Blog Post Authored by:
Chuck Brinck (HD&L Member)
Throughout my career, only a few years of it were spent in an actual “Management” position. What’s interesting to me though is that those I worked for and with, would consider me to be in a “leadership position” for most of my career. Leading audit teams, implementations, and various other projects - I’ve been in the driver’s seat more often than not. It was only a few years at the very beginning that I was truly a follower. I wasn’t sure of myself, the environment, and how much opinion I was allowed to voice. I have to admit, even in those early days, it was a tenuous relationship I maintained with “just following along”.
Not that I am the rebellious sort, far from it in fact! I am one of the first people to step up to the plate and indicate that we need policies, procedures, checklists, and manuals for smooth operation. I’ve written many a policy, work instruction, and even a Quality Manual in my day. Where I find that my strained relationship with “playing by the rules” creeps in is when those established policies and rules don’t make sense. When there is an arbitrariness to their form and function or logic seemingly goes out the window. I have this irresistible urge to question it and I can’t leave well enough alone. Surely there is a reason why it’s like this, no one would do something like that without a reason, an explanation, or a degree of logic applied, right? Right?!
I was often disappointed, when I poked a stick at these oddities, to find what was being done, in fact, was done for no defensible reason. Too often it was “That’s the way it’s always been done.” or “Because that’s what the procedure/policy says to do.” As leaders, we should outlaw both of those phrases. If we have no more reason to do something than because we’ve always done it or because a policy tells us to – we should stop and question it. When we let that kind of thinking into our organizations, it saps away all semblance of responsibility, accountability, and thought. It promotes laziness and a pass-the-buck mentality. No leader really wants that; we want empowered, engaged, and driven teams!
A type of policy that stands diametrically opposed to engaged and empowered leadership are the “Zero Tolerance” policies that came into fashion in the workplace about 10-15 years ago. These policies are especially egregious offenders when it comes to usurping the abilities that any good leader has because it removes all thought and decision making ability. Which, in reality, isn’t that what we leaders are employed to do? Evaluate situations and make tough decisions based on the situation, circumstances, and context?
Zero Tolerance policies that our Human Resources brethren have lovingly crafted and tucked neatly away into their Policy binders remove all thought, rationale, and circumstance from a situation. Turning an otherwise bright, high-functioning adult into a policy-zombie. A world that is normally rich with color, vibrant with circumstances and fluctuating situations becomes a dull, black-and-white picture that’s one-dimensional. A world like that doesn’t give an exceptional leader or manager the ability to turn a bad situation into a “teachable moment” or craft a cunning solution that may be mutually beneficial.
It reduces people, their lives, and their situations to binary switches. We’re either on or off. I don’t know about you but my life is rarely ever that simple. I have good and bad moments on good and bad days of good and bad weeks in good and bad months. Life is a rocky road, sadly not nearly as delicious as the ice cream, and Zero Tolerance policies want to reduce it down to Vanilla or Chocolate. Not even a Neapolitan.
The harmfulness of these policies isn’t restricted to the workplace, either. Our children suffer under these insufferable, intolerant, and unthinking policies as well. I’m sure we’ve all heard the horror stories of kids bringing plastic knives to school and being expelled or suspended for violating the school’s “Zero Tolerance” policy on weapons at school. As leaders, managers, and the driving forces for change in our organizations that we are - we can do better.
We deserve the option to analyze a situation for what it is and think about how best to fix it. If you have an employee that fails a drug test, is the best solution really to just automatically fire them? If there is a case of harassment, are we really content to give no thought to what’s going on and just let the person go? People make poor decisions every day. Our lives are filled with them; failure is how we learn. Watch a child learn if you don’t believe that - success isn’t what teaches them, it’s failing. It’s falling over 100 times, getting back up, and a loving, guiding hand that teaches them to walk.
Throwing someone away without a thought or care, as Zero Tolerance policies would have us do, isn’t helping the person. In reality, it isn’t helping us, as leaders, either. It isn’t giving us the chance to flex our mental-muscles, our compassion, and work a difficult problem. Sure, we may fail, the situation may deteriorate and things may get worse. But, you know what? We’ll be stronger for it. We’ll be better for it. We’ll have learned something in the process and we’ll be better leaders for it in the end. We may even have helped the struggling individual along the way, too, by showing some compassion and care and not just throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I implore you all, as leaders and managers, start questioning those policies that don’t make sense. Demand better. Get your power back from the policy-zombies. Replace the Zero Tolerance with a Policy of Leadership; a policy of common sense and compassion. If we work hard enough – we can make the world make sense again.
