This scene was cut from my new book Premeditated Culture. Sometimes the best stuff is on the cutting room floor. —- Samuel Pierce felt it was his duty, as Chairman of the Board, to make sure the new CEO was grounded in reality. “Catherine, I just want to make sure that you are up to […]
I originally published this conversation in 2015, ten years before SWA started to charge for luggage. —- “But, we have an airline to run,” Samuel continued to object. “As chairman of the board, it is my primary responsibility to make sure we have the right person at the helm. It is not my responsibility to […]
“Yes, my work instructions were very clear, but we still had re-work on the back end. Like the team didn’t listen to what I told them. Even after I had them repeat the instructions back to me. I am a new manager to this team, but they seemed to understand what I said,” Rory explained. […]
“But, I set the context for my team. We talked about the work we would receive from the process step before. We talked about how we would inspect our work before we handed it off to the next process step. I thought I was very clear,” Rory complained. “So, what happened?” I asked. “It’s like […]
“I don’t know why my team is behaving this way,” Riley complained. “I know we drive our people hard, and I know we expect a lot from them, but they knew that when they signed up for the job. We are a very intense organization.” “How are they behaving?” I wanted to know. “You can […]
“Most of the time, your team members will do exactly what is expected of them, if they could just figure out, what that is,” I explained. “When you observe underperformance, look for the cause. It is usually in one of these five areas.” Make the expectation (of output) clear. Ensure the availability of required resources. […]
From the Ask Tom mailbag – Question: I hear you say that management is about setting context. I think I understand what that means, but I do NOT understand how to do it. Response: Culture is context. Setting context is the prime objective for every manager. Context is the environment in which work is done. […]
From the Ask Tom mailbag – Question: You seem to think that when the manager is held accountable for the output of the team, it’s a game-changer. You seem to think this one idea has a significant impact on morale. Response: Mindset drives behavior. This is a central premise to culture. What we believe, the […]
“What do you mean, change the context?” Ruben asked. “Jason is the smartest guy in the room, or, at least, he wants you to think that,” I nodded. “Right now, his attitude is counterproductive. So, change the context. You do some internal training, from time to time?” “Yes, but that’s my job,” Ruben assured me. […]
“Is Jason smarter than everyone else in the room?” I asked. “On some things, yes,” Ruben replied. “But, that’s not the point. Even if he does know something the team doesn’t know, he doesn’t have to shove it in their face. He needs to share, so everyone on the team can get better. That’s what […]