Management tools: 5 questions for clarification purposes or why do you need a BMW X5?
A long time ago, in one of the companies, a leader in the world production of microprocessors, I was once struck by a managerial misfortune. Decided, you know, to take up the development of employees. (Periodically, this happens with managers, yes.)
I went to my employee - let's call him Serega:
Well, in the managerial - so in the managerial. Well, at that time I was an experienced manager, already 4 years of experience! There is a lot of energy, the desire to help people is over the edge!
In short, Seryoga became my deputy, began to attend all sorts of trainings. I took control of some powerful student project, there the guys did something.
And it all ended with the fact that we had to part with Sergey. How it happened, where Seryoga finally realized himself, and what correct management tool I could then apply - let's talk about that today.
At the same time, let's talk about what to do if you find yourself and / or your employees in square C in the article:
But first - what ended the story. At some point, Seryoga wanted to work for himself, not for his uncle. Robert Kiyosaki, Bodo Schaefer and other authors who switch the brain were read, and really wanted to start working for themselves.
At this moment the manager comes and offers to develop you. Manager reject somehow awkward, still came. Therefore, for the species something is being done, but in fact both the motivation and thoughts of the person are no longer here.
Shortly speaking. Seryoga became interested in futures trading. Finished 2 week futures trading courses. And as a real programmer (as well as a graduate of the department of mathematical statistics), I began to write automated trading systems. Robots that were supposed to win all the market.
As a result, Serega stopped working almost completely. I go to his office - on the screen is a trading terminal, everything is dancing there. Some orders, candles, shoulders ... Continuous technical analysis, in general.
I say: “Serega, how is that? And work? ”-“ San, I understand everything, but I can’t do it anymore. Not at all interesting. ”
It all ended with the fact that we had to disperse. (How to disperse in large corporations is the topic of a separate article. :)). In general, Seryoga left us.
For three months he lived on a compensation package and all the time he wrote his robots. The robots somehow did not trade very well, so Seryoga went to another job. To a company that wrote solutions for stock markets. There he worked for a year and a half, continuing to write his robots in the evenings, inventing and modifying complex statistical algorithms.
And finally, robots began to consistently earn 2 times more than he did in his work. Seryoga understood that this was a sign and left to work for himself. What the last year has been doing 4. Continuing to develop new unique algorithms, robots that automatically work for it, and taking great pleasure in all of this.
(As for the algorithms, if you remember, our conversation with Seryoga began with the fact that he no longer cooks his head.)
And before we dive into the managerial analysis of this whole situation, let's say that Seryoga is definitely a great young man, he has more success! And I hope he will write a book about his adventures in due time - I am sure there is something to write about.
(The name of the main character is changed just in case. :))
So, how do you deal with your own and other people's goals? We can remember SMART and many other abbreviations for the criteria for the correctness of goals, but let's simplify a little. And we will analyze a simple step-by-step algorithm from several questions, like without becoming a psychologist, discuss with the person where he wants to go:
1. What do you want? Here you just need to take a sheet of paper, turn off the computer, (if you wish) pour dope and sit quietly for 30 minutes. Just a list of what you want:
Everyone will have their own list of some length. If you want to do the exercise yourself - do not read the article further. Sit down and write your list.
Once the list is received, you will need to somehow live with it. And usually the list is large (if the list is short - think again! :)), and living with such a list is hard. Therefore, we need to filter it. The next questions are essentially filter levels.
2. Why is this valuable to you? Less pathetic wording: “Why?”
Suppose you want to become a manager. What for? “Because managers work less, get more.”
At this point, experienced managers begin to cluck, trying to keep their sincere laughter. But after all the picture from the point of view of the person can so look? Maybe why not?
What does the manager do in terms of a novice engineer? He writes letters, makes appointments, draws slides, drinks coffee, closer to release - he is nervous a lot, tries to talk about something by phone. In general, not hard work for such and such money, right?
Actually, in clarifying the question “Why”, part of the Wishlist can already be filtered out. Or concretized.
We sometimes set very strange goals to achieve a completely different one. The question “Why?” Is the first powerful filter.
Sometimes, however, we can rest on something completely personal. “I want to make a product that will change the world” -> “Why?” -> “Because I want to bring benefits to people” -> “Why?” -> “I want everything!”
