Where is the Chicken?!

A joke goes like this:

Four friends decided to become partners and buy a four storey Supermarket where each one of them is to manage a floor.

A customer walks in into the Supermarket and asked the first guy:

- I want to buy chicken …

The first guy replied:

- You want it alive or dead?

The customer: Dead!

He replied:

- You have to go to the 2nd floor.

The customer went on into the 2nd floor and asked the second guy:

- I want a dead chicken …

He replied:

- You want it cold or frozen?

The customer: Cold!!

He replied:

-  You have to go to 3rd floor.

The customer proceeded to the 3rd floor and asked the third guy:

-  I want cold and dead chicken …

He replied:

- You want a whole chicken or you want it chopped into pieces?

The customer: in pieces!!!

He replied:

- You have to go to the 4th floor.

Well, the customer went on to the 4th floor and asked the fourth guy:

-  I want cold, dead chicken and it must be in pieces…

The fourth guy replied:

- As a matter of fact, we do not have chicken … but you’ve got to tell me: how did you find our system?!

 Some organizations engage in internal programs/initiatives to improve performance, reduce costs & expenses and/or change strategy.  These programs are well-known such as Balance Score Card (BSC) or Six Sigma and have cultivated success around the world.  Those organizations’ Managements start pouring resources into what I call a “black hole cycle” of endless meetings, paper work, emails, memos and shoveling of positions and committees.  Some of them commit great deal of investment of time and money into these programs and get everybody on their toes to meet deadlines, fill out forms and learn all the terms and colors of each evaluation scheme.  It gets so tense to the point it becomes an ever growing living creature that lives at each corner and you stumble on in every turn.  Apparently, after all of the efforts and investments, it never works.

What started as a life or death “initiative” by the Owners or the Board for what they perceive as an imminent transformation of the organization transforms into a “must-manage-situation” by the Higher Management.  Why is that?! Well, under the well-known code-name “positivity” and the code-name “never-say-no to the boss”, Management would proceed with any request from the top whether it synergized with overall strategy & objectives, operational priorities and current pressing issues or not.  This attitude is cascaded down the chain consciously/unconsciously to lower levels of the organization’s hierarchy. Hence, it becomes a total “must-manage-situation” for everyone.

Once Management assumes there are no way around the Top guys request, the rest is history.  Management convenes, decides they will need a specialized consultant (in case the Owner/Board did not mandate someone in particular), the consultant holds a series of meetings with senior and middle management, people find it a chance to be relieved from business pressure for few days, meetings continue, program’s framework is finalized and implementation resumes.

So far, so good.  However, the story continues.  After a painful process back and forth, the framework is in place and ready for rock & roll.  At this point, the “must-manage-situation” kicks in and voices of: this is complicated and I do not understand it, or we are busy, we will work on it next week, or I can do this part but not that part, or this is not my responsibility, or I will have my assistant fill out the form and send it to you, or why do I have to evaluate people now and do it again at the end of the year  and the list is endless.  Now, delays and more delays to the initiative become evident and Higher Management starts to feel the heat.  Management convenes once again and reaches at the conclusion they need to put more pressure on their subordinates to preserve with the momentum. It works for a while, then it slows down and Management meets one more time; however the “black hole cycle” is created.  Gradually, a reverse-momentum from bottom-to-up starts forming to the point the whole initiative reaches the state of paralysis.  People go in circles, more time and effort is invested but nothing seems to work and it feels like it goes in vain.

In order to save the day, this “type” of Higher Management does the following to solve the problem:  Change Organization structure mildly or drastically at the senior level and assign the initiative to one director so it becomes his/her own issue. Or, it finds a scapegoat and begins the finger pointing tactic to evade responsibility and create the illusion that they are on top of things.  Unfortunately, it does not work and the question rises again: whom to blame?! Well, the consultant time has come.  Once again, it does not work and the Owner/Board is annoyed by the situation and decides to intervene. As the Owner/Board is representing the smartest and the strategists, they would typically revert to the following solution: Hire the most expensive well-reputed (as this would reflect value) consultant or create a new “Initiative” Director position. Usually, a new “Initiative” department is established and the implementation is carried on.  To make long story short, it does not work either.  The Owner/Board intervenes once again and reluctantly compromises where partial implantation becomes acceptable.

IT DOES NOT WORK… Period.  What happens over time, a facade has formed to the illusion that things are moving forward and work is being done but with no real-value progress on the ground.  Therefore, it becomes a game where everyone participates in but knows deep in their own heart it is not going to work.  Finally, it becomes a norm of everyday life and goes un-noticed except at the performance appraisal day.  Nevertheless, it does not weigh much anyway. The organization ends up with investments with no value and a hollow system (black hole cycle) that suck everything that goes into it and thus it will never resurface again.

To summarize the reasons why some initiatives fail, here is a simple list:

-  Owner/Board over-rated confidence in their own practical knowledge and wisdom.  They adopt a “hype” but do not know how it works and sometimes have their own versions or twisted methods of how to pick the right guy for implementation.

-  Higher Management priorities are not necessary the same as the organization priorities and personal vs. business.

-  Organization culture that resents change and sponsors the imbalance of form over substance to make personal gains which in turn grow a general indifference attitude by employees.

-  People who do not know how to make it work keep changing the organization structure.

 In conclusion, the above is the recipe to have a grandiose system without chicken: not even one chicken!