This Shit Works

I love the Quinten Tarantino movie Kill Bill, where Michael Madson, as Budd, asks Daryl Hannah, who plays Elle Driver, “They say the number one killer of old people is retirement. People got a job to do, they tend to live a little longer so they can do it. I’ve always figured that warriors and their enemies share the same relationship. So, now that you’re not gonna have to face your enemy no more on the battlefield, which “R” ya filled with: Relief?—?or Regret?”

To which she replies when he is dying, “Now, in these last agonising minutes of life, you have left, let me answer the question you asked earlier more thoroughly. Right at this moment, the biggest “R” I feel is Regret. Regret that maybe the greatest warrior I have ever known met her end at the hands of a bushwhackin, scrub, alky piece of shit like you. That woman deserved better.”

Managers and leaders respond differently when faced with strategic change. The former may feel relief, and the latter may feel regret when change fails.?

When it succeeds, they both respond with astonishment and “This shit works!”.

I always assume they would have changed if they could, but they were unaware of the possibilities?—?until the impossible became possible.

Leaders will always hire people smarter than themselves, take the blame for their teams’ failures, and give credit for successes.

Managers do the opposite and often vindictively?—?even firing competent direct reports by whom they feel threatened?—?it’s happened to me.

I have been fortunate that many of my bosses were great leaders who taught me the tricks of the trade. Motivating comments like, “I don’t know what Ian does, but he saves me millions of dollars” or “I still use the processes you showed me ten years ago” make my risk/reward model work.

A good example of managers blaming others for their incompetence is in response to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) challenges. DEI is becoming toxic, like “woke”, and sometimes renamed as DIE?—?this is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

DEI is a process for driving productivity and profitability?—?if it is not, it will eventually be rejected as making a company a great place to work is not the primary purpose of a business?—?it is profit.

Like quality initiatives, such as 6 Sigma, DEI will only succeed if it is used as a path to profitability rather than an end in itself.

Managers and DEI practitioners who focus on achieving diversity and inclusion objectives will tout the achievement of metrics and reports but have yet to answer when asked what they plan to do with the actionable intelligence.

I deliberately don’t use quality and DEI process metrics as a weapon for communicating change?—?I use them to prioritise interventions that achieve business objectives faster: reduced rework, higher customer satisfaction, lower voluntary attrition, and effective global scaling of the business.

These are hard metrics that, when achieved, are valued by business stakeholders, who are indifferent to it being a great place to work.

I have always focused on inclusive business transformation, which aligns people, products, and processes with customer needs. Integrating DEI with strategic transformation reduces the resistance to change, and the positive impact on a business’s bottom line is realised.

This results in a win-win strategy integrating DEI and strategic transformation, from which companies and employees benefit long-term.

Making a business a great place to work is a necessary means to the desired end but not an end in itself.

Don’t stop halfway?—? be the change?—? you won’t regret it.