Shift the Conversation . . . Shift the Results

After over 35 years of consulting inside of businesses large and small, I keep hearing the same kinds of conversations. The conversations are nearly all the same in every company, only the names are different. It goes something like this:

“Paul is driving me crazy. He is just not being cooperative. And he is definitely not a team player. I’ve tried everything and I just can’t deal with him any more. It’s definitely a personality clash; we are just too different to work together. I think we need to make a change.”

I am certain you have heard similar types of conversations. And the problem is, 9 times out of 10 it’s the wrong conversation!

By wrong, I mean it is not productive, rarely solves anything, actually makes people more resistant to each other, builds walls, sours the culture and just plain misses the point all together.

And what is the point? We need to shift (aka reframe) the conversation from Personalities to Root Cause.

My experience with these types of issues is that people problems are rarely the result of problem people. If you shift the focus and the conversation onto Root Cause, in a very short order you will find that there is either a broken, ill-defined, undefined, or redundant process at work that is causing frustration and difficulties between people. What looks like a personality clash is actually a result of poor processes.

Paul isn’t being obtuse or difficult or not a team player, he’s just trying to do the best job within his functional responsibilities in dealing with a poorly defined process. In many cases personality clashes are the result of two people each thinking that they have the sole responsibility; in other words, duplication of effort caused by poorly mapped or non-existant business processes.

So, want to make rapid progress? Change the conversation from Personalities to Root Cause. And if you don’t know how to investigate a root cause or do process mapping either hire someone who does or be content to enjoy the endless people complaints around the water cooler.

Tight Lines . . .

John R Childress

E | john@johnrchildress.com T | +44 207 584 3774 M | +44 7833 493 999

About johnrchildress

For over 20 years, John R. Childress was Chief Executive of an international management-consulting firm before retiring to become a novelist. Having written several business books and participated in hundreds of global business assignments, Mr. Childress brings an insider’s understanding of the modern world to his thrillers. “In 2001 I had the opportunity to “semi-retire” and so I turned my mind to writing novels. As an American I never was much on history, after all America is not about the past, it’s about the future! Anyway, when I moved into an 11th Century chateau in the south of France I got the history bug and kept wondering why over the centuries we just keep repeating history rather than learning from it. (As you can see I tackle the easy questions).” Educated at Harvard University and the American University of Beirut, he has traveled the world extensively. His writing style is full of intrigue and humor, with exotic locations and an engaging cast of characters. In addition, his works are thought provoking, often probing the darker side of large institutions, corporations and organized religion. A recurring theme in his work is the historical antecedents to modern-day criminal and terrorist activities. “My novels, whether they be historical thrillers, A Perfect Conspiracy and Pirates Inc., or political thrillers, The Beirut Conspiracy, all have a “timeless” element to them. I believe that with a deeper insight into historical events, we can better understand the chaos and complexity of the modern world. My fictional novels are all based on real events and situations involving an average individual who gets caught up in a struggle against ruthless criminal organizations. I like to use flash-backs and time-travel techniques to bring historical events into a modern context.”

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