Provision #743: Understanding Matters
Laser Provision
Two weeks ago I wrote about the importance of knowledge when it comes to
leadership. By knowledge I meant a clear grasp of what's important when it comes
to leading organizations and optimizing performance. Best efforts are not
enough. Best efforts without proper direction are doomed. To that end, I put
forward Deming's theory of knowledge as a great framework for leaders. But
knowledge without understanding is also doomed. Understanding enables leaders to
translate knowledge into action. Is that one of your goals? Read on!
LifeTrek Provision
W. Edwards Deming, the quality-improvement expert and leadership guru that I
have been writing about for several weeks, was famously critical of best
efforts. It's not that he didn't want people to do their best. It's rather that
best efforts, without a guiding theory of knowledge to direct those efforts,
might actually push organizations in the wrong direction. Here are a few samples
of Deming's quotes on the subject:
- "Best efforts are not enough, you have to know what to do."
- "Best efforts are essential. Unfortunately, best efforts,
people charging this way and that way without guidance of principles, can do
a lot of damage. Think of the chaos that would come if everyone did his
best, not knowing what to do."
- "Best efforts will not ensure quality, and neither will
gadgets, computers or investment in machinery."
- "Best efforts will not substitute for knowledge."
- "We are being ruined by best efforts."
To avoid that eventuality, Deming developed a
Theory of Profound Knowledge involving systems theory, causes of variation,
adult learning theory, and human psychology. Why should leaders care about such
seemingly esoteric topics? Because they hold the keys to success. As Deming once
quipped, "There is an excuse for ignorance, but there is no way to avoid the
consequences." Failing to know what to focus on and do is not a good idea when
it comes to leadership.
Knowledge alone, however, is not sufficient for success. We also need
understanding. What's the difference? Knowledge comes from the head;
understanding comes from the heart. All the knowledge in the world will not do
leaders any good if we don't understand how to apply that knowledge in real
situations, with real people, in real time.
That was the point of my wife's 2004 book on leadership in schools,
Trust
Matters. This book tells the stories of three school leaders, each of
which are doing their best, but only one of which gets it right. What's the
difference between them? All three would probably give lip service to the same
theory of knowledge. They would all say that school leadership involves paying
attention to both tasks and relationships, but only one manages to pay attention
in a way that generates cooperation, competence, and conscientiousness.
How does that happen? Through understanding people and what's called for in the
moment. All the data in the world (and Deming was a strident voice for the
importance of collecting and analyzing data) will be for naught if we just use
the results to punish people and to beat them up as to what they are not doing
right. That was part of Gloria's problem, one of leaders in
Trust
Matters. She had a taskmaster personality and data were used as arrows
in her quiver for identifying problems and pushing people to get on track.
That was a bad idea in two respects: Deming would point out that she was not
using data correctly. I would point out that she was not using empathy
correctly. Both factors have to do with understanding.
One of the big mistakes people make when it comes to data is failing to analyze
the data with a control chart. Control charts enable leaders to correctly
distinguish between systemic variations that occur naturally, through no fault
of any one individual, and special events that may have unique causes from which
we can learn and benefit. For an easy-to-read discussion of control charts, you may enjoy Latzko's & Saunders' book,
Four Days with Dr. Deming.
Leaders make terrible leadership mistakes, Deming notes, when we fail to analyze
data correctly. We blame people for things that are outside of their control and
we fail to intervene in situations where the exercise of control is possible. As
a result of these mistakes, our leadership is less than effective. We make
matters worse rather than better when we go at systems in the wrong way. And we
fail to at our responsibility to coach individuals who are truly outliers from
the control set.
As coaching leaders, it is our job to initiate learning conversations with those outliers
(and to leave everyone else alone). What can we learn from extraordinary examples of both
successful and struggling performance that can improve individual performance
and optimize the system as a whole? Identifying those examples correctly and
facilitating those conversations adeptly are, according to Deming, the primary
tasks of leadership in any organization.
And that's where empathy comes into play. There's no way to have those
conversations unless people trust us to understand their concerns and appreciate
their perspectives. We all know what happens when leaders ask people for
feedback or suggestions. We only hear what they want us to hear. People don't
open up and talk honestly unless they have first come to recognize and trust us
as empathetic leaders.
But don't confuse empathy with sympathy. That was part of Fred's problem,
another one of the leaders in
Trust Matters. He wanted everyone to like him and no one to be upset with him.