Chuck Brinck (HD&L Member)
Throughout my career, only a few years of it were spent in an actual “Management” position. What’s interesting to me though is that those I worked for and with, would consider me to be in a “leadership position” for most of my career. Leading audit teams, implementations, and various other projects - I’ve been in the driver’s seat more often than not. It was only a few years at the very beginning that I was truly a follower. I wasn’t sure of myself, the environment, and how much opinion I was allowed to voice. I have to admit, even in those early days, it was a tenuous relationship I maintained with “just following along”.
Not that I am the rebellious sort, far from it in fact! I am one of the first people to step up to the plate and indicate that we need policies, procedures, checklists, and manuals for smooth operation. I’ve written many a policy, work instruction, and even a Quality Manual in my day. Where I find that my strained relationship with “playing by the rules” creeps in is when those established policies and rules don’t make sense. When there is an arbitrariness to their form and function or logic seemingly goes out the window. I have this irresistible urge to question it and I can’t leave well enough alone. Surely there is a reason why it’s like this, no one would do something like that without a reason, an explanation, or a degree of logic applied, right? Right?!
I was often disappointed, when I poked a stick at these oddities, to find what was being done, in fact, was done for no defensible reason. Too often it was “That’s the way it’s always been done.” or “Because that’s what the procedure/policy says to do.” As leaders, we should outlaw both of those phrases. If we have no more reason to do something than because we’ve always done it or because a policy tells us to – we should stop and question it. When we let that kind of thinking into our organizations, it saps away all semblance of responsibility, accountability, and thought. It promotes laziness and a pass-the-buck mentality. No leader really wants that; we want empowered, engaged, and driven teams!
A type of policy that stands diametrically opposed to engaged and empowered leadership are the “Zero Tolerance” policies that came into fashion in the workplace about 10-15 years ago. These policies are especially egregious offenders when it comes to usurping the abilities that any good leader has because it removes all thought and decision making ability. Which, in reality, isn’t that what we leaders are employed to do? Evaluate situations and make tough decisions based on the situation, circumstances, and context?
Zero Tolerance policies that our Human Resources brethren have lovingly crafted and tucked neatly away into their Policy binders remove all thought, rationale, and circumstance from a situation. Turning an otherwise bright, high-functioning adult into a policy-zombie. A world that is normally rich with color, vibrant with circumstances and fluctuating situations becomes a dull, black-and-white picture that’s one-dimensional. A world like that doesn’t give an exceptional leader or manager the ability to turn a bad situation into a “teachable moment” or craft a cunning solution that may be mutually beneficial.
It reduces people, their lives, and their situations to binary switches. We’re either on or off. I don’t know about you but my life is rarely ever that simple. I have good and bad moments on good and bad days of good and bad weeks in good and bad months. Life is a rocky road, sadly not nearly as delicious as the ice cream, and Zero Tolerance policies want to reduce it down to Vanilla or Chocolate. Not even a Neapolitan.
The harmfulness of these policies isn’t restricted to the workplace, either. Our children suffer under these insufferable, intolerant, and unthinking policies as well. I’m sure we’ve all heard the horror stories of kids bringing plastic knives to school and being expelled or suspended for violating the school’s “Zero Tolerance” policy on weapons at school. As leaders, managers, and the driving forces for change in our organizations that we are - we can do better.
We deserve the option to analyze a situation for what it is and think about how best to fix it. If you have an employee that fails a drug test, is the best solution really to just automatically fire them? If there is a case of harassment, are we really content to give no thought to what’s going on and just let the person go? People make poor decisions every day. Our lives are filled with them; failure is how we learn. Watch a child learn if you don’t believe that - success isn’t what teaches them, it’s failing. It’s falling over 100 times, getting back up, and a loving, guiding hand that teaches them to walk.
Throwing someone away without a thought or care, as Zero Tolerance policies would have us do, isn’t helping the person. In reality, it isn’t helping us, as leaders, either. It isn’t giving us the chance to flex our mental-muscles, our compassion, and work a difficult problem. Sure, we may fail, the situation may deteriorate and things may get worse. But, you know what? We’ll be stronger for it. We’ll be better for it. We’ll have learned something in the process and we’ll be better leaders for it in the end. We may even have helped the struggling individual along the way, too, by showing some compassion and care and not just throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I implore you all, as leaders and managers, start questioning those policies that don’t make sense. Demand better. Get your power back from the policy-zombies. Replace the Zero Tolerance with a Policy of Leadership; a policy of common sense and compassion. If we work hard enough – we can make the world make sense again.
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