Shhhhhh! You Can't Say That!
Shhhhhh! You Can't Say That!
Facing Difficult Problems Openly
Treating symptoms instead of the root cause of symptoms is a mistake that dates back millennia (just ask Socrates). The current-day workplace is no different. In Rothman's column, we get a glimpse at what happens when a company doesn't value its people. People start leaving, and the rest start talking about what a good idea that is. Management's only response is to suppress the talk by terminating access to the email system's "All" list. The high attrition rate becomes an "unspeakable" yet glaring problem. As Rothman puts it, "Learn to speak the unspeakable, and regain your power over your problems."
I recently had lunch with my colleague, Glenn. Before I even sat down, he said, "JR, you're not going to believe what happened at work this morning. People have been leaving our place in droves, and they're sending farewell mail to the "all-engineering" group mailing list. That's not so bad, but some people are replying by way of the entire list to wish an exiting team member well and to tell him that they wish they could join in his new opportunity.
"Our CEO is furious about this. He doesn't like seeing the going-away notes, but he really hates seeing the I-wish-I-were-going-too notes. In this morning's acrimonious meeting, it was decided that only managers should be allowed to post to the "all" lists. I hate this solution, but it's the best one we could come up with.
Of course, I agreed that this solution was ill-conceived. After all, Glenn's company had created the "all" lists to communicate easily with the different groups. Making them management-only considerably reduces their value.
But here was the real crux of my concern. Why did Glenn's management and peers choose to ignore the real problem? When I asked Glenn, he was initially confused and asked, "What do you mean, the real problem?"
The real problem in Glenn's company was that the management, especially the CEO, wasn't speaking about or addressing the attrition problem.
Many organizations have things they can't or won't talk about. But when a management team can't talk about a problem (like attrition), any one of the consequences of that problem (here, inappropriate email) creates different and bigger problems for the other people (here, director-level managers). These secondary problems can continue to branch out from the core "unspeakable" issue. And even a passable solution to a "side effect" problem seldom resolves the core issue.
In this case, questionable use of the "all" lists is an example of letting the original attrition problem spawn other problems: misuse of the mailing lists, getting the wrong people involved in fixing the wrong problem, and exacerbating low morale by imposing additional restrictions on the staff.
Another side effect of "we can't talk about that" is the feeling of being marginalized and insulted. Glenn's peers may have been thinking, "Not only is this a terrible place to work, but the best idea our management has is to blame us for talking about it. Everybody has problems, but our management won't face theirs and expects us to turn a blind eye, as well."
Yes, it's difficult to speak about some things. But, if you don't face a problem, you can't solve it. Glenn's CEO probably realizes that something about the company is not right, but he's not ready to discuss what that is. Until he does, the problem will continue to grow and spawn other dilemmas, becoming an increasingly powerful, undermining force.
When you come up against unspeakable problems, try to articulate what's at the core. Just saying it aloud loosens the problem's power over you. Imagine if Glenn's CEO could say, "We're having a problem with people leaving. Why do you think that is?" The other managers could then talk about the state of the company with the CEO. They might not be able to solve the problem quickly, but no one can solve problems they can't discuss.
Learn to speak the unspeakable, and regain your power over your problems.
Comments
#1 Submitted by Frits Bos on Thu, 08/11/2005 - 5:46pm.
This reminds me of an old warning: "Lashings will continue daily until morale improves!". It is hard to be reminded that so many companies just don't get it. On my projects we may organize periodic "Whine and dine" lunches to give the crew an opportunity to vent and usually that does more to get things back on track than any pep-talk.
#2 Submitted by Jon Hagar on Thu, 11/02/2000 - 4:56pm.
It is everyone's job to foster open communication, not just the CEO or manager. Open communciation can be in email, but I really find face to face to be better. In face to face, somebody needs to be the cool head. Focus on the problem, not the person. Find the real problem, not what people first think the problems are. It takes time, as you usually don't get problems over night, but hiding makes things worse. And if you are in a bad place where communication is not possible (such things do happen), we do live in a free country (USA at least), some times it is best to leave. The article is a nice start down what is a long path.
