This is a true story about two Boondoggle leaders, Bill and Roger, and what happens when they disregard predictive symptoms that forecast Pete’s reaction to a management proposal. As you read this consultant’s recounting of the events leading up to Pete’s outburst, keep an eye open for the predictive symptoms.
Print-Co, Inc. operates a plant that produces a variety of printed products. This plant had just acquired a new high-speed color press, a $1.2 million addition to their product…..
“When the human resources department gets involved [in a change project], it most often muddies the waters, making things more difficult”
–Grasp The Situation: Lessons Learned in Change Leadership (180).
The sad fact is that of the fourteen stories cited in the book, nine involved the Human Resources department, and all the change projects failed. Coincidence? NO! In each case, there was a fail point in the actions taken by the HR person(s) involved. In general, they failed to fully grasp…..
Our last post continued to explore Robert’s story and his parents’ skepticism towards the classes Robert was supposedly taking. However, the story did not end there, and his parents took the next step in the diagnostic process. Their initial symptoms needed further investigation before jumping to the conclusion.
All of the symptoms of the problem pointed to Robert not being serious about going to college. Here are the symptoms that got Robert’s parents concerned.
1. He was registered…..
This post focuses on the first step in Grasping The Situation (See p. 147 in Grasp The Situation): RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM. In order to recognize that you may have a potential problem, you must observe the SYMPTOMS that may predict future problems. As you already know, a medical symptom is something that indicates a possible physical problem, such as chest pain. Applied to everyday life, a symptom is something that indicates a possible problem a person may have in his/her…..
HERE’S OUR PLAN TO HELP YOU LEARN HOW TO GRASP THE SITUATION.
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So far we have been giving you a few stories about change and the Scientific Process. Now we want to transition into learning how to apply the Scientific Process using a diagnostic approach to life and organizational situations.
First, we will discuss with you how we changed the Scientific Process to fit your organizational and personal life. You…..
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine perused his local antique shop and came across an engraved metal plate. Nearly passing it by, he stopped as he noticed the backwards text had a familiar phrase, one that he thought might interest me in my line of work: “Scientific Method.” Not only something taught in elementary school, the Scientific Method is a simple step-by-step process that is employed by everyone on a daily basis. The plate also included the 6 basic…..
In this story, Jim Falter, a team leader working for an oil producer, failed to gather information and listen to an employee regarding a persistent problem. Instead of asking questions, Jim scolded and reported, leading to an ill-informed decision that could have been detrimental to a long-term employee. This story demonstrates the importance of gathering facts before taking action.
Here’s the story as told by Bill Barnes, an H.R. Director, who intervened and grasped the situation from his point of…..
In this story Bill Marks jumped to a conclusion based on his bias about the new, younger employees who worked for him. This is a troubling example of almost making a decision based on very limited information (data) about what was going on in the situation.
Bill was prevented from making an awkward and wasteful decision by the involvement of an H.R. Director who understood how to diagnose a problem. Fortunately, Bill had enough “common sense” to check with his…..
Visit our updates where we will post new stories and new lessons learned. We will also be adding commentary from time to time that will keep you in the loop on how to grasp the situation.