Part Three - Putting the Six Steps to Use
Managers interact with employees in specific ways, and much of this interaction can be organized into a small number of activities: communicating a vision, establishing expectations, helping to solve problems, gathering information, and giving performance feedback. In this section of the book the author intends to show how the six steps are used in the context of three (solving problems, making decisions, giving feedback) when working with three different audiences (teams, children, and organizations).
A quick review of the six steps before getting into it:
- Get people to think
- Listen for potential as they communicate their thoughts
- Speak with intent
- Guide them toward forming insights
- Explore alternatives for turning insight to action
- Follow up
He also suggests there are two main themes. First, how to have a conversation to resolve a dilemma (which is the majority of interactions) and second, how the principles of the six steps might be used in other situations.
(EN: The first few sections of this chapter - solving problems, making decisions, and giving feedback - each present a hypothetical situation with a contrived dialogue to illustrate points that were made in the previous section of the book, without introducing any new information - nothing worth annotating.)
Using the Six Steps with Teams
For new leaders, one of the greatest challenges is making the transition from being an expert worker who takes direct action and performs tasks to being a coach who directs the actions of others without being overly intrusive. That is, an effective team leader leverages the skills, expertise, and knowledge of his team, which requires him to stay out of the details in which he used to immerse himself and facilitate and empower other people.
The next greatest challenge is getting the members of a team to work together, instead of working at odds with one another. Much of the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of teams arises from internal conflict: they are unable to come to an agreement and time is wasted on long and unnecessary conversations and activities that add no value.
Thus far, the book has focused on a conversation between two people - but these techniques can be adapted for managing teams.
Let them do all the thinking
In order for the skills and expertise of the team to be applied, the leader must facilitate thoughts and conversations, not do the thinking for them. Specifically, it is not the leader's function to convince the team to follow his ideas, but to get them to collaborate in coming up with ideas. So above all, refrain from becoming personally involved with the details and problems: get the group to identify the problem to be solved, and get them to contribute ideas toward its solution.
Focus on solutions
The author has noticed that teams are inclined to focus on the problem - people each share their perspective, and they negotiate toward an agreement that things are not working, but no-one wants to take the risk of suggesting a solution or take responsibility. While there is some value in exploring the problem to understand it fully, eventually the team has to start working toward a solution - and the leader must encourage them to get out of the details, set aside the drama, and envision a path to success.
Giving Feedback
The author suggests that teams need positive feedback, to an even greater degree than individuals.
An analogy: negativity ripples through a person's thinking, and in a group of people, these ripples can join together to create sizable waves. The same is possible with positivity, though in the author's experience, teams are more inclined to focus on the negative.
The task of the leader is to manage these harmonics, and the tool by which he accomplishes this is feedback.
A leader must first set clear expectations and goals for the team, then define the rules of engagement - and generally, feedback stems from one of those two parameters: a team may be losing sight of the goals, or interacting in a counterproductive manner. A positive remark about what is going well does much to reinforce positivity, an indication that things are not going well suggests that they need to refocus their efforts.
Make them stretch
If a problem were so simple that one person could solve it, then it would be assigned to one person to solve. A common reaction to working with a team is frustration: people wonder why they should bother working with a group when they could be more efficient as individuals. The author provides no answer to this dilemma. (EN: The answer is likely that the manager should decide if it really warrants a team - too often tasks are assigned to groups that could be done by one person. If you can explain to a team why each member is necessary, they understand and accept the team - if you cannot explain this, maybe the team approach should be reconsidered.)
Also, teams are assembled when a problem is too big for one person to handle, and this can be daunting. There's some loose talk about the way that people who experience stressful situations often form strong bonds to one another and become a more cohesive unit. The melodramatic example of fellow soldiers in battle and the strength of the devotion they have to one another.
But until people get there, there is great dissonance and uncertainty, and a reluctance to take risks. The author doesn't provide much in the way if an example, except to suggest using the "create" model he presented earlier.
