jefgray.com

The more things change, the more they stay the same

I have studied martial arts for several years and at different times in my life. The best teacher I ever had was a Master of the art who could demonstrate perfection in every movement. His classes were very detailed and he taught with exceptional wisdom. His knowledge of fighting was almost a hobby compared to his teaching in philosophy. “Fighting is stupid” he would say, “You only fight when the other guy won’t let you leave.” This might seem simple but when you are faced with extreme situations you find yourself repeating those words.

We were practicing a “kata” or form one night, and he had corrected a student on where they held their hand as they moved. The student replied, “Well I guess I will learn that in time, practice makes perfect, right?” The Master smiled and stopped the rest of the class, which indicated we should all listen. “Practice makes permanent! not perfect. If you learn it wrong now, you will be doing it wrong over and over and then it will be much harder to correct.”

Those words have stayed with me ever since that class. I had no idea how right he was, not just about Karate, but everything that comes with time. No one really begins things as a Master, they work up to it, each time building on past success and knowledge. Now imagine if they failed to learn a key step or movement along the way. The effect could distort their abilities down the road in extremely negative ways.

If you have been in business or management for a while, you can easily relate to this principle. How many times have you hired someone with paper experience or education only and found him or her inept to do the job? We assume a school or training program has proven this person capable but quite often that is not the case. Why is that? Why can’t college or tech school prepare a future technician to work the magic of a skilled professional?

You already know the answer; there is no teacher like experience. The lessons learned from mistakes in the real world, often sharpen abilities far more effectively than a simulation in a lab. Without pressure or possible job loss a student can’t fully realize the consequences of deleting a hard drive or crashing a server.  In business we see many kinds of managers or leaders in the office environment.  How many of these people learned their habits right away? Most of them grew or developed over time and through practice became permanent. The person with the neat or messy desk, the manager who always arrives 15 minutes early or 5 minutes late, the staff member who seems to get everything done or the one who is always behind. The comparisons are endless and we have all seen examples like these.

Each of these people, including you learned a trait here or there that was put into practice at some point in your career. This trait, though learned from someone else, became a part of you the moment you began doing it without thinking. Some call this a habit, but I think it is simply a practice, something you do to prepare for whatever is called for.

Business practices certainly become permanent. Paradigms can become so rigid that they exist as unwritten laws, or historical lessons that must be heeded and passed on to generations. This can be positive or negative. A company that began as a simple idea and grew from a founder’s garage can be a principle for creativity in an organization. Likewise, a mistake by one worker that set rules, laws or obstacles in place can also become permanent as problems.

One organization purchased cellular phones for its most mobile workers. In time the usage became expensive and a different company was chosen to provide the service at a lower cost. More phones were given out and productivity soared. Everyone felt the new phones were the answer to problems that had existed for years, availability, timeliness, and empowerment. Then one employee started making personal calls. He got used to the idea and his call usage increased, and finally his bills were examined to determine the cause. The management was outraged, policies were set in place to curtail any personal phone calls, and there would be charges, written reprimands, even dismissal if this was done by any cell phone user.

What just happened here? The workers practice made the punishment permanent. Everyone was punished for his abuse, rather than his single act being dealt with on an individual basis. How many policies exist in a company due to one act of negligence or abuse? Does that make sense? Shouldn’t the policies encourage an open and productive workplace rather than a restrictive one where suspicion and paranoia are given as the common work ethic? Since practice makes permanent, the rules that follow will be equally constricting and obtrusive.

In the end, policy manual overflows with the latest revisions to choke the appearance of impropriety from employees’ actions, even though abuse will still take place.  The rules should be directions for encouraging work to get accomplished, but when will you see a regulation that commands managers to know employees by their first name? Perhaps a weekly or monthly meeting to brainstorm and snacks are provided? Could a company benefit from creative ideas and suggestions that will save money boost morale and increase profits? Of course it could, but today most companies are too busy trying to stop the abuse through regulation, rather than rewarding those who do well, and shifting the focus of their business.

A preacher stood in his pulpit one morning and looked out over the few in attendance. He looked down at the lesson he had prepared and folded it closed, and began to speak from his frustration. He preached for over an hour on the importance of attendance, condemning all that dared forsake the assembly.  Unfortunately, the only people who heard his sermon were those who were already there.

Does your policy manual preach to those who don’t show up or abuse the system while preventing the true contributors to your mission from doing their job? If so, congratulations you just made your practice permanent, now watch how many rules are created to enforce the other rules. All while the point of work, the vision of the company is set aside like a vain notion.

Popularity: 16% [?]