Tag: problem-solving

  • How to Blend Male and Female Problem Solving Skills in the Male-Dominated Workplace

    I’ve probably mentioned this before but my biggest pet peeve at work is that people can’t problem solve.  Working in the construction industry where we come across problems on a daily basis this is especially frustrating.  Looking through some old notes this week, I found some examples of problems that were difficult to solve until I got some women involved.

    In the male-dominated workplace when a problem arises, solving the problem can take a distant back seat to being a competition of status.  The first concern is who is to blame for the problem.  In the autonomous, expertise driven Blue Zone, a problem occurred because someone did something wrong.  Watching men try to assign blame to each other is literally like watching a game of hot potato played around the conference table.  What they fail to understand is that the problem arose out of complexity and the inability of the male-dominated workplace to adequately deal with complex issues that require the integration of three or more parties.  No one person or team is to blame – they way men operate is to blame.

    Once blame is assigned to either someone who isn’t present or no longer with the company, then attention is turned to the generation of ideas on how to solve the problem.  I love this part!  Every man must voice a solution  or opinion or risk being considered irrelevant.  Some of the ideas can be fairly far fetched but at least he said something.  Over a period of time men will start dropping their idea in favor of adopting another man’s idea until there are two or three solutions left.  Now it becomes really interesting as they try to decide on solution.  Picking a solution really about picking a winner but the problem is that there is a 900 lb gorilla in the room – they know neither of the solutions is a complete solution.  The reason they problem occurred in the first place was due to a lack of coordination or integrating all parties.  Those same issues are preventing them from coming up with a complete solution.  If left to their own devices then no solution is accepted.  The problem just lingers on and on and on.

    An even worse outcome is when the men convince themselves a half-baked solution will work and charge full speed ahead down this path.  This always winds up generating new compounding problems that in my experience take an inordinant amount of time and energy to untangle and resolve.  So I am always glad when they decide to do nothing instead.

    Unlike other people I tell women not to jump in while every man is busy voicing his opinion.  Instead just listen to the ideas.  Then when the discussion simmers down and the men are vying for their idea to be deemed the winner that is when you start speaking up.  As women we are better at seeing the big picture.  By listening to all of the ideas, you start putting together the big picture.  It is like working a jig saw puzzle.  You know what information you have and you know there are missing pieces – you don’t know exactly what they are but you know something about what they look like.  So you start asking questions and integrating the ideas.  The men will continue to voice their ideas, if they have any – and that is a big if.  The missing information is often information no one at the table.  So now instead of the problem just lingering, there is a path forward.

    In my experience when it comes to problem solving in the male-dominated workplace men are good at generating the basic building blocks of ideas and women are good at assembling the blocks and driving the group to a decision.  This is a natural skill all women should practice and become very comfortable with.  Start doing this within your own peer group and you will find that the men are receptive.  Then as you grow in confidence you will find yourself doing the same thing in meetings with more senior managers.  We often make the mistake thinking that senior managers have better decision making skills than our peers but they often fall into the same trap.  Speaking up in front of senior managers and helping them come to a conclusion on a decision is a great way to get noticed.

    Having problem solving and decision making skills are the most important skills to have in business so those are what you need to hone.  A lot of your male peers will concentrate on building their expertise in the profession or trade and keep a narrow focus.  Women don’t do that, we always keep a wide perspective.  As a woman, you want to take the expertise of your peers and continuously bring it all together for planning, decision making and problem solving.  When you build that expertise, you are no longer in competition with your male peers, you compliment their skills.  This is also the foundation of leadership and you prepare yourself for larger leadership positions.

     

    Empowered women are leaders who use their inherent female traits to compliment the traits of their male colleagues for the betterment of the company. 

  • Why the Male-Dominated Workplace Doesn’t Teach Employees to Problem Solve

    There are days at work when I am just overwhelmed by the long line of people outside my door, all with problems we need to solve. In my frustration I think, “Do I have to solve everybody’s  problems for them?!  Can’t you guys solve problems yourselves?”

    Twenty years ago, when I had fewer responsibilities, I liked solving problems, any one’s problems.  I found it challenging.  But as a manager supervising nearly a dozen people, I fantasize about employees who come to me and tell me how they successfully took care of a major problem on their own. Since this has been a recurring problem for years and across several workplaces, I used to think that the problem was me – I was a perfectionist control freak, But the sad truth was, that wasn’t the issue. The problem is that most of my employees genuinely do not know how to solve problems. And digging even deeper, I found I had to give them permission to think.

