The Sticky Wicket Of Workarounds
Leading at Light Speed is a new leadership book by Eric Douglas detailing the 10 Quantum Leaps to build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization. In Chapter Four, Manage Decisions Well, Eric talks about The Danger of Workarounds.
Decisions can be very difficult to manage in settings where people aren’t used to accepting responsibility – or where the structure works against it. Position accountability (what the position is accountable for) and responsibility (what the person actually can do) can get wildly out of synch. This frequently occurs in public agencies, and is often the product of what is known as “nichifying.”
For botanists, biologists, and other scientists, the idea of “nichifying” is central to understanding how evolution works. Plants and animals are in a constant struggle to find and occupy the safest and easiest niche for their survival. As the climate changes, for example, plants move to wetter or drier ground. As predators become more prevalent, animals move to less dangerous territory.
People within organizations “nichify” as well. When its positive, individuals seek out niches which value their talent, where they feel productive and that they can best contribute. In these cases, nichifying works to the organization’s advantage.
But nichifying has a negative side. It shows up in bureaucracies in the form of “workarounds” – instances where people do the work someone else is responsible for, typically because they do it better or enjoy it more. People will say: “Well, if you really want to get that done, you have to see Dorothy in Accounting. Even though she’s not in charge of Procurement, everything passes through her.”
Public agencies are prone to “nichifying” because civil service rules prevent people from moving easily to find their best niche. People who have the skills to do the work often receive the work responsibilities, rather than those in the appropriate roles. Workarounds result in “shadow organizations” – an informal organization on top of the formal one you see on paper. By allowing “shadow organizations” to flourish, confusion about roles and responsibilities crops up, as well as convoluted decision making.
For instance, one California state agency divided financial decisions between three departments.. Accounts Receivable and Payable were under the Finance Department. The Operations Department handled capital expenditures. And the Department of Planning dealt with budgets, planning and sophisticated financing. People within the organization understood who did what – but the area of financial performance held no one accountable. No surprise, then, that this agency had very poor financial performance overall.
What can you do to manage decisions well in such a setting? For one thing, you can spend extra time with people, building trust and support for changing the work processes. You can champion the placement of people by the alignment of their talents with their true job responsibilities. You can also continually look for opportunities to recruit and promote talented people in the organization. Otherwise, the talented people are likely to leave – triggering further bureaucracy.
Discover how well your organization measures up to the 10 Quantum Leaps with this free work survey.