Quite a normal answer. Just here it is worth stopping and not digging further. Indeed, in the filter there are several levels.
3. What are you ready to refuse? Sometimes Wishlist begin to contradict each other. For example: “I want to build a company with a multi-billion dollar turnover” and “I want to spend a lot of time with my family”. There is no direct contradiction, but something will have to be done at the beginning, but something later (or not at all). Or “I want to meet old age with my wife” and “I want Jennifer Lopez”. Well, you understand. Either one or the other.
The principle here is the same - what are you ready to give up, and what will you do first?
4. What will you do for this tomorrow? “Tomorrow” means calendar tomorrow.
Well, then do you really want to become a manager?
People are arranged in a fairly simple way. What is IMPORTANT for them, they do. What is NOT IMPORTANT, do not. Sometimes people say it’s important, but they don’t. Then we assume that it is theoretically important. And people do what is IMPORTANT PRACTICAL for them.
You say that it would be necessary to do charging, but there is no time? So, for what time is, it is important for you, and charging is NOT IMPORTANT. In fact. Still very simple. What noodles to hang?
It was here that my mistake happened in the story with Sergey. Almost all the steps were taken on my initiative. I chose trainings for which Serege to go. I offered to lead the student project. Etc.
5. How do you understand that you have achieved this? For example, you want to be famous. How do you understand what became famous?
When I thought about that topic, I had the following visual in my head. I'm going to Peter driving a typewriter. I stop at the traffic lights. And then I hear my podcast sound from the window of a nearby car. Since then, my colleague Slava Pankratov has constantly threatened to hire a couple of taxis to drive me and lose my podcasts. :)
That's the whole algorithm. If the answers to all questions are clear and clear as a tear of a novice manager, then you can move on, agree to concrete actions and see if they are done or not.
But before you run and please yourself or your employees with these five questions, let's look at another simple model, the TOP model. The model helps a lot when discussing career growth in the company.
The model says that a person’s career advancement occurs when 3 components are added:
Organization is what you as a manager will clarify and convey to a person.
Passion & Talent is something you can discuss using the five questions technique that we talked about today + your vision and your experience in order to clarify what knowledge and skills are really useful there.
The model is good because it can be drawn on a piece of paper; it specifies this “career growth magic”.
Disclaimer. All this works well when you and a person already have some level of trust. If it is not - do not try to dig for the purposes of man. And do not play a psychologist. Use common sense, especially how to make these tools relevant in your work.
Good luck! Grow yourself and help others grow.
PS Friends, if you have your own experience of discussing goals with your employees (or with yourself) or have instructive stories on this topic - write in the comments. Let's enrich each other’s experience.
If you have a psychological education and / or you can supplement articles with something, write also, we will be happy to expand our experience.
PPS Previous articles in the series “Managerial tools”:
The very last PS Blog of Plantop has moved to a separate site: http://blog.stratoplan.ru - see you there!
Alexander Orlov
Stratoplan.Ru
I went to my employee - let's call him Serega:
- Serega, - I say, - in which direction do you want to develop: technical or managerial?
')
- Sanya, well, the head is already not very good, age ... (Seryoga is 3 years older than me) Therefore, probably, in the managerial one.
Well, in the managerial - so in the managerial. Well, at that time I was an experienced manager, already 4 years of experience! There is a lot of energy, the desire to help people is over the edge!
In short, Seryoga became my deputy, began to attend all sorts of trainings. I took control of some powerful student project, there the guys did something.
And it all ended with the fact that we had to part with Sergey. How it happened, where Seryoga finally realized himself, and what correct management tool I could then apply - let's talk about that today.
At the same time, let's talk about what to do if you find yourself and / or your employees in square C in the article:
But first - what ended the story. At some point, Seryoga wanted to work for himself, not for his uncle. Robert Kiyosaki, Bodo Schaefer and other authors who switch the brain were read, and really wanted to start working for themselves.
At this moment the manager comes and offers to develop you. Manager reject somehow awkward, still came. Therefore, for the species something is being done, but in fact both the motivation and thoughts of the person are no longer here.
Shortly speaking. Seryoga became interested in futures trading. Finished 2 week futures trading courses. And as a real programmer (as well as a graduate of the department of mathematical statistics), I began to write automated trading systems. Robots that were supposed to win all the market.