    What the heck is going on?

    In the past couple of years, I’ve been discovering the answer.  It seems in many companies only certain people are allowed to think.  Only certain people can make decisions.  Only certain people can “think strategically” which I discovered is considered the highest level of thinking.  The directive is simple – they think, you act.  Thinking and doing are separate and distinct and never done by the same people.

    I am also learning that construction has been a little slow in adopting this concept. It seems this philosophy is well entrenched in some industries and it has a name – Taylorism.

    I’ve written about Taylor before and how his philosophies shaped the workplace.  Basically, Taylor at the beginning of the industrial revolution decided there would be experts who decided the best method for doing work.  The experts designed the methods for the working man to carry out.  The working man was supposed to park his brain at the door and follow the directive of the expert.  Early in my career I thought we were evolving past this – we wanted a thinking workforce.  But it seems we made a U turn and Taylorism has met Intellectualism and created Elitism.

    So what do we get?  A new corporate hierarchy!!

    At the lowest rung are all those blue collar guys.  You know those guys who work with their hands because they weren’t “smart enough” to get into college.

    Then there are the office people who may have tried college but didn’t make it.

    Next rung is your basic state college or unknown private university graduate.

    Then comes the management levels who have to deal with all those lower people.

    Next there is a big gap.  Think of a moat.  Filled with alligators.

    The gap separates and distinguishes the corporate level.  I think this is what they are talking about when they say “the C level.”  I’ve heard this term thrown around with a resounding air of snobbery and I don’t know what it really means.  I just know that we are to be impressed by its exclusivity. But anyway, on this side of the moat, we start a new ladder.

    At the bottom are the people who interact with the management of the working and undereducated workforce.  As the management of the undereducated working class you are only allowed to talk to these people in the corporate level.  It doesn’t matter that you have more degrees, certifications or experience.  It doesn’t matter that this low level C person has no concept of the work being done, that’s not his job.  His job is to act as a buffer between the regular management and executive management – so executive management doesn’t have to get down in the weeds, get their hands dirty.

    The senior executive level is filled with people who have long titles.  Everyone is a vice-president and some are Senior VP’s, others Executive VP’s, and still others Senior Executive VP’s.  What distinguishes them?  I have absolutely no idea!!

    Does this sound a little over-the-top and cynical?  A year ago, I would have told you it is.  But not today.

    As I mentioned in my last article, I was on webinars with world-renown consultants trying to teach senior managers how to develop their people.  According to the consultants, it is a manager’s responsibility to train people and teach them how to think and problem solve.  But there was resistance by men on the call.

    And as I mentioned in my last article, one of the things you do in problem solving is ask “why.”  So the consultant asked why – why did so many men on the webinar resist the concept of training the workforce to problem solve?

    Because the average worker wouldn’t come up with as good of an answer.

    Dare I ask “Why?”

    Because they didn’t go to college.

    Why?

    Because they aren’t as smart.

    Shall I continue with another –Why?

    Because they aren’t as genetically gifted as me.

    So why don’t we just say it – a lot of the men on the webinar believed they were better than the average working man.  Going to college made them better.  Going to a prestigious university instead of a state university made them better.  The expansive separation between them and actual work made them better.

    Remember the male-dominated workplace is where men can establish their status in the world.  And education has emerged as a great discriminator of status. So, if the average working man without a college diploma could solve work problems on his own, then how does the C level employee or manager distinguish himself?  What criteria does he use to establish his status?

    So, why don’t we teach our employees to think and problem solve?

    Because it would ruin the new hierarchy we have been working diligently to establish since Taylor came up with his concepts early in the industrial revolution.

    But we aren’t in the industrial revolution anymore – it is time to evolve again. As women in the male-dominated workplace we need to lead the workplace past this newfound elitism. We need to lead in teaching our employees to think and be problem solvers. Our focus for work is not to establish our personal status but to improve the performance of our teams. That is how you win at work.

