Open Book Management: Answer to Tragedy of the Commons

Ann Bares at Compensation Force wrote an insightful piece recently titled, Tragedy of the Commons. Taking the classic economic conundrum of how to balance short-term individual rewards with the long-term common good, Ann applies the “tragedy” to performance pay issues.

To take her analogy one step further, the same thinking can be applied to the dozens of micro-decisions that managers must make every day; where the needs of the individual or immediate team loom larger to the front-line manager than the long-term financial success of the corporation.

To face this conundrum head-on, one needs to ask: how can a company properly incentivize and inspire long-term, big picture thinking for a manager whose purview is consumed daily by short-term problems and immediate needs/issues (aka "fires")?

Ann offers some good ideas, such as increased accountability and team incentives. One practice that my current employer has put in place is the strategic goal of informing, training and talking about key financial measures more regularly with front-line leadership, also known as open book management.

Though not a new idea (Jack Stack and John Case first wrote about open book management in the mid 1990’s) implementation can be problematic for those companies whose managers do not come into leadership positions already familiar with financial measures.

For a corporation that truly wants empowered front-line leadership making decisions focused on big-picture success, teaching key metrics and a basic understanding of core financial measures will be a crucial skill to address in New Manager Orientations.

Conflict in the Workplace

“Can’t we just all get along?” I often say to myself whenever an employee conflict escalates to the point where HR needs to get involved.

The other night my three and four year old daughters started to have a disagreement but worked it out before intervention was necessary. It brought a happy tear to my eye to see them use some of the skills my wife and I are trying so hard to teach them.

1) Say please and thank you
2) Say you're sorry when you hurt someones feelings
3) Forgive
4) Take turns and share
5) Use nice voices, not angry or whiny voices
6) When you get frustrated and need to calm down, take a time out
7) Wait your turn to speak and listen when someone is speaking to you
8) Ask an adult for help when you can't work things out

Hostility, in my opinion, can often be traced back to an individual’s sense of insecurity. It’s those with the lowest self-esteem that seem to most often be embroiled in conflict and grudge-matches. In my more thoughtful moments, when dealing with difficult people, I sometimes wonder ‘what has happened in their life that has left them so insecure and troubled’.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility”.

In the above quote, I believe we find the solution to workplace conflict. Not everyone learned how to resolve conflict when they were young, but most of us innately feel and display empathy.

Doing the “get-to-know-you” team building exercises, or taking the time understand the fears and motivations of our teammates, helps us see them as real people. And isn’t real people what Human Resources is all about?

"Truth, Justice and the American way"

When I first heard superman say he fought "The never ending battle for truth, justice and the American way", I was inspired. Of course, I was only five years old at the time, but hearing Superman say those words made my chest puff up with pride as I imagined myself standing next to him, my cape flying in the wind, my fisted hands on my hips.

After seeing the Superman movie, I told my mom that when I grew up I was gonna fight for "truth, justice and the American way" and she laughed. I remember turning my head and wiping my tears. I didn't want her to see me cry. I was dead-serious and I couldn't understand why she was laughing.

Later, inspired by a particularly dynamic Sunday School lesson at church, I remember coming home and telling my dad that I wanted to live my life so that when I died they would write on my gravestone, "Here lies an honest man". He laughed. Why was everyone always laughing at me?

My whole life, I've wanted to submerge myself completely in pursuit of something bigger than "me" and fight for a noble cause; to bring justice to victims of injustice, hope to the despairing, light to darkness.

I've learned to not mention that longing anymore. It just makes people laugh. I've buried it so deeply beneath a life of disillusionment that I've almost completely forgotten it ever existed. But sometimes, I see glimpses of it in my daughters eyes; in her her unflinching trust that what I tell her is true.

And in those eyes I find the inspiration to try and make this world a better place. In fact, you might even say (please, don't laugh) that in those eyes I find the desire to struggle for truth, justice and the dream of an egalitarian Democracy.

Quick, somebody get me a cape!

Keep Moving Forward

One day after a small bump, my daughter screamed in fake-agony trying to garner some sympathy. My wife told her in a matter-of-fact voice that when she falls and gets an 'owie' she doesn't have to scream, but instead can just say, "ouch", then stand-up, brush herself off and keep running.

We all make mistakes and get tripped up from time-to-time. We miss a deadline, forget an appointment, make a bad judgment call or lose our cool in a moment of frustration. Great leaders will stand-up, brush themselves off and keep moving forward.

Knowing how, exactly, to recover from a major error can be tough, in the middle of all the accompanying stress. Here's a few tips on how to recover from mistakes, from a man who's been there and done that:

1) Own it: Don't scream, wail, rationalize or make up excuses saying, "oh, I'm so (fill in the blank) stressed, busy, improperly trained, under-paid, under-appreciated, unloved ... ". In the grown-up business world, no one wants excuses, just results.

2) Problem solve: This is where you prove your worth. You made a mistake, now brainstorm some workable solutions and present them along with the problem.

"Mr. Boss, yesterday (enter a no-excuse, facts only description of the problem here). I think the best fix/solution is (offer what you believe to be the best and next best alternatives here). What do you think?"

