Is this 'good' customer service?

This is a true story.

On a hot day, I put money into a vending machine to get a drink. The machine accepted my money, but no product was dispensed. As I was thinking about what to do next, I noticed an 800 number to call for 'customer service and complaints'.

Curious to see how they would respond, I called the number and was greeted by a very polite voice that sincerely apologized and offered to send me a coupon to cover me for my loss. After taking down my name and address, the voice again apologized for the inconvenience and hung up.

But the voice did not ask for the location of the vending machine!

I will eventually get the coupon in the mail, but two problems still remained:

• The company will continue to pile up unhappy customers. Until the problem is fixed, customers will continue to insert cash and not get a drink. Since the company had no idea where the broken vending machine is, who knows when the problem will be fixed!
• I was still thirsty and still had to figure out how to get a drink.

How badly does your organization's strategy execution misfire due to the lack of a simple closed loop process? How many opportunities for innovation are being missed because these incidents are not tracked and analyzed? Is your organization being blindsided by having a visible process that looks good but does not really fix the problem?

Organizational Politics

"A reflection of the complexity in reconciling multiple perspectives and interests in the face of imperfect information and human emotions."

Do not make a presentation until you answer these two questions

The two questions your audience will ask are:

• "So what?"

Answering this prevents analysis paralysis, draws attention to cause-effect relationships and help you start with the end in mind. If done properly, this may lead you to nix proposals that make no business sense.

• "What's in it for me?"

Answering this will shift the focus from you to your customer. You will define benefits and outcomes from your customer's viewpoint. In other words, you will stop staring at your belly button when defining and executing your strategy.

Why is it so hard to focus on outcomes?

A plea to 'start with the end in mind' falls on deaf ears. The organization is consumed by activities, projects and initiatives and yet customer satisfaction seems to be dropping. This happens when outcomes are not clearly defined.

Some people are inherently afraid to commit. This is a symptom, not the real problem. Unless the real problem and its root causes are addressed, people will continue to be afraid to commit.

Consider these reasons:

• A dynamic environment means change and adaption. As soon as a stand is taken, a goal is set, it seems to get obsolete. Therefore, the thought enters the mind, 'Why bother?'.
• A fear of 'closing one's options' and 'leaving money on the table'. The number of variables to be evaluated are typically infinite. In a desire to maximize gains, the analysis continues even when the returns on doing so is diminishing.
  

Accept the reality of a dynamic environment. Customer outcomes provide a degree of stability that provide a beacon in the face of dynamic uncertainty. Shift focus to outcomes to derive goals and objectives. Bound the analysis effort with discipline, approach opportunities as a continuous improvement effort.

Consider these additional reasons:

• Fear of failure: Because you never described what you aiming for, you never really 'missed', right? If something 'failed' its 'not your fault'.
• Fear of success: This is a latent fear, hence most people are unaware it exists. Success will bring additional responsibilities, risk and higher stakes. Having 'More to lose' sometimes results in defensive behavior.
  

These relate to self-confidence, esteem and values. At the organization level, start by looking at systems to provide feedback and incentives. At the individual level, deeper introspection and attention needs to be given to influence these psychological factors.

Flying blind

If you ever feel like you are driving thru a fog, with low visibility, you probably are. Its the nagging feeling of not knowing what to expect and the sick feeling that something bad is imminent.

If that happens, then your intuition is probably right.

Prevent the situation from arising by building a strong intelligence network to get early warnings. If it does happen, carefully and selectively investigate to piece together the story; and coherently define the situation. You will be surprised how many people around you are in the same boat and reacting like one of the blind men trying to describe an elephant by feeling parts of it with their hands.

If you can't take off your blindfold, yes, sometimes that is hard to do, at least make sure you systematically try to feel multiple parts of the elephant before drawing conclusions.

What is the definition of 'done'?

All tasks have upstream and downstream connections. They are part of a 'value stream'.

To get the definition of 'done', pick your 'start' and 'end' points. Negotiate with your stakeholders so they are clear where your boundaries are. Adjust your boundaries in response to changes in context.

The definition of 'done' is crucial for hand offs. Receive outputs from upstream processes when they are 'done', this will avoid delays, rework and frustration on your part. Pass your output to downstream processes only when you are 'done', this will increase your credibility and influence. The downstream processes are in a sense, your customer.

A definition of 'done' will avoid the loss of credibility by celebrating bigger than warranted. It will prevent the loss of morale by not celebrating enough.

A definition of 'done' is the target that everyone is aiming for, the clearer the target, the higher the chances of hitting it in a predictable and repeatable manner.