(EN: What he fails to consider here is the social dynamic. An individual will take risks if he feels safe in doing so - specifically, that if he does not succeed, his leader will be patient and forgiving. People in groups fear the consternation of their peers - and especially where it's a group of people who are in competition, such as four workers in the same department who all want to be the one to get promoted, the fear of making mistakes that others will hold against you is significant. This must be addressed and mitigated, though my sense is that it cannot be completely dispelled.)
Focus and placement
Giving the members of a team a common focus and ensuring they remain focused is another significant challenge of working with teams.
One suggestion the author provides is to begin every team meeting with a reminder of the goals for their efforts. Additionally, having a visible model or statement of purpose is helpful to getting people to remember the purpose as the meeting progresses.
Practice placement
Placement is useful in keeping teams focused - this is often done in the opening and closing of meetings. The opening reiterates the goal and states what needs to be accomplished; the closing reflects on what has been accomplished and what remains to be done.
It may be useful during the meeting to repeat placement, as a transition between topics or to draw people back to point when the conversation has gone astray.
The author tends to focus more on openings, which should cover these types of issues:
- The duration of the meeting
- The goal of the meeting
- Each person's role
- The kind of conversation (e.g., brainstorming or goal-setting)
- Relevant rules of engagement
- A recap of progress, leading to where the team is right now
As teams gel, there will be less need to be so deliberate in your approach - but without any guidance at all, teams can "bounce around" and waste time discussing unimportant or irrelevant issues. A quick statement of placement can help redirect their efforts.
Clarify
Discussions between two people can become diffuse, and even when they are speaking on the same topic, they have different concerns and may come away from the discussion with completely different opinions about what agreement was made. When there are multiple people, the diffusion becomes exponential.
For that reason, clarifying should be used to complete any cycle of dialogue: it brings to conclusion discussion on the topic and gets confirmation on the outcome - or it indicates a need for further discussion before an agreement can be made. Until everyone is in agreement, a matter is not truly decided or settled.
Follow the "create" model
The "create" model can help a person to sort out their thoughts, and can be equally valuable in getting a team together. It is simpler, as the "thoughts" being explored are spoken aloud rather than bottled up inside a person's head, but it is also more difficult because each member of the team will move at their own pace - some may be ready to discuss alternatives while others are still stuck in their current reality.
Using the Six Steps with Children
The author strays from the topic of management in the workplace to speak in terms of managing children. He suggests that it is a question that is often asked of him when he presents in conferences, and so he's addressing it here.
(EN: This is particularly dangerous because many people in management seem to have a parental attitude and can be dismissive of their subordinates as if they were children, which conveys a complete lack of respect and places the manager back into the role of giving orders backed by authority.)
The author concedes that his techniques are not always effective for dealing with children. Young children simply are not capable of thinking like adults, applying abstract reasoning to envision a solution and considering the consequences of their actions. They cannot be made to think because they are incapable of thinking.
Another part of the problem is that parent's often do not want their children to think - they merely want them to obey. When someone asks him "Can you give me any tricks for controlling my teenager?" what they are clearly interested in is control - which is the very thing that he is arguing against in terms of managing people.
The particular trouble with teenagers are that they are in a stage of life where they should be learning to think for themselves, but are not always capable of making the best decisions and still require guidance. Therefore the decision as to whether to allow them to think precedes the consideration of using these techniques.
Specifically, there is some applicability of his methods to dealing with children - provided they are old enough to be capable of thinking, and provided that there is a situation in which you can accept that they will follow their own ideas rather than acting on your orders.
Let them do all the thinking
In a very broad sense, there is a significant difference between the "child brain" and the "adult brain" in terms of the speed of learning. Children learn at an astounding rate - their minds quickly assimilate new information and make connections. Adults learn at a much slower rate, and it's reckoned this is because there is such a vast store of existing information and exiting connections, such that any new piece of information isn't placed in an empty shelf, but it must be evaluated to decided where it should be shelved, and the existing content of the shelf shifted about to make room.
In this way, a child's mind offers less resistance to new ideas because there is less conflict with exiting ones, but that does not mean they will think exactly as they are told - they still need to be taught to think, it's just that there is less initial resistance.
