Brain Programming

Conflict is less upsetting to me lately, although it is still true that I generally prefer to avoid it. In the business setting, it doesn't upset me at all when I know I'm right. That is, if the issue is about something and not about me. What upsets me the most is when I'm personally accused unfairly, especially when the guilty party is either looking on silently or actually making the accusation.

When the issue is not personal, it's fascinating to note that people solve problems in different ways. So many times I've seen people make decisions based on the way their brains are wired. Some make decisions based on feeling and intuition, and others based on available facts and research.

In the business world, intuitive decision-makers are only right when they get lucky. Rational decision-makers are right because they did their homework.

I experienced the contrast directly this week, dealing with managers from two different clients. The first was an excellent manager. She is always pleasant and positive, but at the same times knows how to ask the right questions. She listens carefully to the answers and asks more questions until she understands the problem and possible solutions, then is decisive about her chosen solution. She then assigns the task to a member of her staff most competent to carry out the task, and follows up to make sure it is completed on time and according to her instruction. Finally, she enthusiastically praises the staff member for a job well done.

In contrast, there is a second manager with a very different approach. Whenever she's around, her staff cowers, afraid they will be upbraided for some unknown failure. She knows there is a problem, and is visibly angry, although her staff has noticed that she never seems to have any emotion other than anger. Rather than seeking to understand the problem, she probes deeply to try to find the guilty party. When the guilty party is self-identified, given up by a co-worker, or just chosen as the most likely candidate, a public lynching takes place. Then this manager proceeds to order a staff member to correct the problem. She doesn't identify the solution or give any guidance to that staff member, but simply demands the issue be fixed by that person immediately. The frightened and demoralized staff member then goes off and tries his best to fix the problem, knowing that he doesn't really know how and will be upbraided again tomorrow for failing to fix it properly.

What I wonder about is who hired the second manager, and does that person have any idea what they have done to their organization by doing so?