Critical Thinker Issue 3.2009 - No Motherhood Statements

The Critical Thinker

SM

PURE & SIMPLESM Critical Thinking Tips Used By Winners

Issue 3/09

No Motherhood Statements please! You have heard them time and again… “Do it as soon as possible” “Reply at your earliest convenience” “The morale problem” “The sales problem” The list goes on… Yes, there could be valid reasons for making these statements – such as when you are in a negotiation, and making broad, generalized statements could provide you with more leverage later on in the process. Or, you are in a situation where you deliberately want to leave it to your audience to in interpret the message you are putting across. The later is often true of leaders. If you have observed Barack Obama closely, you will notice that he’s a master, a fact noted by his supporters and opponents! However, if you have to follow through or respond to the four statements listed above, it is not going to be a simple as it looks. When is “As soon as possible?” Today? Next week? Often it depends on who is making the request.

Do you want to solve world hunger? Let’s turn our attention next to the “Morale and Sales problems”. Trying to solve them, even singly, is like trying to solve world hunger. You can’t! What exactly does “Morale Problem” mean? Are people resigning from your organization? Maybe they are not achieving targets? Or perhaps you’ve found the company’s newsletter in the trash can? All these are separate problems and must be treated as such, even though there might be a cause-and-effect relationship between them. It’s obviously easier to address the staff turnover problem, say among administrative staff, than it is to address the all too common “morale problem” – it allows us to ask critical “What”, “Where”, “When” & “How” questions. Similarly, the “sales problem”, on further questioning, could often end up being specific and separate problems, such as: •

Below forecast sales of product X in Western region

•

High rate of returned canned goods in Toa Payoh

•

Sales people are still in the office at 12noon when they should be out in the field by 10am

•

Orders taken by sales people in the day are not logged in the CRM system by 9.30am the next day

If it’s the big boss, most people would do it immediately, dropping other tasks, regardless of what they might be and how critical they are. But if it is not, and you happen to be the requesting party, your instructions will not be clearly understood. To compound the problem, most people are too polite to seek clarification, especially when you are the boss!

The need to be specific, to the point, crystal clear, is fundamental to addressing and resolving issues effectively. Our observation is that we tend to speak in generalities because, if we are not careful, we can invariably talk ourselves into a tight spot; we are concerned about “pinning ourselves down”.

I have many “Reply at your earliest convenience” emails, letters and faxes which remain unattended because it’s still not convenient for me – to reply.

But in terms of effectiveness, this approach is often counterproductive. Beating round the bush is like chasing one’s own tail. You don’t get anywhere!

Be specific not pushy!

Einstein was right: If the man or woman in the street doesn’t understand what you are saying, you probably don’t understand

You can be specific in your requests, without being pushy or bossy. For example, you can say, “To ensure that your deadline is met, I will need your reply by Friday next week,” or, “I will, if it is convenient with you, follow through with my proposal on Monday, 24 February.” And on your part, make sure that you do follow through on Monday, 24 February, because he/she will be expecting you to do so!

it yourself. So nomotherhood

statements. Please!

The Critical ThinkerSM is produced by DPI Asia, the Asian operations of Decision Processes International, a global management consulting and human capital development firm specializing in critical thinking processes that help organizations transform the way they conduct their business. It is an insightful yet light-hearted series of articles that take a PURE & SIMPLESM look at the essential day-to-day aspects of critical thinking that separate winners from the rest. To obtain more articles register for our blog at www.dpi-asia.com or dpi-asia.blogspot.com

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