As a result, Serega stopped working almost completely. I go to his office - on the screen is a trading terminal, everything is dancing there. Some orders, candles, shoulders ... Continuous technical analysis, in general.
I say: “Serega, how is that? And work? ”-“ San, I understand everything, but I can’t do it anymore. Not at all interesting. ”
It all ended with the fact that we had to disperse. (How to disperse in large corporations is the topic of a separate article. :)). In general, Seryoga left us.
For three months he lived on a compensation package and all the time he wrote his robots. The robots somehow did not trade very well, so Seryoga went to another job. To a company that wrote solutions for stock markets. There he worked for a year and a half, continuing to write his robots in the evenings, inventing and modifying complex statistical algorithms.
And finally, robots began to consistently earn 2 times more than he did in his work. Seryoga understood that this was a sign and left to work for himself. What the last year has been doing 4. Continuing to develop new unique algorithms, robots that automatically work for it, and taking great pleasure in all of this.
(As for the algorithms, if you remember, our conversation with Seryoga began with the fact that he no longer cooks his head.)
And before we dive into the managerial analysis of this whole situation, let's say that Seryoga is definitely a great young man, he has more success! And I hope he will write a book about his adventures in due time - I am sure there is something to write about.
(The name of the main character is changed just in case. :))
So, how do you deal with your own and other people's goals? We can remember SMART and many other abbreviations for the criteria for the correctness of goals, but let's simplify a little. And we will analyze a simple step-by-step algorithm from several questions, like without becoming a psychologist, discuss with the person where he wants to go:
1. What do you want? Here you just need to take a sheet of paper, turn off the computer, (if you wish) pour dope and sit quietly for 30 minutes. Just a list of what you want:
- Fame
- Of money
- Become a manager
- Make a product that will change the world
- Angelina jolie
- ...
Everyone will have their own list of some length. If you want to do the exercise yourself - do not read the article further. Sit down and write your list.
Once the list is received, you will need to somehow live with it. And usually the list is large (if the list is short - think again! :)), and living with such a list is hard. Therefore, we need to filter it. The next questions are essentially filter levels.
2. Why is this valuable to you? Less pathetic wording: “Why?”
Suppose you want to become a manager. What for? “Because managers work less, get more.”
At this point, experienced managers begin to cluck, trying to keep their sincere laughter. But after all the picture from the point of view of the person can so look? Maybe why not?
What does the manager do in terms of a novice engineer? He writes letters, makes appointments, draws slides, drinks coffee, closer to release - he is nervous a lot, tries to talk about something by phone. In general, not hard work for such and such money, right?
Actually, in clarifying the question “Why”, part of the Wishlist can already be filtered out. Or concretized.
An example from life. A young man somehow came to one famous coach. 29 years old, all is well with work.
- What's the question? - Naturally, asked the coach.
- I want a BMW X5!
- What for?
- Well, how? Well, that's cool - the BMW X5.
- Well it is clear. What for?
In short, hemmed, hemmed, eventually issued:
- I want women to like.
- Oh, that's understandable. Please tell all women in general - all 3 billion?
- No, in our city, of course.
- To all women in our city - approx. Generally all - from 3 to 75 years?
- Well no…
In short, they came out with converging iterations that the girl's name is Katya. She lives in the next doorway, and at school she sat at the same desk with a young man.
- That is, do I understand correctly that you want to buy a BMW X5 so that Katya would pay attention to you?
- Well yes.
- How many years do you need to save up for a BMW X5?
- Well, about two years.
- Tell me, please, and Katya can get married during these two years?
- How?!!!
- So like this.
- So what to do?
- Are there any other ways to get acquainted with Katya?
- ... Come to talk, or what?
We sometimes set very strange goals to achieve a completely different one. The question “Why?” Is the first powerful filter.
Sometimes, however, we can rest on something completely personal. “I want to make a product that will change the world” -> “Why?” -> “Because I want to bring benefits to people” -> “Why?” -> “I want everything!”
Quite a normal answer. Just here it is worth stopping and not digging further. Indeed, in the filter there are several levels.