It's generally agreed that the change from the child brain to the adult brain begins at about age seven - which is an entirely arbitrary milestone, and it's not an overnight change, but a gradual transition from one to another.
(EN: It may be worth considering in adults as well - a person learning about a subject they have never studied before is far more open to suggestion than one that has knowledge and experience.)
Give positive feedback
Children are less independent than adults, and there is a proven need for them to receive feedback, particularly from their parents. It's essential not only top their well-being but to their development at all" studies of children show that those who receive no feedback are "compromised" in terms of their functional and social psychology and, over time, it can affect them physically.
There's a brief reference to the "positive psychology" movement, which connects the well-being of individuals to the groups and societies in which they live. Positive psychology focuses on developing strengths rather than attempting to resolve weaknesses - and receiving positive feedback is a critical element in encouraging growth.
Establish permission
Parents generally take the attitude that they own their children, and that they are entitled to control them and order them about. They don't think twice about intruding into the personal realm of their children. Children are often testing these boundaries and attempting to become independent, especially in the teenage years as they approach adulthood, at which time the conflict becomes dramatic.
It's a fairly simple matter to ask permission of a child, and the author avers that parents have tried this and are "delighted with the results." Their greatest fear seems to be that if they ask permission, the child will refuse - and if a parent has been domineering, the power of refusal is very enticing to children. But if you are persistent, especially if you respond to "no" with setting a later time, they will consent.
Practice placement
In adult conversations, placement is useful in focusing a discussion and re-focusing it when the thread has been lost or the conversation becomes emotionally charged. Children, particularly teenagers, are characterized by distraction and drama, which makes placement especially important.
Especially when you wish to initiate a conversation about something that is uncomfortable or undesirable to a child, placement can help focus the conversation and set rules of engagement that will overcome their resistance.
An example: "I want to have this conversation in a different way today. I am not going to tell you what to do or how you should think, I simply want to work together on the solution to this issue, and explore a few different ideas. Would it be okay with you if we did that for a few minutes now?"
Ask thinking questions
A brief mention of the questioning technique: you have to be especially self-aware when dealing with children that you are not using loaded questions or "telling them what to do in a tricky questioning format."
Create new thinking
The author goes back to using a hypothetical conversation, the point of which seems to be that the parent is not telling a child what to do, but asking them to consider different options: rather than impulsively taking action, consider what they are trying to achieve and exploring alterative ways to achieve it, to arrive at a better approach than the one they first considered.
Applying the Six Steps to a Whole Organization
The author states his interest in writing a separate book about applying the principles of quiet leadership to an entire organization, and it's likely not a topic he can thoroughly explore in the present one, but wants to mention some of the high-level ideas.
Primarily, it is too often accepted that organizations are immutable establishments that are dedicated to tradition and highly resistant to change, and to some degree that is true: just as with any culture, the organization demands that members of the group set aside their individuality and follow common customs, even if those customs are unhealthy and counterproductive. And while organizations are resistant to change, they are not immune to it. There are even times when the leadership in an organization wants to change, but this requires thousands of people to adopt a new and uncomfortable way of doing things.
The greatest challenge in most organizations is that the culture stems from the industrial era, in which the managers did all the thinking and the workers mindlessly obeyed their orders: commands were passed top-down in military fashion. (EN: An interesting point is that the conception of military leadership is itself a stereotype of methods the military itself has abandoned. Refer to the 2004 edition of the US Army Leadership Field Manual.)
This culture is a few centuries old and deeply ingrained, so changing to the more recent methods of leadership, only a few decades old, requires a shift. Essentially, this is the same as what happens in the mind of an individual whose mind attempts to fit information to an existing frame and follow an established pattern of behavior, and it takes some effort to get them to reconsider their perceptions, explore alternatives, and identify a better course.
There's an oblique suggestion that organization change can be top-down (endorsed by management and fostered on an organizational scale), but if that route is not followed, change can still be kindled on a smaller level - a department or team, and its success can generate interest.