Hi! My Name is Larry (Part 3)

So you’ve scoped out the creatures of habit at the water cooler as well as the other office types struggling to understand your role as a quality professional, including Lacking Larry. You’re still drinking coffee, smiling, and feeling the corporate high winds you sailed in on.

Before you begin to suspect those winds are the start of a storm, let’s take a moment to journey into the intriguing mind of your new friend Larry, a virtual composite of Larrys everywhere. As a Director, he’s likely spent the last several years diligently working to ensure that his high tech, highly regulated widget production unit is in tip top shape. He’s been rallying for a promotion ever since Politicking Paul moved into a VP position and the corner office. He’s recently hired and fired several folks. The rest of his employees rotate in and out his door while he struggles to navigate through typical office politics and figure out what makes his new boss tick, the third one he’s had in five years due to restructuring that never ends.

And perhaps we’re not supposed to talk about it, but at home he has two teenage daughters (one with pink hair), a young son recently diagnosed with ADHD, and an irritating mother-in-law. His lovely wife frequently complains because he works late, but she keeps spending money. It took Larry years of long hours to reach this level of success. When he was younger, his heart beat three times the norm when he thought of having his own office and a laptop versus a desktop. While in his thirties, he went to night school to earn a Master’s Degree. Overall, Larry’s a pretty good guy with plenty of IQ points. His life is complicated just like yours.

This could be Larry’s story. Who knows what his story is. The point is that he has one and he worked hard to create it. He’s got a plan and he’s moving forward, or at least he thinks he is. And in the split second that his office door stops revolving, in you walk with your fantastic ideas about how to improve his process or increase his compliance. Maybe you actually only have ideas about how to help him identify gaps and perform root cause analysis of his existing compliance data. Maybe you suspect he simply needs to clarify his key indicators or design a more straightforward scorecard. Regardless, based on what Larry’s been told, he views you as a self-proclaimed widget production expert. He wonders where the hell you earned your advanced degree in widgets. He suddenly gets a quirk in his neck.

Let’s give Larry a break, shall we? He’s just trying to do is job, one he’s actually quite good at. But so am I, you lament. I am the new vision, the corporate high.

Well, Larry doesn’t look so high nor does he appear ready to partake. So you wonder what he’s lacking. As you introduce yourself and explain your role in his vital widget operation, you wonder if it’s the lack of IQ points, experience, or general understanding of quality concepts that’s put a dull look in his eyes. Your heart sinks just a tad but you try not to show it. Got to keep the game face on. Focus on the customer. Focus on Larry. Focus.

How the heck do you win Larry over? The guy down the hall told you Larry needs help. Your boss told you Larry’s standoffish. The employee you inherited told you Larry is a great guy but too busy to talk to his direct reports for any length of time. Must I have a psychology degree to do this job, you wonder. No, but it does help to try and understand the story behind the desk. Delving into what motivates the creatures of habit, warriors of corporate politics, and game face gurus is key to understanding how you can help them help themselves.

Helping them help themselves is, in my opinion, the best approach these days. Quality management calls for Servant Leadership not a dictatorship or place for narcissist behaviors, regardless of how many black belt projects you’ve completed. Let’s face it, managers are busy. Larry may not know exactly what’s lacking in his current processes or how he can improve compliance, but he does have an excellent grasp of what chews up his time, whether it’s employee or customer driven. He knows what’s causing the quirk in his neck and what feels like a giant monkey on his back. If you can inspire him to share his concerns, if you can motivate him to show you his monkey, you can make a great start in not only winning him over but in helping him identify which issues can possibly be alleviated. Be his servant rather than a new quirk in his neck. Everyone needs a servant. Be a leader.

By the way, if your name happens to be Larry, please remember that we’re here to support you, not burden you. Our mutual goal is to make your work easier, your numbers better, and your customers and employees happier. Maybe, just maybe, this is the year you’ll get that promotion.

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This is the third post of a five-part series on aberrations in the workplace (with a quality management spin). To see what it's all about go here.

Also see:

The Old Bait and Switch (Part 1)
Hocus Pocus Customer Focus (Part 2)
The Jolly Metrics Hayride (Part 4)
Where is my Dream Team? (Part 5)