Once upon a time. I worked with a manager who had 2 employees:
Employee A he absolutely could not work with, since employee A was a complainer. Employee A saw multiple problems in the status quo, and in the decisions of his management to overcome the status quo, and would seek out alternative means of approaching problems beyond what his management had implemented. Although Employee A was very talented at seeing problems, he needed to be coached on his approach to problem solving. Employee A was clearly seeing problems and willing to take them on by trying out different approaches, and also had no trouble communicating issues up the chain of command, but he was eventually terminated. Over time, the relationship had worsened until the manger felt there was no amount of effort he could expend that would make Employee A less of a high maintenance problem.
Employee B, on the other hand, was seen as one of the best employees this manger had ever had. Employee B would do whatever was asked of him without complaint. Even those in other departments held Employee B in high esteem, and he was able to move around within the organization easily, carrying out his assigned tasks with a positive, can-do attitude.
Stranded. High and Dry. Stuck in the mud.
Employee B ignored the problems in order to demonstrate that he was a team player. Eventually, however, this person who seemed to be a Good Soldier willing to take orders turned out to be remarkably dissatisfied and he moved on to greener pastures, much to his managements dismay. Employee B simply did not stay with the company long and moved on to a position doing similar work, with more challenge and responsibility, for a direct competitor.
In the end, the manager was left with neither his most favorite, nor his least favorite employee. He was simply stranded, and stuck in a quagmire of his own making. Why? Because he had refused to pay attention to both the needs of his organization and the individual needs of his staff.
If the manager had been paying better attention, Employee A would have been well coached in ways of seeing his ideas pushed through the organization with greater awareness, tact and problem solving skill. Although frustrated and vocal, Employee A wanted to fix whatever he felt was wrong in order to improve the overall functioning of the workplace. Employee B, although genuinely a pleasant person, was very unlikely to innovate or change anything, even if it needed to be changed, as long as he could gain the favor of senior management.
As it was, the lack of coaching for either one saw the organziation deprived of 2 very capable people. Interestingly enough, the person who was dismissed by management was oriented towards improving the organization with whatever know-how he had, and the person who was celebrated by management turned out to be far more astute in maximizing opportunities for himself.
The lesson: Embrace the frustrated. They’re the people trying to fix what’s wrong.
Classic challenge and great recap to what happens around the world in organizations of all size, shape, and industry.
I might find a great solution in emotional intelligence for all concerned, but that is best explored later and too long and involved for this comment.
The challenge is for hiring decision makers to understand is the difference between cognitive diversity and their own tolerance for keeping things smooth at all costs; and you clearly identified the costs of a smooth surface appearance.
Thanks, Toby!
Emotional Intelligence is at the core of how most, if not all, great organizations perform. Not only do great leaders balance themselves with others who offer differing and complementary perspectives, they are also willing to let others advance beyond the leader’s own capabilities. Dedication to the good of the collective whole, rather than one’s own comfort level in individual situations, is a key element to accepting change and enabling continuous improvement.
[...] traduzioni.Questa settimana vediamo i migliori articoli dal 20/08/2010 fino al 09/09/2010:The Stranded Manager: A lesson in working with people dal blog My Flexible Pencil di David Kasprzak: Lezione da imparare: abbracciare quello frustrato, [...]
Thank you for this mind renewal and conflict balancing strategy.In case you have done all in love to coach this individual and yet refused to change,what is the next thing to do?.In case he turns out to be a cancerious cell and corrupting the mindset of others rather than educating them,what is to be done to such a person?.
But by and large this is a wonderful perspection of dealing with likely organisational challenges.