Jan 16, 2020
Eight Ways to Deal With Workplace Idiots
Why, why, why isn’t common sense common? We deal with
people in our work lives who do dumb things. They make stupid
decisions which fly full in the face of common sense. It is
such a puzzle. Why don’t they get it, why can’t they see the
obvious logical answer?
Here are eight considerations for dealing with idiots at
work:
- The first decision is, are we the idiot who is the cause of the
problem? What if we have not properly trained these people. What if
they are actually “the uninformed” masquerading as “idiots” because
we are at fault by not having invested in them sufficiently? What
if we have been too busy with our own work to explain the finer
points of various tasks?
- Are you a perfectionist? Are you the type of person for whom
there is only the “right way” of doing things? Does your logic rule
and allow no other possibilities for task completion? If the
“idiot” does it differently to you, is that incorrect or just
different? Maybe we need to consider there might be equally valid
solutions to the same problem, including those we haven’t even
contemplated or thought about.
- If we are going to empower people, we have to empower them to
screw things up as well.We ask them to take a risk with the unknown
the unfamiliar, to step up to greater accountability. When we
whack them because they made an idiotic mistake, we are in
danger. We are double-crossing the person, because we asked
them to go into this area of weakness in the first place and then
we belt them for it when they get it wrong.
- We need to provide a Reasonable Allowable Margin of Error
(RAME) for the task. We need to be checking progress without buying
back the delegation, we need to make sure errors are picked up
early (before they blow us all up) and we need to be coaching their
progress. A great start is to set the control limits for the task.
This will allow the person completing the task to know where the
boundaries are from the get go.
- When the error surfaces, how do we handle it? Often we hear
from someone else about the error, rather than the individual in
question. This is a danger point, because our attitude and judgment
can be clouded by the messenger.
Approach the situation as an objective research project – “Just
the facts!” Begin with rapport, something to open the discussion,
which will help them to relax. They are feeling guilty,
embarrassed, nervous, uncertain, fragile, defensive.
- Remove the personalities from the discussion. “You” must become
“We” in your new lexicon and “We” are all about fixing the issue
not crucifying the fallen one. We focus on the action not the
person. We want to hear their views on what went wrong.
- For the employee who fesses up, accepts responsibility and
wants to recover, get them involved in the decision-making about
the solution. Reassure them they have a place here, they have an
important role here, that they can make a significant positive
contribution here.
- What if they don’t fess up, what if they stay in denial, engage
in passive/aggressive behavior, stay locked into a defensive
mindset? Take a break from proceedings, give them time to think
about what you have said and then try again. If at this further
point there is still no change, then they need to be
changed.
Remember to: ensure we are properly explaining what we expect;
accept there are multiple possible solutions not just our own;
decide the Reasonable Allowable Margin of Error to apply; when
things go wrong, ignore hearsay and get the concrete facts; focus
on the issue not the person; involve them in finding the solution;
reassure them the mistake isn’t fatal and remove resisters who
won’t accept their responsibility