3. What are you ready to refuse? Sometimes Wishlist begin to contradict each other. For example: “I want to build a company with a multi-billion dollar turnover” and “I want to spend a lot of time with my family”. There is no direct contradiction, but something will have to be done at the beginning, but something later (or not at all). Or “I want to meet old age with my wife” and “I want Jennifer Lopez”. Well, you understand. Either one or the other.
An example from life. Sometimes the directors have a question: who to send to the conference? The budget is for two people, but they want, as usual, everything. One of our familiar director somehow shared his method of selecting those who wanted to. I am asking a series of questions:
- Here comes here such a conference. Who wants to go? (They all want to.)
- But according to the results of the trip, you will need to prepare a master class for your team. (Half hands fall.)
- And the conference will be held at the weekend. (Another part of the people is eliminated.)
- And the company will pay only half the cost of participation.
- And tickets at your expense.
Somewhere on the third question are those who need it most. They usually go.
The principle here is the same - what are you ready to give up, and what will you do first?
4. What will you do for this tomorrow? “Tomorrow” means calendar tomorrow.
- I want to be a manager.
“We need English at Fluent level for this.”
- Yes, I will go learn English!
- when?
- Well, next week we have a release ... Then I have a vacation ... Then we surrender annual projects ... Then the New Year holidays ... Then the Winter Olympics ... I'll be busy by spring.
Well, then do you really want to become a manager?
People are arranged in a fairly simple way. What is IMPORTANT for them, they do. What is NOT IMPORTANT, do not. Sometimes people say it’s important, but they don’t. Then we assume that it is theoretically important. And people do what is IMPORTANT PRACTICAL for them.
You say that it would be necessary to do charging, but there is no time? So, for what time is, it is important for you, and charging is NOT IMPORTANT. In fact. Still very simple. What noodles to hang?
It was here that my mistake happened in the story with Sergey. Almost all the steps were taken on my initiative. I chose trainings for which Serege to go. I offered to lead the student project. Etc.
5. How do you understand that you have achieved this? For example, you want to be famous. How do you understand what became famous?
When I thought about that topic, I had the following visual in my head. I'm going to Peter driving a typewriter. I stop at the traffic lights. And then I hear my podcast sound from the window of a nearby car. Since then, my colleague Slava Pankratov has constantly threatened to hire a couple of taxis to drive me and lose my podcasts. :)
An example from life. Once we talked about goals with the head of a large division of a well-known company. They talked about the motivation of its managers, but in such cases the conversation always taxi to its own goals:
- Fedor, what do you want yourself?
- I want to learn how to build a software business in this company.
Great goal, really. But the question “How do you understand that you have learned to build a software business in this company?” Fedor threw himself into deep thought. For now you will not understand with it, further will not go.
That's the whole algorithm. If the answers to all questions are clear and clear as a tear of a novice manager, then you can move on, agree to concrete actions and see if they are done or not.
But before you run and please yourself or your employees with these five questions, let's look at another simple model, the TOP model. The model helps a lot when discussing career growth in the company.
The model says that a person’s career advancement occurs when 3 components are added:
- Passion - a person really wants to grow this way.
- Talent - a person has the knowledge and skills adequate to take this position
- Organization - this position in the organization should appear
Organization is what you as a manager will clarify and convey to a person.
Passion & Talent is something you can discuss using the five questions technique that we talked about today + your vision and your experience in order to clarify what knowledge and skills are really useful there.
The model is good because it can be drawn on a piece of paper; it specifies this “career growth magic”.
Disclaimer. All this works well when you and a person already have some level of trust. If it is not - do not try to dig for the purposes of man. And do not play a psychologist. Use common sense, especially how to make these tools relevant in your work.
Good luck! Grow yourself and help others grow.
PS Friends, if you have your own experience of discussing goals with your employees (or with yourself) or have instructive stories on this topic - write in the comments. Let's enrich each other’s experience.
If you have a psychological education and / or you can supplement articles with something, write also, we will be happy to expand our experience.
PPS Previous articles in the series “Managerial tools”:
- Management tools: How to explain when you feel one place?
- Andragogue Practitioner Tips: How We Learn
- Management Tools: How to play non-linear chess
- Managerial tools: Why does a customer require stupid reports?
The very last PS Blog of Plantop has moved to a separate site: http://blog.stratoplan.ru - see you there!
Alexander Orlov
Stratoplan.Ru
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/203174/
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