    Empowered Women Discourage Elitism By Teaching Everyone to Think

  • How To Train Employees In A Male-Dominated Workplace

    When you attend training, what do you hope to get out of it?  Do you expect to get step by step instructions or the answer on how to solve a problem?  Do you expect the person training you to be better at the task than you?  Is it Ok with you that person a professional trainer/instructor with no practical experience in the subject?

    There are many approaches to training but in the male-dominated workplace the primary approach has been for the more experienced, more knowledgeable person to train the less experienced, less knowledgeable.  The trainee watches and copies what the trainer does.  When I worked with trades, this was called OJT – on the job training.  In my office environments, I noticed female managers give their female employees step-by-step instructions which they were supposed to write down then replicate on their own to accomplish the task.  Female employees with a female supervisor are typically shown how to accomplish a task once, whereas male employees under a male supervisor are often placed with a sink or swim situation – if they need help, they have to ask.  In either case, most training seems to be rote and based on memorization of steps.

    I first became acutely aware of how we teach and train while I was in college.  We memorized formulas and equations and in which situations to apply them to.  If you could remember a homework problem that was like the test question, you used the same formula and applied the same sequence of events.   It seemed kids that were good at memorization were the A students.  To me, this was boring so I came up with a different approach.

    I dove into understanding the formulas.  I asked myself “why” continuously until I understood the relationships and how each element worked and its limitations.  I tell people this is why I don’t understand electricity – I got down to asking “why” does an electron excites the next electron – what makes that happen?  Since no one could explain, I gave up on understanding electricity and consequently did not do well in that class.

    But my other classes turned around.  I was no longer bored, I was applying myself.  My approach was to understand the fundamental principles then apply them to a problem – understand then think my way through to solve a problem.  I became a lot more involved in my classes – I started asking more questions and my professors ate it up.  They came out of their trance and started explaining their theories, their thoughts and their logic.

    We were thinking.

    But at work, we try to train employees by memorization of steps without ever explaining why.  As supervisors and managers, we do the thinking and we tell employees what to do.  Isn’t that what makes us managers – we think for the doers?  Isn’t that how we distinguish ourselves – through our intellect?

    Last week I was on a webinar about training employees.  The consultant’s concept was that as a manager, your job is not to give answers to your employees but to lead them in thinking and solving the problem on their own.  He said to do what I did in college – ask “why”.  Ask employees how they would solve the problem then as they go through the steps, ask “why” and keep digging deeper and they will refine the answer or change it altogether for a different approach.  Employees who are not accustomed to coming up with answers will produce less than ideal answers and according to the consultant that is OK.  As a manager you are the trainer and you need to accept the less than ideal solution or keep asking “why” until the employees arrive at an acceptable and workable solution.

    This is the same concept I use in my Process Meetings.  I let my team develop the process as a team and my role is to guide them, ask questions and make them delve in deeper.  The concept requires that as the manager, I stand back, if not subordinate my position and let my team take the lead.

    However, the problem is that many managers get frustrated with the less than ideal solution, take over and start providing THE answer according to themselves and employees are expected to just follow the manager’s instructions.  As a result employees don’t learn how to think, problem solve or be creative.

    There were a lot of men on the webinar that struggled with the consultant’s concept.  One man was even bold enough to say he was writing a “book of answers” for his company.  He was listing all of the conceivable problems his company could come across and THE correct solution.  To date he had over 200 problems and solutions identified and he planned on distributing his book to all employees.  He was taken back when the consultant said this was the wrong approach.  Actually, the consultant didn’t answer right away but we could hear his thoughts loud and clear “Haven’t you been listening to anything I’ve been saying?  This isn’t about you and your knowledge, this is about letting your employee think.”

    The male-dominated workplace embraces the concepts like Mr. Answerman proposed and it wasn’t until I attended these webinars that I realized how bad it was.  On the next webinar which discussed applying this concept to construction, I thought the consultant and I were on a different planet than the other men.  It made me think back to the previous webinar – what was the Answerman with the “book of answers” really after – improving company performance or impressing everyone with his superior knowledge?  The guy gave me the creeps!!

    The problem with THE solution is that it only applies to one particular situation.  The next time THE solution is used, the situation is not exactly the same, it may be similar but there will be variations.  So, the ideal solution is no longer so ideal.  It needs to be modified.  Who does that?  Who comes up with the new ideal solution?  Does all work stop until it goes back to Mr. Answerman and he comes up with THE NEW IMPROVED solution?