Tolerance for variance

'Variance' is the difference between desired and actual. If you know the customer's tolerance for variance, you can fine tune your offering to provide it in a cost effective manner.

To get the product or service out to the customer, internal processes and handoffs have to occur. The people who work on these internal processes and handoffs have their own tolerance requirements. This is a function of company and personal values and more often, a reflection of their personal preferences. (We'll debate the difference between 'value' and 'preference' elsewhere!)

Internal conflicts are caused when these tolerances are not met. Hence the need to negotiate and agree on rules of engagement.

In your chosen field of Strategy Execution, what is the tolerance for variance? How much of that has to be re-caliberated?

Committed versus involved

An example recycled many times over, funny when delivered with the right timing.

"In creating the content for breakfast, the pig is committed (bacon) whereas the hen is involved (egg)."

When building a team to execute strategy, whom would you rather have, the 'committed' or the 'involved'?

How many of each type of people do you have on your team today?

Check a version of this story here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chicken_and_the_Pig

When faced by ambiguity...

Have you sat in meetings where the discussion is all over the place? This is not always a skill issue. After all, there is enough knowledge on how to run an effective meeting and principles of facilitation is a well documented science.

Non-linear, unstructured churn is a sign of people struggling with ambiguity. To get past the churn, two things need to happen:

• The participants comfort and self-confidence with the topic needs to increase
• The participants knowledge of the topic needs to increase
  

These two build on each other to clear the fog of ambiguity. To hasten the process, develop an entrepreneurial mind set.

Since the world is only going to become more complex, ambiguity will keep increasing. This implies that improvement in strategy execution practices requires us to become entrepreneurs when faced by ambiguity. Said differently, we must become comfortable with ambiguity to become an entrepreneur.

Being an entrepreneur is a state of mind, not restricted to those who start a business.

What and when to celebrate

When executing strategy, the road often seems long and the weary don't get enough rest. To keep the team morale up, celebrate successes.

The first question is what to celebrate? First understand two anchor points:

• Where you were at the 'start'.
  
• Where we want to be at the 'end'.
  

Compare your current location and decide if you want to celebrate the distance you covered from the 'start' or celebrate progress towards the 'end'. Each has a time and place, which leads us to the question of when to celebrate?

Celebrate before the team needs it. If you celebrate when the team needs it, they will associate celebration with their darkest hours. They will soon enough see the lack of authenticity.

Remember that celebration is an opportunity to send a message about what is important to the organization. It has a purpose much more than to just make the troops 'feel good'.

The right level of detail

When using a geographic map, we instinctively zoom in and out to the 'right level'.

Now imagine the work place if we had that ability in our communication:

• When we have to deliver a message, we will deliver it at the 'right level' for the audience
  
• When receiving a message, we will request the messenger to alter their delivery to the 'right level' so we can understand it faster

If communication is a critical first step to gaining a shared understanding then zooming to the 'right level' is the critical prerequisite.

What is the process?

Want to get things done? First ask, 'What is the process?':

• The steps leading up to taking a decision
• The stakeholders involved
  
• The criteria to approve or decline and
  
• The communication format and channels used to let everyone know the details of the decision.
  

If none exists, then make one up. Now the first step is to get agreement on a decision making process, then the real problem solving can start.

If you start problem solving without nailing down the decision making process, you will experience churn, delays and frustration. And... you will lose bargaining leverage because now you have escalated your commitment and have more vested, financially and emotionally. In simple English, you have more to lose!

Its like giving a customer the price after performing a service...

Overcoming disagreements

You just heard a suggestion. Or someone gave you advice. No matter how ridiculous it was, delay response till you understand the following:

• What is the person really saying? Reflect back and paraphrase as needed.
  
• What are the positives that you can take away?
• Is there anything that was said that you do not understand?
• Will you be able to repeat what was said to you?
  

What will happen if you completely eliminate the notion of 'agree' and 'disagree'? What if those words did not exist?

Then all we will be left with is the outcomes we are trying to reach and the recognition of the need to collaborate in meeting them.

Problems that exist versus problems we create

Many problems (or opportunities) already existed before we were born. Because they are tough complex issues, no one has been able to solve them or a lasting solution has not been found.

For example, political rivalries between countries that sometimes result in war, economic poverty, diminishing resources, economic cycles, pace of change and impact on culture and lifestyle. At a micro level, in an organization, some examples are: incentives to drive drive behavior, lack of capabilities, dysfunctional behavior and poor management practices.

Other problems are created by us when we become part of the system. These are driven by the decisions we take or the decisions we support. The problems grow or shrink due to our actions. Things get worse when unintended consequences are either ignored or suppressed (defensive behavior) or we are completely unaware it happened.

