The question most asked and considered by companies large and small is, "Why?" The question parents ask about their children, probably more than any other, is, "Why?" The main question both politicians and constituents ask about each other is, "Why?" All leaders are responsible for what others do, and who knows what others are going to do at any given moment or in response to any given set of circumstances? So they ask, "Why?" Bosses, parents, politicians, and populations want to know how to deal with what people do so that they can influence it.
Why do customers buy a company's products? Why don't they buy the products they don't buy? Why do employees act the way they act? Why don't they work harder and smarter? Why aren't they more productive? Why don't they care any more than they do? Why do children do what they do? (Why, oh why, oh why?) Why do children treat each other the way they do? Why do politicians do what they do? Why do people vote for the people they vote for?
The concept that will deal with the largest number of "Why?s" is involvement. "Why?" is putting the cart before the horse. Involvement gets the cart back behind the horse, where it belongs.
Some companies do try to find out what customers want. Most don't. They want to do what they want to do and they want customers to be happy about that. I have heard my personal supervisor, at times throughout my life, say something to the effect of, "Well, we just don't do that," once they find out what a customer might want. Even a large nationwide company I worked for had a culture of doing everything according to strict policies. We were not taught to try to please customers, but we were taught to never use the word policy in the presence of a customer, or when a customer wondered why we did what we did (incomprehensible things in the customers' minds, judging from some of their facial expressions) to never say that it was just our policy. If a leader will do a good job of finding out what a customer wants, and give it to him, a lot of "Why?s" go away.
Most employees are not given much chance to make a difference. They might be told, "This is he way we do things around here." They might be told to suggest things to their supervisor, but then when nothing comes of anything they ever suggest, they understand how things are "done around here." It's hard to blame an employee for just doing what she does, and for doing the minimum when she has so little involvement. No involvement: no investment. When employees are not allowed to help decide what is done, and how it is done, or even why it is done, they will do what they have to do to get a paycheck (leave brain and creativity at home, please) and no more. Why do employees act the way they do? It is a response to what management does. Do you want employees to do better? Involve them in what is done and how it is done.
Children are about like employees, except that they are not afraid of being fired. Most children have no more involvement in what goes on in a family than the majority of employees have in what goes on at a company. And it shows. If they know what is trying to be achieved in a family and are allowed to participate in figuring out the best ways to get that done, they will act differently from fighting and throwing things and crying and complaining about having to do chores. I imagine many parents would be flummoxed and surprised if someone asked them what the purpose of their family was. They might say it's to raise the children. They might mention love and cooperation. But I wonder how many parents really have spent time and emotion deciding why they even have a family, and what's supposed to happen now that they have one. Get the children together, and figure out all of that. What are we doing? Why do we all live together in this house? If children feel invested in what's going on, they will help get the family where it should be.
I know why most politicians do what they do. Because we let them get away with it. We, as the populations, are so diverse in what we think governments should do, that politicians know they can do just about anything, and there won't be a large enough segment of the population to do anything about it. And politics is artificial in that it might take a few years to fire someone for being incompetent. Politicians also try to make us believe that they are the bosses and we are the underlings, where in reality, it should be and is the other way around. Any government of any worth is designed such that We The People are the bosses and politicians are the underlings. But we give away our rights to take care of ourselves, too often. We should make politicians involve us in what they do, and not let them do things that are not good for the populations, at large.
0 commentaires :
Post a Comment