Ever heard
the expression, "ready, fire, aim?" I frequently hear
people use those words to describe how their organizations operate.
Over time, I have become a bit surprised at the number of people
who are almost boasting about being part of a ready, fire, aim culture.
What do you think about that? Is ready, fire, aim, the best strategy
for success?
This
phrase may have a lot of different definitions, but for the purposes
of this discussion, it refers to taking immediate action, including
simply reacting to something, before thinking it through very thoroughly.
Like everything, it has its good side and its bad.
Advocates
of ready, fire, aim cite how it promotes a bias for action. They
make the case that many organizations get too bogged down by over-analyzing
every little detail. They continue to say that since people can
never have all of the information needed to make totally risk-free
decisions, they need to act quickly, learn from those actions, and
then be ready to implement course corrections as problems arise.
These advocates would rather "do something, even if it is wrong,"
than get trapped in analysis paralysis, that tendency to study something
to death.
Others
will say ready, fire, aim is the reason organizations get into trouble.
Rather than taking the appropriate time to think something through,
their people take immediate actions that are too often based on
wrong assumptions or previous experiences that may not apply to
the circumstances at hand. Opponents of ready, fire, aim will also
contend that sometimes the decision not to act in the moment is
the best thing to do.
As
you might suspect, the best answer lies somewhere in the middle.
Even in our overworked, no time for anything world, it is unconscionable
to take a position that there is no time to think. On the other
hand, it is just as ruinous to get caught up in endless analysis,
thus deferring or avoiding decisions that must be made quickly.
The best decisions are made with an appropriate balance of thinking
and action.
So
here is a question for you to think about. To what extent do you
believe thinking is as valued as acting in your organization? Is
thoughtfulness an attribute for which the very best leaders are
known or admired? Does it even get mentioned as something of value?
The obvious answer is, of course, thinking is valued, but is that
really what you see?
Workplace
Examples
There
are common things we see that make us wonder. One of those is the
all too frequent fire drill, that urgent request that pops up at
the last minute requiring attention right now. We have come across
far too many cases where workers are advised by their bosses not
to put much time or effort into them, but to just get them done
as quickly as possible. "Act, don't think" is the message.
Some of these are legitimate and need to be completed in the moment.
Many more are not. Yet there are groups who will cancel customer
meetings or other meaningful work to tend to these drills, regardless
of their importance. They constantly complain that since it comes
from headquarters (or some other omnipotent source), they have no
choice. Interestingly enough, there are other teams who have decided
to stop the fire drill madness by taking time to examine and understand
which are vital and which are not. Rather than reactively responding
to anything that crosses their plates, they make thoughtful decisions
to determine those they will address and those they won't.
Another
example is meetings. I have been part of meetings where a rather
sizable problem is teed up and a solution is expected in the following
fifteen minutes or so. People put forth the first ideas that pop
into their mind, and the best of those, or some combination, is
selected. Ready, fire, aim. Despite the fact that the problem has
had months to fester, the expectation is the problem must be solved
before the meeting ends. And of course, the meeting end time is
fixed, because everyone has another meeting to run off to, where
a similar process is likely repeated.
By
the way, it is also baffling how rarely there is an advanced agenda
or stated purpose for these sessions, denying those attending the
opportunity to do some preliminary thinking about the topic, even
if they wanted to.
Many
of the smaller, day-to-day issues can be addressed in the typical
meeting fashion. But more significant problems require more thinking
time for the best solutions to arise. Have you ever been part of
a meeting that would have been much more productive had you and
others been able to put some thought into the topics prior to arriving?
Is
it any wonder that during a post-mortem of a failed project, one
of the most common and frequent explanations for things gone wrong
is, "we just never thought about that." Of course they
didn't - they were caught up more in the firing than they were in
the aiming.
Too
Busy to Think
One
other troubling thing we have observed is how easily people rationalize
not taking time to think because of how busy they are. The "too
busy" explanation is also used by many to justify why they
have seldom taken time for ongoing education, and to more fully
develop their capabilities. This reminds me of a comic strip I once
saw, where valiant soldiers of old were attempting to defend their
castle with single shot muskets. A fellow selling machine guns appeared
at the castle gate, but was denied a meeting with the captain, who
said, I am too busy fighting a battle to listen to a salesman.
No
matter what the job, everyone is overburdened today with too much
to do. The important question for you is, how much of what you do
is the right thing to be doing and how much of it is not really
all that important. If you are unable or unwilling to give that
question some serious thought, and to reflect on your true priorities,
you will likely find yourself spiraling further and further out
of balance in your life.
Hopefully
you have never personally encountered one of the worst examples
of the "not enough time to think" condition. I have come
across a number of managers, who have given literally no thought
at all about the performance reviews and development discussions
they are supposed to conduct with their people. These managers often
ask their people to bring a self- assessment to the review meeting,
but they themselves have not completed any kind of assessment on
any of their people. They then try to carry on a meaningful discussion
with the associate at the same time they are scanning his or her
assessment for the first time. Ready, fire, aim. They have not taken
the time to reflect on their peoples' strengths, weaknesses, confidence
levels, development opportunities and so forth. And to make matters
worse, the managers might schedule five or six of these sessions
back to back, so they can get them done quickly - and then get back
to work.
When
peoples' careers are on the line, winging it like this is unforgivable.
Sadly, we still hear people in many organizations lament that they
seldom, if ever, have any kind of performance evaluation or career
discussion from their boss, not even one where the manager is unprepared.
And we wonder why so many capable and aspiring people become so
disillusioned with their work, and emotionally check out.
An
Essential of Leadership
Whether
thoughtfulness is held up and modeled as a necessity in an organization,
it certainly is an essential in effective leadership. Often times,
leaders face dilemmas that do not have either easy or proven answers.
And the consequences of their decisions have enormous impact on
a lot of people. Don't you expect your leaders to give careful consideration
to issues that warrant it? Why would your people expect anything
less from you?
One
of the things in short supply in companies that are struggling to
grow is a list of solid, viable, different options. There is usually
more than just one or two ways to continue to prosper, but some
organizations never seem to grasp that.
How
are you doing on developing options? For example, if a competitor
lowers prices, do you believe your only recourse is to follow suit?
If your employees can make a slightly higher wage down the street,
is your only response to match the salary? If you have never thought
through scenarios like these, and developed other alternatives,
you might be giving outside forces more control over your decisions
than you care to.
Breakthrough
strategies seldom just show up on your desk. They come from a lot
of thinking, debating and analyzing them from a number of different
perspectives. And then they are validated and strengthened with
testing, experimenting, prototyping and other necessary actions.
As a leader, you must encourage both innovative thinking and hands-on
experimentation if you expect to keep up with your competition.
For
you see, taking time to think and being able to get things done
are not polar opposites. In fact, you will find they are great partners
that work much better together than they do separately. Both are
vital for success today.
In
the very familiar "do more with less" world, where immediate
action is the prevalent expectation, you must never allow thinking
and reflection to become neglected. Ready, fire, aim may feel more
comfortable and be part of the culture, but pay close attention
to the overall time and resource costs associated with it. And remember
this. If your competitors are out-thinking you at every turn, you
will likely have a very difficult, if not truncated future.
Copyright © 2005 International Leadership Associates. |