Best Intentions Don’t Equal Best Practices – Ask the Bigger Questions of Your Systems

By Michelle Malay Carter on October 20, 2008 

Cowardly LionI believe in people.? Their inherent goodness.? Their desire to contribute.? To do well by themselves and others.? But clearly, this does not always translate into best practices.? Sometimes to do right by ourselves, our systems force us to do wrong by others.

Whoa!? Where Did?We Go?
Many times we start out doing something for a good reason, but over time the process becomes distorted and the reason for the process gets lost – like a photo copy becoming less clear with each generation of copy.? We end up with something so convoluted we can’t even remember the point, but yet we continue to go with it.? Unquestioned.

Whoops!? How Did This Happen?
Or we do things for a good reason, and then there are unintended consequences.?? Unfortunately, often?the consequence of admitting to the destructive power of the unintended consequences is that we must admit we were wrong or we made a mistake which can be career suicide.? So the consequence of that is we cover up the unintended consequence or we deny them.? Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

Control and Audit
We can’t just create a system and let it flow in perpetuity.?? We must establish owners for our systems.? We must have feedback loops.? We must audit our systems with an eye toward frequent tweaks before we are so off course that no one can stop the beast.? (Can you say global financial crisis?)

We have to ask the bigger questions of our systems.?

A Quiz
Bring to mind any people system within your organization (recruiting, development, succession/promotion, compensation, performance management, managerial leadership), and ask the five previous questions of it.?

Systems often Reinforce Cowardice
Are we willing to check our egos at the door and admit mistakes?? Are we willing to cut our losses on a dysfunctional system to restore our integrity?? Do we have systems in place that allow this type of courageous behavior?? If not, why not?

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

How did you score on your quiz?

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Executive Leadership, Requisite Organization

Comments

4 Responses to “Best Intentions Don’t Equal Best Practices – Ask the Bigger Questions of Your Systems”

  1. Chris Young on October 27th, 2008 11:04 am

    Powerful post Michelle – I think it is all too easy to fall victim to thinking starting out with the best intentions will automatically deliver the right results.

    I shared your post with my readers in my weekly Rainmaker ‘Fab Five’ blog picks of the week found here: http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2008/10/the-rainmaker-3.html

    Be well Michelle!

  2. Simon Cooper on October 27th, 2008 4:28 pm

    Michelle,

    I spend much of my professional life helping to communicate the rationale and benefits of HR processes. The problem is not often with the process itself but the fact that it has been rolled out as a process rather than best leadership practice.

    My experience is that when managers really get it, they are happy to buy in by helping to make the process work for them and their staff.

  3. Michelle Malay Carter on October 28th, 2008 5:31 am

    Hi Chris,

    Thanks for the plug.

    Michelle

  4. Michelle Malay Carter on October 28th, 2008 5:34 am

    Hi Simon,

    Welcome. Yes, a key part of implementation is context. If I don’t understand the fundamental purpose or principle behind what I am being asked to do, I might be less inclined to cooperate.

    By the same token, if I don’t understand, I cannot always judge when things have gone awry.

    Thanks for the comment.

    Michelle