    I kid you not, but there were men on this webinar who would say “yes!”

    But the answer is “no.”  Employees need to be capable of solving problems on their own.  “Ideal” solutions developed by experts in the remote vacuum of their experience and intellect work until they hit the Reality of the actual workplace.  This is a difficult concept to get across in the male-dominated workplace.  Even in trying to find a picture for this article, teachers and trainers are portrayed at the front of the class, while students/trainees sit and listen.  I was looking for a picture that shows employees solving a problem while the manager stands back and the one I used is the closest I found.  I think that says a lot about our perceptions of training and learning.

    As managers we need to help employees do what I did in college – employees need to understand the fundamental principles of their job and tasks, then think their way through their application by asking “why” in order to solve the problem. Understanding and thinking that leads to creativity!

    Whenever I discuss this subject I think back several years when I saw a T shirt that read “Think – It’s Not Illegal”.  I didn’t buy the T shirt but periodically, I make a BIG sign for my office that says just that!

    One final thought – have you asked “WHY” the male-dominated workplace approaches training and problem solving this way?  Why aren’t employees taught to think and solve problems?  I will answer that is my next article.

    Empowered Women Encourage Their Team to Think and Teach Them to Solve Problems

  • How To Solve A Problem You Know Nothing About

    During the Ebola scare I noticed that our government leaders felt compelled to project that they had answers even though they clearly didn’t.  They could not admit that they didn’t have the answer.  They believe this gives us confidence in them.  I recognized their behavior because I recently dealt with a situation at work where my boss could not admit he didn’t know how to solve a problem.  He and I disagreed that admitting he didn’t have the answer was the best first step in finding the answer.

    Personally, I don’t have confidence in people who project false confidence because I see them as acting out of fear.  They are afraid to admit they don’t have all the answers because they rely heavily on previous experience to tell them what to do.  This means they have to live and work in safe little boxes and they never venture out into the unknown because they don’t know how to solve problems that they haven’t solved before.  So, what they are really trying to hide is that they don’t know how to solve new problems.

    I thought my opinion was in the minority until I was on a self-development webinar last week led by a leading international Lean business consultant.  According to the Lean consultant, the male-dominated workplace believes they have to know and must always project that they know how to make something happen.  The male-dominated workplace is uncomfortable with uncertainty.  This is because our culture believes that the higher up in an organization a person is, the more knowledge and experience they have – so therefore they must have the answer.  The fear at play is vulnerability – if they don’t have the answer, then why do they deserve to be in that position?

    The consultant advocates that managers and leaders admit what they don’t know and then apply a scientific way of thinking and problem solving.  When faced with a problem we don’t know how to solve, then the best thing is to just try something.  If it is wrong, then it will fail quickly and you learn from the failures.

    The less you know about how to solve the problem the smaller the step you take.  Again, if it is wrong then failure will come quickly.  As you grow in experience in an area, you can take larger initial steps.  Again, it is all about being comfortable taking action when there is uncertainty and not being afraid to fail.  Failure should be an accepted part of learning.

    This is a scientific approach to problem solving – you come up with a theory and try it.  How many iterations of the light bulb did Edison go through before he came up with a solution that worked?  Anyone who has ever invented anything new, has known failure and has not allowed failure to be labeled a “personal weakness.”

    Don’t be afraid to fail early, fail fast and fail often.  Just learn from the failure and try again.  As the old saying goes, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

    The consultant’s comments were geared towards the very male audience who were taught to project an answer and stick with it, try to make it work in order to prolong the admission of failure.  For women we have a slightly different problem implementing this approach – we have to learn to act quickly, not plan and collaborate extensively first.  I realize I use this approach and have taught it to others by a comment I make “I don’t know if it will work, but give it a whirl and see what happens.”  I realize in writing this that I use this approach in cooking… a lot!!

    So when you have a problem you don’t know how to solve, don’t be afraid to admit it and don’t be afraid to come up with an idea and give it a whirl!  See what happens.  If it doesn’t work, then you learned something and you just try something else.

    Empowered women aren’t afraid to fail and learn from the failure. 

  • Finding the Formula For Making Coffee

    I came across this story that a woman (Linda) posted on LinkedIn.  It goes along with a lot of my recent posts so I want to share it with you.  This is one of those stories that we like to pass on.  And generally that is what we would do.

