July,
2003
The
truth will set you free,
but first it will make you
miserable.
-- Anonymous
Those
words are from a poster that
hangs on my cube wall.
Accompanying them is a photo of a
large rag doll paused partway
through the rollers of an old
wringer washer.
A
friend gave me the poster several
years ago. I had voiced
appreciation of his copy many
times and he obtained one for
me. It has become one of my
most prized possessions,
reminding me daily that truth is
painful and liberating, and
rarely just one or the
other.
As
much as I prize this poster, I
have allowed it to become a bit
worn. Its corners are not
as crisp as they once were.
A couple of them are definitely
crumpled. Some of the wear
and tear has come from my moving
it about, but most of it has come
from my habit of loaning it to
family and friends who needed to
absorb its message.
Picture
my loaning it to you now, with a
sticky note attached to the top
corner. On the note are a
couple of phrases:
Best
Practices Are Rarely That --
There‚s a good bit of
emphasis placed these days on
"Best Practices." In most
cases, they are defined as
what others (usually
competitors or bigger
organizations) are doing. The
train of thought usually goes
something like this: They're
bigger than us, so they must
know something we don't. It
would be unwise for us not to
do it like they do.
I've
never been comfortable with this
line of thinking, but the fallacy
of it was made most clear to me
at the recent SHRM conference in
Orlando. A speaker was relating
the challenges she and her team
had faced during the two-year
period they had spent
"re-inventing HR at Starbucks"
(her words)
As
I listened to her, I realized
that had I talked with her before
she and her team began their work
and asked, "What is Starbucks
doing in the area of . . ." she
would have given me answer "A".
However, had I asked her the same
question a few months later, she
would have given me answer
"B".
Another
SHRM conference speaker seemed to
put it most clearly when he said,
"Focusing on best practices will
only help you catch up. You
need to be focused on "Next
Practices".
It
is useful to know what other
organizations are doing, but that
information is not a replacement
for an understanding of our
organization: Its history,
culture, challenges,
opportunities and goals. Choosing
the right "Next Practices"
depends upon our fully
understanding where we are, where
we want to be and the options
available to us.
Most
of Us Would Not Be Comfortable
At The Table -- Last
month, I suggested some
reasons why many of us seem to
be "paper magnets," attracting
administrative tasks faster
than we can complete them. I
also suggested that our
busy-ness with those tasks
often prevents us from taking
advantage of more valuable
opportunities to contribute to
our organization's
goals.
I
expect that some readers of those
words renewed their vows to do
whatever is necessary to achieve
a seat at "The Table." The poor
souls who report to them are
probably still trying to dig out
from the resulting tidal wave of
delegated reports and daily
tasks. And still trying to find
who to thank for their most
recent blessings!
I'd
like to suggest that the most
important thoughts in last
month's column were contained in
the last couple of paragraphs:
Most of us have daily
opportunities to make significant
contributions to our
organizations.
Unfortunately, many of us are so
"busy" that we either don't
recognize them or we don't have
time to act upon them in
meaningful ways.
That's
unfortunate for both our
organizations and us. Our
organizations are forced to
operate with only a portion of
the "human resource" they have
invested in and we miss out on
the growth and satisfaction that
comes from doing new and
meaningful tasks.
"That's
why I need a seat at the
table. Then, I wouldn't
be expected to spend my time
on less important tasks."
Those thoughts certainly have
entered most of our heads
sometime during our HR
careers. But have we spent as
much time asking whether we
would be happy in that
seat?
Take
a look at what's expected of the
persons now "at the table" in
your organization. Look at the
responsibilities they shoulder,
the expectations others (the
public, the customers, the
shareholders, you and your
co-workers) have of them, the
hours they work. Would you really
be happy facing those
expectations and working those
hours?
Don't
Forget To Return My Poster --
Don't forget to return my
poster when you're finished with
it.That is, unless someone you
know needs it for
awhile.
|