Then wait for an answer, take your lumps and execute the decided upon solution.

3) Apologize: The reason is this is the third step and not a first step is that "I'm sorry" doesn't mean anything unless it's genuine and accompanied by restitution, in as much as possible. By offering a solution or fix before the apology you demonstrate a sincere commitment to fixing the problem.

4) Learn: Learning from your mistakes can be a painful experience. It's not as easy as it sounds, I know.

More than just wiping your forehead when it's over and saying, "whew, I'll never do that again", learning means conducting root-cause analysis and/or a postmortem on the project/problem. Ask yourself the tough questions: at what point in the process did we get off-track? What led us to that point? what will I change to make sure the problem won't be repeated?

Like learning to fit into a quickly growing body, as we step into positions of increasing responsibility it's inevitable that we occasionally trip and fall. The best leaders have learned how to stand-up, brush themselves off and to keep moving forward.

The Worlds Greatest HR Blogs

Here's a shout-out to my fellow HR Professionals and world's greatest HR bloggers - consummate professionals, every one of 'em:

1) HR Capitalist: Day-after-day my home-boy Kris be breaking it down with new posts, thought-provoking insights and keep-it-real analysis. I swear this guy has a Cool-Post-Generator that pops out posts at the push of a button. He's also a contributor at Fistful of Talent.

2) Your HR Guy: Lance has an interesting layout and is a clear-thinker. Like Kris, he is technically sound and simultaneously not afraid to be a real human being. Plus he's from the Northwest where "keeping-it-real" is an art!

3) Evil HR Lady (EHRL): Kind of like a super-villain who is a regular-gal by day and wreaks havoc at night, EHRL releases on her blog the pent up cynicism and cutting sarcasm she has to suppress during the day playing a mild-manner HR Professional. Which one is the disguise?

4) Great Leadership: You know what I love about Dan's blog, his dog Annie. Anyone with a dog like Annie has just got to be a stand-up, nice-guy; he also has some great ideas on leadership and management coaching.

5) HR Observations: Michael Haberman is 100% HR technician. A little stiff and formal at times, his blog is spot-on when it comes to the technicalities of HR. A great resource for generalists and new HR pros.

6) Work Matters: A Shameless self-promoter, Bob Sutton's blog is nevertheless a good read. I'd love to take a class from him ... very accessible, probably a great Prof. I should have gone to Stanford (sigh).

7) Compensation Force: Ann Bares on compensation; compensation isn't as sexy a specialty as, say, employee relations, but the blog is top-notch and quoting her at work makes you look smart.

8) HR Wench: In your face, feisty and if you like geese, worth a gander. HR Pros like to go slummin' at The Wenchie cave for it's wicked ambiance.

9) Brazen Careerist: Penelope Trunk has reached the pinnacle of blogging success. Witty, insightful, high traffic ... so popular in fact, that leaving a comment is kind of like shouting "go team" at the Superbowl, you're just a part of the masses.

10) systematicHR: Dubs runs a good blog and knows his/her stuff. Regular updates, accessible ... not flashy or quirky; straightforward.

Beware the Workplace Romance

I've seen good people with nice families and promising careers, throw it all away for an office tryst with someone they supervise. Workplace relationships need to be managed like any other investment; be smart, think long-term and stay focused on the end goal. One of the best ways to ruin your career and your marriage is to engage in intimate, romantic relationships with people who report to you directly.

Dating subordinates can lead to lower co-worker morale, inequity, perception of favoritism, harassment complaints, hostile work environment, rumors, disruptions and distractions. To company leadership, a person in a position of authority who dates subordinates shows poor judgement, questionable ethics and lack of discretion; all reasons to pass them up the next time there is an opportunity for promotion.

For those that want to play it safe and avoid making this kind of career-ending faux pas, here are three rules of thumb:

1) The office is for business

You certainly want cordial relationships with your teammates. Being cordial means inquiring about a teammate’s parents or sick child, it doesn’t mean chatting for an hour about his/her troubled marriage. Conversations that aren’t related to business should be short and sweet.

2) Beware of “alone-time”

When meeting with subordinates, try to avoid intimate settings (IE. quiet restaurants, walks in the park or garden). When possible and not too awkward, invite another team-member to be present. The addition of just one extra person greatly minimizes any potential for intimacy. Even if it means asking a coworker to tag along for no other reason but to make sure the meeting stays focused on business, it’s worthwhile. When you have to meet to discuss confidential issues, make the meeting in a public place with windows or cracked-open door.

3) Avoid getting too personal

Don’t become the shoulder for your subordinates to cry on when it comes to relationships advice. You can have conversations with personal content, just don’t get too personal. To tell a colleague about the great time you had on your vacation or to lend an ear at the end of a stressful day is a sign of a healthy workplace. To be avoided are intimate conversations in which the topic increasingly turns to private issues you would normally only bring up with your spouse. Having an occasional laugh is fine and adds spice to long workdays. Just be smart about it.

Lot's of people meet their future life-partner at work. It's only human to become close to those you work with on a daily basis. Those in positions of leadership, or in high visibility roles, have the most to lose from recklessly acting on the impulse to date co-workers.