Begin with the end in mind

- In this chapter, we'll get into the nuts and bolts of managing a major change project. The most important issue of all is ensuring the change initiative is the right solution, not just doing the obvious, and in the process, masking activity for progress. For example, I'm not fond of using assessment tests before a job candidate has a full understanding of the role since the strongest people won't apply. However, most people in HR contend they need to do this since so many unqualified people are applying for their open jobs. To me, this is a classic mistake of not seeing the forest for the trees. The underlying problem is not too many weak candidates, it's not enough good candidates. In this case, the solution is to figure out how to attract stronger candidates, not designing new systems for becoming more efficient, weeding out the weaker ones. My early experiences in manufacturing, including the financial evaluations of major capital projects and new business ventures. I learned from this experience to be skeptical and conduct root cause or causal factor analysis before recommending a project for approval. In some cases, this required extra due diligence to ensure the numbers and details made sense. When big decisions are being made, it's important for the person making the evaluation to be more persistent, more questioning, and more cynical to expose any weak links in the project. This is a great lesson for everyone, including non-techie HR folks who might rely too much on the advice and counsel of others who have a different end game in mind. Stephen Covey's, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People can help here, especially his habit of beginning with the end in mind. This approach forces you to zoom out on a problem to see the bigger picture rather than narrowly focusing on the obvious problem at hand. In this HR example, the obvious solutions need to be more efficient, but the better solutions need to overhaul the entire application process to allow candidates to evaluate a job opportunity before formally applying. Toyota's five why technique for peeling the onion is another method for conducting root cause analysis. In this approach, you just keep asking why at least five times, just like an inquisitive child to fully understand the underlying problem. In this example, the first why might reveal that although many unqualified people are applying for your open jobs, the ones who are qualified still aren't strong enough to hire. The second why might reveal it's too easy to apply and no one reads a job description anyway. After a few more why questions, you might discover that your postings are hard to find and pretty boring, and the strongest people would rather have a short video interview to see if the job is more than a lateral transfer. Given this, it might be better to implement new ways to attract stronger candidates based on how these people actually change jobs. Rather than being more efficient, weeding out candidates you'll never hire anyway. As Yogi Bear has said long ago, "If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up somewhere else", and this is likely when the problem you're trying to solve isn't the real problem you're facing.