Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Alex Chrystal, Manager of Communication and Training at the University of California, Riverside and a MOR program alum as of later this week. Alex may be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn.
Reflecting on my MOR journey, one of the MOR-isms that has fundamentally changed the way I think is, “the answer’s in the room.”
During our workshops its become clear that the answer to my question is, in fact, somewhere in the room. However, that particular room is filled with diverse perspectives, knowledge, and lived experience. What happens if the room is empty?
Problem-solving in a Vacuum Sucks
A leadership title can be a double-edged sword. In my case, it has given me the confidence to speak to and apply what I know, but it has also given me the unrealistic expectation that I alone should be able to solve the problems my team faces.
For the past few years, I have been trying to solve problems in a vacuum, and have made excruciatingly slow progress as a result.
While a part of me understood that I needed to start more readily and proactively seeking others’ expertise to help solve problems, it wasn’t until after our first MOR workshop that I no longer felt guilty or incompetent for doing so. Thank you to my cohort and program facilitators for sharing your expertise and being willing to help others while also being vulnerable, honest about opportunities for growth, and receptive to feedback. The culture we fostered is what allowed me to find the answers I needed.
So, I offer that the MOR-ism has an asterisk at the end: The answer’s in the room*
*if you’ve invited the right folks in.
And this begs a new question:
Who Are the “Right” People?
When trying to determine whether you have the right folks in the room, I find it’s natural to look around and check off who represents each area of expertise. At my institution, this is common. There’s an expectation that each representative is not only equipped to make decisions on behalf of their area but will also raise issues early and relay key information and decisions back to their teams to solicit additional input.
What I’ve noticed is that despite each representative’s very best attempt to meet these expectations, things are often missed. These missing pieces usually cost the organization, whether in the form of time, resources, adoption, campus trust, or all of the above.
This can dishearten a project team and leave them asking, “We had so many people in the room! Why didn’t we get all the answers?”
In an attempt to answer this, lately I’ve been challenging myself to focus on who isn’t in the room. I’ve asked myself and others questions along the lines of:
- It’s great to have the executive sponsor, but do we also have a verified end user who will provide insight on their actual process and current experience? A leader usually can’t speak to the step-by-step tasks of their individual contributors and waiting until user acceptance testing to solicit feedback almost always means rework.
- It’s important to have a technical expert who can speak to what the system can do, but do we also have a functional expert who can speak to when and why the user should do it? The latest and greatest tech won’t fix a fundamentally broken or nonexistent process.
- This cyber scam is targeting students; are folks from key student services in the room? They interact with students daily and likely have means of communicating to students that we haven’t considered.
- This effort may not require the expertise of that specific team, but they just navigated a similar challenge; should we invite them in? After all, lessons learned are only helpful if you apply them to future efforts.
I understand there is a fine line here. Too many voices in the room can become an anarchical cacophony. What’s more, folks have limited attention spans due to the sheer volume of work on their plates. But if the problem isn’t getting solved or you’re running into the same kinds of challenges over and over, I’m finding it’s important to consider that the person with the answer hasn’t yet been invited into the room.
The Learning Continues
I haven’t mastered any of this. I’m still learning, and MOR has reminded me that not only is it acceptable that I’m still learning, it’s also required that I continue to learn if I want to be an effective strategic leader.
What is the way you most want to ensure the answers you seek can be found in whatever room you find yourself in the week ahead?
Last week, we asked how you were most inspired to enhance your own quiet leadership.
- 29% said increasing belonging
- 26% said greater focus on results
- 23% said listening more
- 22% said greater empathy
The relatively even breadth of responses last week show that many of us our working on our leadership each in our own individual way. Building on the answer being in the room, what is one way this week you can solicit perspective from others that will help in your own leadership growth?