Pointless Logic

Here's a real example:

Peter was promoted to safety supervisor in a home owners association (HOA) and gained a Magic Title.

(A magic title is a power bestowed upon someone who lacks leadership qualities. The title turns Average Joes into experts almost overnight. Unfortunately, it is equivalent to a unicorn being real or a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. There are many people in leadership positions that actually run with this idea and is a recipe for disaster.)

Peter oversees six employees that conduct safety inspections, provide security, and enforce traffic rules within the HOA.

Peter catches wind of a social media post with people complaining of their neighborhood becoming a raceway with speeding motorists. Peter does not get out of his office much but becomes upset with many of the comments on the post.

Meanwhile, the six staff members do not notice any abnormal speeding occuring in the HOA and regularly patrol for speeders. The staff stops speeders and gives reminders of the rules.

Peter's solution was to issue a memo that enacts a new procedure when a person receives a simple reminder to obey the rules. The memo required staff to complete reports for every person they talk to about speeding. These reports take 15 minutes to complete.

After a week, Peter realized only one report was turned in for a speeder. Peter thought this was odd. Two months prior, the staff talked about catching an average of a dozen speeders every 2-3 days. Peter became confused but confidently reported to the HOA board the reason for less speeders was due to increased patrol. Peter proudly talked about the new procedure for reports.

The reality was the staff realized if they stopped four speeders it would create an hour of paperwork which took productive patrol off the street. The staff's solution to ensure proactive patrols remained in the HOA was to stop looking for speeders as it created unnecessary paperwork and took focus away from other areas.

Overall, Peter was only considering his image to the HOA and lost focus of his staff. Peter did not leave his office and failed to see the excellent work that was being done prior to the memo being issued. That work included catching speeders and conducting proactive patrols.

Whether or not speeding was an issue, Peter's lack of focus on his team resulted in a decreased level of safety in the HOA.

Leadership Lesson:

Leaders need to be involved with their company's purpose and processes. Additionally, being on the front line will help a leader respond to criticism and complaints rather than make decisions from the desk.

Decisions from the desk can create unnecessary costs, even jeopardizing safety.

The sign in your office or name tag displaying that fancy new magic title is pointless if you are failing.

Good employees will provide a mix of productivity and efficiency. If you lose one or the other it is recipe for failure.

Good employees can see pointless logic and it is important for leaders to gather insight from those employees.