    But I want to take it one (actually several) steps further, as I will explain after the story.  Here is the story: (more…)

  • Women Help Companies Improve Collaboration – So What?

    One of the traits women are most credited with is improving collaboration.  We get more people to open up and participate in conversations and problem solving.  The result is a more complete solution to a problem.

    Sounds great – in theory!

    The issue many women face is that collaboration isn’t valued.  Collaboration goes against the company’s driving, hard charging, make it happen culture – it is sissy stuff.  In these environments the merit of an idea is based upon how hard the promoter is willing to fight for and drive his solution through.  If you are not willing to fight hard for your idea, then it couldn’t have been a very good one.

    Even in an environment where men are less contentious, they may already have their minds made up as to who they aren’t going to listen to, whose ideas are going to be shot down even before they are voiced.  They know who is going to be shut down and shut out of all discussion.  They are very good at enforcing the shut out.

    For women getting their ideas heard in these environments is hard enough, let alone getting men to listen to each other and discuss all ideas.

    So what’s a woman to do – how can she make a room full of men collaborate? (more…)

  • Establish Yourself As A Leader With A Process Meeting

    A few weeks after I got to my large construction project in the-middle-of-nowhere New Mexico, I walked into the superintendent’s area and found most of my staff deep in discussion about a process.  A functional manager within the company distributed the process dictating – It must be followed!  No one on my staff agreed with the process.  It was clear that the process was written from the perspective of the  functional manager and the perspectives from other functional areas wasn’t considered.

    I initiated an impromptu meeting to come up with our version of the process.  The men who reported to the functional manager were concerned about not following the dictated process but I told them not to worry about it – my job was to sell our process to the larger group of senior managers and explain why it is better.

    I then asked what other processes we needed to look at and boy, did I open a can of worms!  I decided to formalize my Process meeting. (more…)

  • How To Map Processes, The Simple Way

    Process_MappingI tell women to learn their company’s operating and management systems as a foundation for building a success career.  But most women (and men) have never been taught how to think in terms of systems or how to map out processes so my advice may seem daunting.

    If you took the initiative to search the web you may have been overwhelmed.  Mapping processes seems complicated!  There are symbols that you use to create diagrams to convey specific functions.  The experts have names that require you to twist and contort your mouth in an attempt to pronounce.  And it seems everyone has a PhD.

    But the reality is that you don’t have to make it complicated for most of your purposes.  No one needs to be well versed in systems or processes design.  Here’s how I got a project started on mapping its processes. (more…)

  • Don’t Be OnThe Swamp War Sidelines

    I came up with the concept of Swamp Wars about two years ago. It stemmed from my work experiences and for a while I thought it was unique to my industry because we have so many classic Alligator Slayers. But as I wrote this series of articles (Swamp Wars and The Rachel Letter) the national political conventions were held and politics fills the “news” media. Over the past year, I’ve seen huge similarities between what I experienced at work and what I see happening in our politics. I am now convinced that Swamp Wars is more than just my unique work experience – it is part of our society. Swamp Wars is a recent phenomenon and something women need to understand because it is having a significant impact on our ability to advance at work. (more…)

  • How To Use The Power Seat

    I introduced the concept of the power seat and told you how to find it in your conference room in my article Understanding the Power Seat.  Now it is time to learn how to use it so you can take lead a discussion and lead your collegues to better solutions. (more…)

  • How Men Are Taught To Solve Problems

    From the example on the “Your Best Leverage” page, poor Bob has to build a wall but has no material.  There is a crisis!  And in the male workplace that is a cry for action!  But will the male approach really solve the crisis or just lead to new problems?

    Let’s look at how the guys solve the problem: (more…)

  • Systems-Thinking is Critical to Our Success

    If you work in manufacturing you know all about LEAN or as it was once known Total Quality Management (TQM). In other industries, it may just be one of those management initiatives you heard about that came and went.

    As a woman it is critical that you have a basic understanding of the principles of LEAN and systems-thinking. (more…)

  • SAC Missile Comp

    In the military the lowest of all ranks is 2nd Lieutenant.  As a 2nd Lt. you are given every crappy project that no one else wants to do.  But sometimes in these assignments you learn something that is so significant it provides the foundation for every success in your career. (more…)