Growing up on a farm can teach you a few lessons.
For example, when a fox first steals a chicken from your chicken coop, you have a right to be angry with the fox. Maybe when the fox steals a second chicken, you can still be angry with him. But, when he steals the third, fourth, and fifth chickens -- those are on you. You should be angry with yourself. The fox is being a fox. Although he could completely change his behavior overnight, it isn't very likely. It's more likely that the fox is going to keep doing what foxes do. The fox is predictable.
If you've been with an organization for long enough, you begin to get familiar with members of your team. Over several projects, you begin to understand how they behave. You know what they do well and you know where they have challenges. You learn that Henry's time estimates are too short, Theo's code is not unit tested, and Jack's always 10 minutes late to morning scrums. Your team members, like the fox, are predictable.
All too often, our reaction to these instances is to roll our eyes and shake our heads. There he goes, again. We get angry with the team member. We criticize them, condemn their behavior, and complain about them to other members of the team. Why can't they just get it right?! We resent their behavior even though it is exactly the same behavior that they always exhibit. In essence, we are angry with the fox after he's stolen yet another chicken. This isn't productive, and worse, it isn't very smart. The way to handle these situations is to change our approach to it.
Expect It
If a team member continually exhibits a behavior, you should know what to expect. Think about how you can adjust your plans to accomodate those behaviors. Don't schedule meetings early on Monday mornings if Sheila gets a late start to her week. If Henry's estimates are always short, pad them. If your boss is a surly skeptic, add time to the schedule so he can acclimate to your ideas.
Address It
If you really can't stand working around someone's bad habits, you can try to address it. You can try to speak with the person to bring the point to their attention. You may find out that from their perspective, they don't believe the behavior is a problem. In fact, they may believe that their behavior is appropriate for the situation. This makes addressing the situation even more difficult and time consuming. There are a number of things that must fall in line in order for the fox to change his behavior.
- The fox needs to be made aware of the behavior.
- The fox needs to believe that it is "bad" behavior.
- The fox needs to believe that the bad behavior actually matters or has a significant effect.
- Finally, the fox needs to have the desire and the ability to change.
Don't think that simply calling attention to the behavior will change it. You need to realize that this will involve a commitment on your part to help the person. After all, you are the one that wants a change. He's happy being a fox. Small changes might be made in the short term, but significant behavior changes can take years to take hold.
Just Get Over It
Nobody is perfect. People can improve naturally (albeit slower than we might like). Eventually, the person may modify the behavior on their own. You should understand, however, that the fox will probably always steal a chicken now and then. You should be ready for it and when it occurs... Smile, relax, and accept that the fox is just being a fox.
Think there are better ways to deal with the foxes in your organization? We'd like to hear them. Add it to the comments below.
Photo: Laurie Pink
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