Since the 1970’s, a management concept known as Contingency
Theory has been making the rounds. 

Contingency Theory, in its simplest form, holds that the
solution should fit the problem.  Additionally, this
theory suggests that because problems tend to be specific
to functional areas and companies, the solutions should
not be forced through the cookie-cutter approaches of the
latest management programs.

HR CONTRARIAN POINTER: When it comes to management issues
regarding sales, human resources, marketing, operations,
etc., very seldom is there one best way to solve a
problem. 

The reason that there is seldom one best solution is due
to the fact that organizations work and compete in
different environments with different resources such as
employees, culture, competitors, machinery, etc.  Why then
would anyone have the arrogance to think that there is one
best way?

A classic example of “there is seldom one best way” is the
list of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
failures.  With the purchase of an ERP system, a company
is purchasing a set of best practices and trying to mold
an organization to the software, rather than making the
ERP system fit the way the company does business.

One of the marketing gurus I’m fond of quoting, Dan
Kennedy, often says, “Good is good enough.”  In
business, we don’t have time for perfection.  If you have
found a solution to a problem that you consider
acceptable, then implement it and work through the issues
rather than waiting until its perfect, which it will never
be.

If you want to get anyone to improve his/her performance,
provide the individual with feedback, rather than
judgments and wordy statements about performance.

I have had managers say to me, “I’m a manager and I am
paid to judge people and results.”

My response has been, “You are a manager and you are paid
to maximize performance.  And to do that effectively, you
need to provide feedback that improves a situation, as
opposed to traditional constructive criticism, which is
seldom constructive and often just plain old criticism.”

HR CONTRARIAN POINTER: A judgment is a hierarchical
dynamic.  Feedback is a systems dynamic.  Unfortunately,
traditional performance evaluations and even day-to-day
evaluative comments to employees tend to be judgments,
rather than feedback.

Feedback is the process by which the output of a system
is returned to an input source via objective data in
order to regulate further output.

When it comes to feedback, one of the biggest mistakes
that I see managers make is to assume that because of
their position in the hierarchy, that they have a
responsibility to pronounce things as right, wrong, good,
or bad. 

A comment like, “You placed the material in the wrong
location again” is a perfect example of a judgment, rather
than feedback.

Making judgmental comments that “get things off your
chest” will certainly make you feel good, but it does
nothing to improve performance.

The failure to meet a desired output boils down to:

1. Issues within the system that caused the problem, which
can range from mechanical to cultural and include such
issues as management’s failure to properly train, to
effectively communicate, and/or to adequately equip.

2. Issues with the employee such as fatigue, incompetence,
willful misconduct, etc.

3. A combination of 1 and 2.

By taking a systems approach to providing feedback during
evaluations, you will make the processes of performance
improvement and problem solving more objective, rather
than subjective.

If you would like a free copy of our 1-page flow sheet
titled, “Systems Approach to Problem Solving,” which is
also a great tool for improving performance, send me an
email (rlukesh@HRcontrarian.com) and type on the subject
line: Systems Approach to Problem Solving.