1-29-10 Losing Your Mind in the Snow

We’re having a fine time with winter weather here in the Midwest. Driving in the snow this morning got me to thinking about how people react under stress.

I don’t know what it is about the snow or ice, but it seems to turn normally safe and rational drivers into idiots. It is like they have forgotten how to drive. Good grief. At a time when they should be slowing down, thinking things through, and executing deliberately…. Instead you see them driving way to fast for the conditions, not thinking ahead about that next stop sign or traffic light, and making last minute decisions that cause panic.

I’ve seen similar occurrences at work. How do the people in your company react in a crisis? Let’s say that you have just discovered that a component going into your product is defective -- and it adversely affects the safety of your product. Here’s what often happens…….

First, there is shock. How could this happen? Who screwed up? Then reality sinks in when you discover that not only are the products in the line going to have to be reworked, often many of the products already out on the market will have to be fixed. Existing and potential customers aren’t going to be happy, and customer is king, right?

So how does your company respond……….

Your company trots out that one guy. You know the one…. He kicks butt and takes names….. He rolls over everyone in his way, or even close to his path. His method for fixing problems is to take a shotgun and shoot everything in sight -- widely dispersed buckshot. He is an expert at throwing resources and bodies at the problem, chasing down rabbit trails that shouldn‘t even be explored. There are lots of special meetings, hot lists to work, task forces formed and disbanded, tiger teams….. Well, you name it and he probably does it. Does he fix the problem? Yea, usually. But at what price? How many resources were wasted on extraneous activities? And probably most important, does the problem recur? The answer is probably. Why?

Because instead of lots of arm-waving and extraneous actions --- you know, to make it look like somebody is DOING something, the problem would be better served in a more methodical manner. By slowing down, calmly assessing the situation, developing a plan that all affected parties support, designing a response that not only fixes the current problem but also prevents recurrence, and then doggedly executing the plan. The arm-waver will say that he is doing that, but in reality, he isn’t.

Today’s headlines about Toyota and their accelerator problem has me wondering how they are responding internally. Of course, I don’t have an internal view into Toyota. But I’m guessing that, based on their past performance, they haven’t called in the arm waver. My bet is that they are taking the methodical approach. It may take a little longer, but you can be pretty sure that the problem will be fixed correctly and won’t recur.

So, the next time you are driving in the snow or are called on to fix a serious problem at work…… slow down, think ahead, and take rational and deliberate action.

Cheers! And enjoy the snow!