Symptom: Most people aren't good enough to handle their jobs.
In examining a performance problem, the first thing a manager should ask is, "Can anyone succeed in this job?"
If the job is designed to include too great a scope (impossible requisite variety) -- in other words, if it expects that people will be experts at more than one profession -- then only super-achievers can succeed. While its great to work with such talented people, an organization cannot afford to bet on finding super-achievers.
Similarly, if people face conflicts of interests, then they cannot succeed at all of their objectives. For example, if an individual is asked to manage operations (keep things stable) and also to be a source of innovation in operational technologies (change things), he or she cannot win.
When performance problems are built into the organization, the individual is not at fault. It is a leader's job to design organizations in which people can succeed.
Root cause:Structure, organization chart (requisite variety) copyright 2024 N. Dean Meyer and Associates Inc. All rights reserved.