#3 Submitted by Ed Weller on Thu, 11/02/2000 - 2:46pm.
JR - Great article - reminds me of several incidents many years ago where I was told (forcefully) that addressing the root cause put you into the "Not a team member" category. Needless to say, the problem festered and eventually led to a late project, over budget, and later on the demise of the product.Ed Weller
#4 Submitted by Dave McNulla on Wed, 11/01/2000 - 8:30pm.
From the article's title, I thought I could use some of the information within. Unfortunately, it's directed towards the CEO and management of my company. If they had the gumption to read articles like that, I wouldn't have had the desire to read it myself. Management doesn't like learning how stupid they are, and never stop being stupid, and people like me keep reading articles like this and never get to fix the problem.One day, I'll find a way that I can help fix the problem, but not today.
#5 Submitted by on Wed, 11/01/2000 - 8:21pm.
Johanna, one concept we used at a previous work group was the idea of a 'dead rat'. Dead rats are those things that nobody wants to talk about and they make the place stink until they get 'thrown out' (resolved).Conversely, this concept was also used to describe items that people in the group talk about all the time but aren't really the issue. Talking about this kind of dead rat just takes the focus off the real issue. This rat doesn't go away until the real issue is identified and resolved.Thanks for your article. It was great!
#6 Submitted by Bill Rinko-Gay on Mon, 11/06/2000 - 9:07pm.
This is a good article, Johanna. My own experience is that technical companies tend to promote technical people into technical management, but they don't give them any training in managing. I guess most people think it's harder to program in Java than it is to resolve personnel issues. That certainly hasn't been my experience. I probably have more formal management training than I do software training and I still find personnel issues difficult. Perhaps the root cause for the problem you're addressing is a lack of proper management training.
#7 Submitted by Rodney Thompson on Fri, 11/03/2000 - 5:12pm.
I would like to make a comment on Dave McNulla's comment. I think the concept of what Johanna is saying can be applied across all levels of an organization. I think the example that she stated is just that, an example. When I first took on the role of a test engineer (10 years ago) I quickly realized that getting problems out on the table was better than keeping them to myself. This applies to my current job as a test manager as well.
#8 Submitted by Alan Braithwaite on Wed, 11/01/2000 - 4:38pm.
I completely agree with the idea of getting to root of the issue. The only way you can do this comfortably is to create a work environment where this is not only allowed but expected. I feel that my company does a good job in this area. All employees are expected to take a class on "Constructive Confrontation". Two elements of our company's corporate values are "Be open and direct" and "Constructively confront and solve problems". These help establish the kind of corporate culture that promotes "getting to the root of the problem".
#9 Submitted by Bret Pettichord on Wed, 11/01/2000 - 4:24pm.
It seems to me that part of the problem is that many senior managers are not good writers. Or more to the point: because of their positions, they are reluctant to put their thoughts out in writing to a lot of people. It's easy to be misunderstood. It's easy to ignite a flame war.I've seen companies that were started by managers who were willing to take risks and therefore unafraid to post notes to the company. For such companies, email discussion lists often provide a way of reinforcing the positive energy a growing company has. But with time, more conservative managers take over. When bad news hits, they may no longer have the managers who are willing and capable of addressing the issue in a forum that invites replies from unhappy employees. So the idea of closing the lists down is floated. Another option might be to hire someone who is specifically responsible for monitoring the lists and addressing hot issues. An employee relations position.
#10 Submitted by Rodger Drabick on Tue, 10/31/2000 - 2:43pm.
Joanna, great article. It's often tough at either an employee or manager level to be able to address the "tough issues", especially when higher-level bosses are trying to ignore them. However, "ignored" problems don't go away. One of the things we in QE and Test Engineering are supposed to be able to do is point out the "tough issues". Think of this as part of our charter, and have the guts to point out the issues. Note that it would probably be handy to have your resume up-to-date, depending on your management's ability to handle "bad news".