Leaders need to ask new questions to produce new results. So here's one that I think merits some thought. To DO or UNDO? This question emerges from observing well-intentioned leaders at nearly every level getting completely consumed with constantly DO-ING. Many have come to believe that unless they are engaged in DOING something - that is, changing, altering, acquiring - they are not being effective. The challenge I see is that there are often things we must UNDO prior to being successful in the DO category.

Take the case of the quality-challenged Contact Center. An executive hears complaints about the Customer Experience and decides to DO something about it. "DO" in this case often means buying or ejecting some piece of technology or establishing new frontline "rules" to protect the customer from their agent's perceived incompetence. Regardless of what is DONE, the doing involves something to point to as evidence of achieving the objective of improvement. Then everyone settles for a bit until it is clear that what was DONE did not DO what was expected. The executive continues to hear about dissatisfaction in the Customer Experience; in essence the desired objective was not met. Now what? "Well (damn it!)," says the executive, "let's DO something else." So the Contact Center adds chat or a callback feature or some other clear DO on top of the previous DO that didn't work! Sound familiar?

This scenario plays out daily in organizations around the world. Various terms have been used to describe the results - "work-arounds," "band aids," etc. I believe it is at least in part because DO means tangible evidence of some distinct alteration in the way things have been done in order to correct some issue. Therein lies the challenge - the inability to address the fact that in many cases you must UNDO before any new DO will work.

UNDO has many challenges in today's corporate culture. To UNDO one must spend time THINKING, assessing, and evaluating. Unfortunately today, taking time to really THINK appears not to merit much in the realm of DO. For some it has been so long since they stopped DOING that a pause feels like nothing is being DONE. Others suffer from what I call the "Involvement Syndrome" in which decision-making has been kidnapped by committees that include members with zero expertise in an area. Opinions are gathered but analysis is stalled by debate, grand standing, culture, personalities, hierarchies, etc. The leadership that funds or monitors these situations blames the analysis as the culprit, when in reality it is in the construct of the methodology where the problem may lie. Often, the lack of genuine expertise leads to some really poor decisions that can damage the brand, increase costs, and wreak havoc on the Customer Experience. In some cases what needs to be UNDONE is the very means by which the DO is defined.

Take a look at the Deep Horizon mess. BP apparently allowed management, without the necessary expertise, to drive the rig to DO things that the experts did not support. This approach was dangerous and the cavalier action appears to have been DONE to meet some timeline. Now BP has quite a mess to UNDO. Imagine what might have been if the Titanic's "look out" had been given the binoculars he requested in time to actually "see" the iceberg. Alas, we will never know.

UNDO means to peel back the layers of effort to reveal the true cause of the concern. Think about this on a personal level. Let's say you want to lose weight, improve your health, etc. The DO options are abundant - exercise, eat better, get healthy. The DO list includes things like join a gym, buy new workout clothes, hire a personal trainer, eat less red meat, drink more water, consume more vegetables and fruit, take vitamins, etc., etc. In my experience, there is not a single solitary soul that wants to lose weight that doesn't understand what to DO! So what's the problem? To be successful we must first UNDO those habits that prevent us from taking the time to exercise, make better food choices, etc. The DO takes time, sometimes counseling, trips to the spa, whatever. The reality is that unless we UNDO the underlying habits, beliefs, and restraints, the DO will be short-lived and will unlikely provide long-term benefits. The real work lies in UNDOING - a most difficult and time-consuming task.

What to DO? STOP, think, and evaluate the DO list of the past year or two. How successful were your initiatives? Did you save 10K only to have it cost you 25K (or worse)? Did short-term thinking lead to long-term loss of talent? Did a technology investment turn into the elephant in the boardroom? The list of calamities is endless.

So perhaps we can agree that if all you DO is DO, DO, DO, all you will have is DOO-DOO on your shoe because you'll be steppin' in it! Find the time to take a hard look at what you are trying to accomplish as a leader. Identify (for a change) what you need to UNDO and focus on that for a bit. It might change your DO list forever!

"To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing." Eva Young

My Best,

Kathleen

PowerHouse Consulting
360 Route 101, Suite 6
Bedford, NH 03110
www.powerhouse1.com
1-800-449-9904

(#39, To DO or UNDO? - That is the Question!, July 2010)