A New Take on Trust

I originally posted this in June 2007 but it still holds true today.

What do managers do? That's a pretty broad question so let's take me for an example. I am a manager, what do I do? Well, when my daughter asked me that very question a few months ago, I started to think and came up with this, an example of my typical day. But that is not the whole story.

When I returned to work on Friday after spending the week away on business, I spent the first 1 1/2 hours at my desk doing one thing over and over and over again. No, I was not banging my head on the desk but close :). Sometime between Friday and today, I realized that I didn't mention this task in my recap of a typical day. How could I have left it off? What was I thinking?

Well, it can be a seemingly small task and something done routinely and often without thought. However, it really is much more than that. This is a task fraught with responsibility, accountability, and more. The first few times it was ceremonial, it was exciting and yes, I was young and naive. The novelty wore off rather quickly and now it has turned into something else. Let's just say that when I go down, it is going to be because of this task. When I go down, it is going to be for something that I signed. Yes, the thing that takes me down will have my name all over it. My signature will be my downfall.

I sign because that's what manager's do. Research your action, do the leg work, get the facts straight and when I ask, be prepared to answer with information not emotion. Yes, at times I absolutely do have to see everything in writing. Tip: DO NOT respond, "well you signed it" when asked about an action. This is about as non-recoverable as it gets for me.

I sign without much question or fanfare. Why? Because I trust you. Don't take that lightly. I don't.

On Pesky Little Rules

So let's say you make a decision. You put a lot of thought into the decision and you are comfortable with it. After making and implementing the decision, you later discover that there is a rule (for lack of a better word) that indicates you probably should not have made the decision that you did. You made the decision because, all things considered, it was the right thing to do. Yet, the decision was not consistent the rule.

What do you do?

Question the Rules

Decision makers that always defer to the rules, without question, are falling down on the job. The compliant rule-follower in me appreciates the foundation and guidance rules can provide and knows well that doing what's right may absolutely mean sticking to the letter of the law. However, that is not always, or often, the case. As decision makers, we get to spend a lot of time operating in the gray. Heck, if everything was black and white, we would not have any decisions to make. How boring!

The challenge for HR decision makers is to question the rules. Why? We cannot provide the service the organization or our customers expects or add the value we expect if we don’t. So before you blindly change a decision because of a pesky rule, take a closer look at that bugger and ask a few questions:

• Does not following it jeopardize safety?
• Does not following it violate a law, statute or something else legal?
• If not for the rule, would you be questioning the value of your decision?
• If not for the rule, would you make the same decision for a similar situation?

Do What's Right

There are differences between a course of action that violates a statute or creates a precedent you don't want to set and one that requires a change in the way things have been done or breaks new ground. We need to be able to distinguish between the two.

With each and every decision you make, you have an opportunity to make a difference.

So back to the decision you made to later find out it was not consistent with a rule. You ran through the questions and determined that the decisions does not jeopardize safety, does not violate a law, you are not questioning the value of the decision, and yes, you would decide the same in a similar circumstance. 

What do you do?

Question the rules, do what's right and let it go man, just let it go.