Blue Elevator Blog

A System

Do you need a system?

Flashback in Time

It was the early 1990s, and I was working at a large corporation.

I don’t remember the exact details, but I remember the life lesson I took away.

And, here it is.

A Great Leader

At the time, I worked under a man named Len Whyte.  Len was the CFO and Vice President of this large corporation.  And, by all accounts, an excellent leader and a great man.

I learned a lot of things from Len — one of which I’m going to share.

The Conundrum

As I mentioned, I don’t remember the exact genesis of the issue.  But, I was accompanying Len as he went about tackling an operational issue.

When you’re the top dog, the buck stops with you.  And, Len knew that.  So he went about things the only way he knew how: Full steam ahead.

To solve this particular problem, we were going to need data.  And, we needed real-time data.  And, as any organizational leader knows, you can’t literally do everything yourself.  You need and rely on others.

In this case, Len knew exactly where to find his answers.  So, off we went.  Len was on a mission, and I was close behind him.  I was about to learn an important life and business lesson.

Len to Fred

Now, I will ascribe the fictitious name of “Fred” to a particular department manager.  Fred ran a particular department.  And, it was this very department that had Len identified as the most probable and best source of getting the data he needed to solve a problem.

So, Len walked into Fred’s office.  And this is what Len said:

“Fred, I need to know the type of every call that comes into your department.  I need you to give me a report at the end of every day.  I want to know the total number of calls and, then, categorize them by the nature of the call.”

Fred to Len

It turns out that Fred had an almost instant, instinctual, and canned retort ready after Len issued the directive.

But, before I tell you Fred’s response, I will defend Fred.  But only partly.  And, only partly because it is the natural response of most middle managers that are asked to do something out of the normal course of their daily tasks.

What Fred Said

Here’s what Fred said:

“Len, I’d like to do that, but I don’t have a system.”

And, Fred was right.  He didn’t have a system.  But, what Fred was saying, was he didn’t have a $1 million custom software program that did the work automatically.

Now, I won’t go so far as to impart motives to Fred.  But, Fred’s quick retort could have been because of several reasons:

1. Fred didn’t want to do it because it would be a lot of extra work.
2. Maybe Fred wanted a custom-designed system, but didn’t have one ready to go.
3. Perhaps Fred wasn’t objecting to the idea, but maybe he didn’t know how to go about meeting Len’s request.

Len to Fred

And, it was at this point where I was privileged to learn and witness one of the most succinct management and leadership lessons of my life.

Here’s what Len said to Fred:

“Fred … do you have a pencil and some paper?  You have a system.”

A Lesson Learned

And, there it was.  The most perfect synthesis of a lot of life’s compound management conundrums summarized into one brilliant statement.

It was simultaneously all of the following:

• A resolve.  Len knew exactly what he needed, and he wasn’t backing away from the problem.
• A solution.  How many times have you witnessed someone shy away from an issue because getting the data or the true life-saving answer would take work?  Sometimes, the need for and lack of a sophisticated CRM, ERP, (fill in the blank), etc. can be an excuse for sticking with the status-quo.
• A directive.  Sometimes the tail wags the dog.  Sadly, there are some organizational cultures whose focuses have devolved into making and keeping team members happy.  And, this as opposed to the real mission of serving customers or constituents.

Summary

I thank God for the lesson(s) I learned from Len.  And, I am thankful for the time I spent serving under Len and learning from him.

Now, I’m not demeaning the use of technology.  Nor, am I purporting that the old cave man ways of doing things were better.

It’s the new millennium.  It’s the age of artificial intelligence.  By all means, work smart.  Go ahead and migrate to the all-encompassing, open-sourced, cloud-based “do it all for you” system.

Just make sure that the system does what it’s designed to do.  And, make sure you get your ROI.  That’s all.

Always remember to solve the problem first.  Then, you can work on streamlining things.  Electronic (automated) systems are great.  Design and deploy them to solve problems.  But, be mindful that something electronic doesn’t necessarily guarantee success.

Contact us!  We’d love to be of encouragement to you in your organizational journey.