill—especially when setting strategy. Here are five types of questions to ask that can boost strategic decision-making.

Investigative: What’s Known? When facing a problem or opportunity, the best decision-makers start by clarifying their purpose, asking themselves what they want to achieve and what they need to learn to do so.

Speculative: What If? These questions help you consider the situation at hand more broadly, reframing the problem and exploring outside-the-box solutions.

Productive: Now What? Assessing the availability of talent, capabilities, time, and other resources ultimately helps you determine a course of action.

Interpretive: So, What? This natural follow-up can push you to continually redefine the core issue—to go beneath the surface and draw out the implications of an observation or idea.

Subjective: What’s Unsaid? This final question deals with the personal reservations, frustrations, tensions, and hidden agendas that can push decision-making off course.