Preventative Management
by Miki SaxonAre you familiar with the old sayings, “don’t trouble trouble unless trouble troubles you” or “don’t go looking for trouble?”
More and more often I hear from and about managers at all levels who seem to be making this attitude central to their management approach.
Not just managers, but workers, too, have absorbed the message into their MAP.
They tell me that they are so overloaded, so busy, with so many fires to fight, that they can only deal with what is actually happening.
They claim there is no time for preventatives; no time to “nip [whatever] in the bud.”
I tell them that if they made time to stamp out the sparks now they wouldn’t be fighting so many fires next week/month/year.
What about you?
Are you a firefighter or Smokey the Bear?
Flickr photo credit to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/billmcdavid/3840647521/
May 17th, 2010 at 6:21 am
Just had a discussion about this the other day with my boss. It seems as though management here spends more and more time dealing with small acute issues. It didn’t used to happen as much. I have introspectively been trying to figure out if I’ve changed my management practices, if the newer employees have a different set of skills and expections, if the customers have a different set of expectations or what exactly has changed in the last couple of years. It is frustrating – I feel like I am too close to the issue to really get a clear picture of it.
May 17th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Hi Julie, analyzing things in which we are directly involved is always frustrating.
I think it goes without saying that the expectations of both employees and customers have changed, although that is nothing new. Expectations are always changing, but they seem to be changing faster and more drastically these days. I think the giant debate on health care focused a lot of consumers on what they get vs. what they think they should get vs. what they really want. New employees, not just the young ones, are focusing more on work/life balance and their own desires as opposed to their company’s. The never-ending wars, economic uncertainty and stuff like the BP oil spill raise stress levels that, in turn, exacerbates everything.
Sometimes, listening to what is being said as if it were a foreign language helps. It forces you to listen more carefully and not to make automatic, subconscious assumptions about what the person means. It’s a start to getting some of the distance you need.
Feel free to call me if you would like an uninvolved sounding board.