So he would sympathize with whoever he was talking with in the moment. That made
people feel good, because it seemed as though Fred was on their side. He was
feeling their pain, to borrow a phrase, leaving people with a reassuring sense
that he would do something to alleviate that pain.
Unfortunately, to avoid upsetting people, Fred usually did nothing. He was a
great guy who could not be counted on to have those learning conversations. As
that reputation grew, Fred's leadership became more and more compromised and
ineffective.
Empathy is a very different kind of understanding. Through empathy we don't just
feel someone's pain, we seek to understand and respect the causes of that pain.
Empathetic leaders dig below the superficial level of what can be seen by
walking around (MBWA) to understand not only the data but also the needs behind
the data. We engage in honest, meaningful dialogue around the performance of
both individual players and the system as a whole.
That takes emotional intelligence, since it is easy to become emotionally
reactive when we hear or see something we don't like or understand. From that
vantage point, both Gloria and Fred lacked the emotional intelligence to be
effective school leaders. One was too hard while the other was too soft.
But honest, meaningful dialogue takes more than just trust and understanding in
the character of the leader. It also takes an organizational climate in which
people are free to express themselves without fear of losing of their job.
That's another one of those
Deming Management Principles. "Drive out fear, so that everyone may work
effectively for the company." It is impossible to raise the quality of a system
if the individual parts of that system are evaluated in relation to each other,
apart from the system
itself.
When the focus of evaluation is on the system, however, the individual parts
become continuously engaged in conversations as to how to make things better.
That's when "continuous improvement" moves from being a slogan to being a reality.
Everyone is continuously and forever striving to make things better. Data become
our friend rather than our enemy. There is no competition between individuals or
departments. Everyone is working together for the good of the whole.
That's the understanding of empathy that coaching leaders bring into the
workplace. Brenda, the third principal in
Trust Matters,
got that right. She set the tone that led to a culture of cooperation, competence, and
conscientiousness. At times, that meant Brenda had to stand up for the people in her
building against outside forces that might have pitted them against each other. Most of
the time, however, that meant Brenda carried herself as a leader with both knowledge
and understanding. She could work equally well with data and people.
And that was the secret of Brenda's success. She understood how to work
with and apply one of Einstein's most important discoveries when it
comes to data and empathy, knowledge and understanding: "Not everything
that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be
counted." May we each learn to balance those dynamics in our own
leadership as well.
Coaching Inquiries: How would you describe your emotional intelligence? What
kind of energy do you project? What kind of tone do you set with the people you
lead? How would you describe the culture in your organization? What can you do
to make it more of a coaching culture? With whom could you have an honest
learning conversation today?
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LifeTrek Readers' Forum (selected feedback
from the past week)
Editor's Note: The LifeTrek Readers' Forum contains selections from the comments
and materials sent in each week by the readers of LifeTrek Provisions. They do
not necessarily reflect the perspective of LifeTrek Coaching International. To
submit your comment, use our
Feedback Form or
Email Bob.
Kindness Matters. Again I have been inspired and enriched deep within. I'm
sure my teachers will appreciate purposeful "kindness" as we close our first
term. Busy, yes, but not too busy to take time to show kindness. As they review
progress data, creating progress reports and diligently planning learning for
the weeks ahead, experiencing kindness – purposefully directed toward their
needs, I know they will be refreshed and enriched. Thanks. I sometimes let the
work overshadow the needs of the workers.
How uplifting and inspirational! You orchestrate and connect these stories so
that they powerfully highlight the significance and implications of kindness
lived out. What a wonderful testimony of your purpose and passion to influence
the heart motives of leaders on our planet.
Kindness Matters was a great Provision. Stories always contain that
wonderful ability to include us in their world through the surprising
transformation of our imagination. Thank you for choosing and sharing these four
stories on kindness.
Not sure where kindness fits into the Somali situation but we would greatly
appreciate your prayers for one of our God-daughters, Blanca, who works for
Doctors Without Borders and was kidnapped last Thursday. Such a long journey to
move from desperation, anger and faith to kindness and respect and finding ways
to solve such huge problems. (Ed. Note: I'm passing this on to our readers. May
we all keep Blanc in our thoughts and prayers.) Top
May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran
President, LifeTrek Coaching International,
www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
CEO & Co-Founder, Center for School
Transformation,
www.SchoolTransformation.com
Immediate Past President, International Association
of Coaching,
www.CertifiedCoach.org
Author, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time,
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