For starters, develop leadership skills by observing and understanding the difference between the above for your situation. This will help you take a stand and communicate and interact appropriately with your audience. It will help you build credibility and coalitions and be a role model.

Above all, avoid becoming part of the problem by becoming cynical about problems you did not create and shirking your responsibility to fix the ones you did create!

Role of 'trust' in executing your strategy

'Trust' is easier to feel than to define. Problems arise when decisions are based on 'trust' without understanding why and without understanding the alternatives.

To effectively execute your strategy, focus on outcomes and define the capabilities you need. Assess the gaps in your capabilities and create a plan keeping your current realities in mind.

When you do not understand the problem, you do not understand the cause and effect relationships and have no idea how to define and implement the solution, then you have nothing else but 'trust' to go on. In such a situation you will depend on 'gut feel' and 'emotion' to take decisions.

You could observe (correctly) that even if all the above are understood, you need to 'trust' yourself, 'trust' your team mates, 'trust' your partners etc. etc. In this situation, your beliefs are based on due diligence. After a certain point, there is no choice but to hope for the best and accept that everything is not in your control.

Know when and why to 'trust'. Blind trust, driven by emotion, has been the downfall of many efforts to execute strategy.

Root cause for complexity

Cause and effect are separated by time and space. Strategy execution is all about getting the desired effect. Understanding and controlling causes are a means to an end.

In some cases the time:space gap between cause and effect is small. For example, if a discount is offered and sales go up, then the cause and effect are clear and very close to each other in time and space.

In other cases the time:space gap is large. 'Complexity' can be defined as the lack of understanding of this time:space gap:

• How big is it?
  
• Why does it exist?
  
• What can we do to control it?
  
• What will it cost to understand and control it?
  
• What are the business benefits of doing so?
• Are there any side effects of changes to the cause-effect relationship?
  

Organizations devote a lot of resources to understanding cause and effect relationships. The biggest benefit is to be able to predict and control the outcomes, not the increased revenue or reduced costs of doing business.

Powerpont versus Reality

You attend a presentation. Slick graphics, concise messaging, soothing speaker.

But something bothers you. It does not feel right. Similar such projects have failed before. This sounds too good to be true. But that is not a reason to withhold your support, so you say 'I agree' to a request to commit, but sit silently, unease increasing.

Then the fog starts to clear. There is a difference between what you heard in the meeting and what is happening in the organization. The emphasis in the meeting was more on building emotional coalition, not real problem solving. The hidden agendas were in plain sight. The elephant in the room had not showered for years but everyone was ignoring the smell because they had got used to the smell!

If you really want to make a difference, show the leadership to first define the problem, then build a coalition of your own. Getting cynical is not the answer. If the problem is worth solving, then go about doing so systematically and methodically. Focus on what you can control: your lack of skills and your unwillingness to confront that reality is contibuting to the problem.

Life is too short to be cynical and negative. If the situation is overwhelming you, find a different job, but don't be surprised if you see history repeat itself. After all, the same problems exist everywhere and you haven't really changed. At the end of the day, you can't run away from yourself.

Two (+1) Anchor Points for Decision Making

Anchor #1: Organizations have a reason for their existence as captured in their vision, mission and goals.

Anchor #2: Organizations consist of people who in turn have their personal vision, mission and goals.

Decisions are typically made in organizations using these two anchor points. Those good at influencing and 'politics' understand both of them.

Appealing to individuals to 'set aside their personal gain and focus on the greater good' is effective only when the individuals share the same value system. Therefore, this leads to the proposition of a third anchor: the value systems subscribed to by the organization and the individuals. Organizations have espoused values. In addition, individuals have values that may not be a total subset of the organization values. The individual values are visible in their behavior and may or may not be consistent with their espoused values.

Decisions that do not exploit all 3 anchor points will take longer to define, take longer to communicate, be disruptive to implement and probably not be effective.

Cultural change is hard because it requires each of the anchor points to move to a new coordinate.

A Third Mountain

In an earlier blog, we reviewed the two mountain waiting to be climbed:

• The first 'Mountain' is for you to understand concepts, problems, issues and solutions.
  
• The next 'Mountain' is to explain your understanding to others

A third mountain exists. It is to let others discover the problem and the solution for themselves. This requires leadership skills to give others the space and demonstrate patience and equanimity.

True learning comes when there is a change in behavior. While time consuming, this change rarely comes without inner realization and motivation to change. 'Explaining' or 'teaching' will work only when motivation is inspired.