WARNING. Easy Journey Ahead
I am on my way to the quarterly status update with my Sales
Manager. The last quarter has been terribly bad. We reached
nowhere near the Sales target. Naturally, I am moving ahead with
a great resistance and a palpitation rate of the highest order.
I have no idea of what will turn out for me in the meeting.
Fifteen minutes later, I come out of the room. There is a sigh
of relief on my face; a similar _expression can be seen on my
Sales Manager's face. As soon as I come to my cubicle - out of
my Sales Manager's sight, this "sigh of relief" explodes into an
_expression of joy - I DID IT, AND I DID IT AGAIN !!!
I could convince him easily about why the sales couldn't happen
this time, why I had absolutely nothing to do with the figures
not being met, and why it would be a cake-walk in the next
quarter. He is absolutely convinced about it. I am safe. At
least for the next 3 months !!!
Is it that I am more skillful at providing execuses than
meeting sales figures ? May be.
MAY BE NOT.
May be, I just didn't apply myself enough at meeting the sales
figures.
May be, I didnt feel enough "ownership" of that problem. May be,
I didnt come up with a good enough strategy. May be, the sales
projections were impossible to reach.
May be .... May be .... May be ....
I will never know. NOBODY WILL EVER KNOW !!!
However, the fact that I could come up with a solid execuse to
protect my job, is proof enough that I could have possibly come
up with a similarly solid strategy to meet the sales figures ...
THE "HUMAN" SIDE OF PROBLEM-SOLVING
Whether it is a second-order differential equation, a
programming problem, a sales target to be met or an HR problem -
we cannot separate the problem from the problem-solver; we
cannot separate the process of innovation from the innovator.
Any problem-solving occurs in the context of a problem-solver.
Any innovation occurs in the context of an innovator.
Problem-Solving is essentially a "harmony", a "dialog" between a
problem and the solver.
Probably, a colleague of mine would have found it easier to meet
the sales figures, however aggressive, than to come up with a
defending execuse.
HOWEVER, BOTH OF US WOULD BE EQUALLY MASTERS AT PROBLEM-SOLVING
!!!
It is just that we would have solved a different problem in each
case !!!
We might try desperately to hide behind the garbs of
"professionalism", "processes", "methodologies", "work ethics",
"taking ownership" and a host of other fictitious jargons, the
fact remains that we cannot eradicate the human factors that
drive (or stall) the process of innovation.
Asking an individual to be professional will not help. Asking an
individual to be more disciplined or punctual will not help.
Asking an individual to "own up the problem" will not help.
Asking an individual to think differently, think out of the box,
think innovatively, think quickly will never, never help.
It has never helped. We know that. It will never help. We know
that. IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HELP. WE KNOW EVEN THAT.
However, due to lack of an alternative, we might feel tempted to
do it over again and again.
AN "ALTERNATIVE" THAT WORKS !!!
There is a process - an underlying mechanism to Problem Solving
and Innovation. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are
masters at using this process, and we do create a host of
results using this process throughout our lives.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF INNOVATION WOULD SURELY TAKE US
MILES AHEAD THAN OUR PEERS. Knowing exactly what works and why,
we will be able to cut short several deteours in our journey
towards a solution, and be more accurate, optimal and efficient
in churning out ideas and executing them.
It is not that we have to "learn" innovation. We only need to
make our thinking more optimal, accurate and efficient.
It is not that we have to "learn" problem-solving. We only need
to learn how to identify and attack the "right" problems.
Someday, the HR department of an organization might wake up to
this realization and declare in the company policy :
"It is mandatory for all employees to work only on the right
problems".
Or else, they may find a better way.