The friction check
Is it your people, or is it friction?
When decisions keep landing on your desk, most leaders assume their managers need more training. Usually they don't. One question tells you which problem you actually have.
The one question
“If your manager had the authority, the information and an hour free, would they make this decision without you?”
Think of the last three decisions a manager brought to you. If the honest answer is yes, the problem isn't the manager. It's friction: unclear decision rights, missing information, or a process that routes everything through you.
The four causes
Every stuck decision comes from one of four causes. Check friction first. It is the most common and the one training can't fix.
Skill
They don't know how yet.
Show them, once, on live work.
Will
They know how, but don't want to.
Find out what it costs them to say yes.
Blind spot
They can't see what they're doing.
Hold up the mirror with evidence, not opinion.
Friction
They could and would, but the system stops them.
Remove the blocker. Training won't touch it.
We have catalogued 43 friction points. Most businesses have six to ten of them.
Three signs it's friction
1
Good people, same stuck decision
Different managers keep bringing you the same kind of decision. When capable people all hit the same wall, the wall is the problem.
2
It got better on the course, then slid back
Training worked for a fortnight. Then the approvals, the meetings and the unclear decision rights pulled everyone back to how it was.
3
Everyone is busy, nothing moves faster
Calendars are full and people are working late, yet the work waits in queues. Hours are going on chasing, re-checking and waiting for you.
Prefer to check on your own first? Try the Leadership Friction Finder.
Find out what's landing on your desk, and why.
Bring two of your managers. In 30 minutes Jimmy shows you where decisions are getting stuck, which of the four causes is behind it, and what it costs you in hours and dollars. You leave with the answer whether or not you go ahead.
Book a free friction diagnosticCalls run Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in the US, which is Wednesday and Friday mornings in New Zealand and Australia.