"Engineering Management Thought of the Week" Jeff Glass

One of the best ways to help your career is to help your boss’s career. Making your boss’s life easier is a goal which will usually be very beneficial for your own career. One of the traits I appreciated most in my employees when I was running a corporate product development lab was the ability to determine and communicate the critical issue on which we should focus at any given point in time. One might also refer to this as being skillful at root cause analysis but I like to say it is just being good at simplifying complex issues and situations. This is quite a deep skill because there are always many, many issues to consider. That is, in any organization there is a lot of “noise” that can hide or obscure the most critical issue that should be addressed to achieve a goal. Thus, an employee that can consider the multitude of issues, keep them in mind, consider their importance, use both analytical and intuitive skills to sort them and then provide a clear, concise opinion of the critical issue that the group should focus on is invaluable. More often than not, I found many employees would get “bogged down” thinking about the large number of issues that needed to be addressed. This can cause resources to be spread too thin, employees to be distracted with non-critical issues and create a climate of generally being overwhelmed. Thus, when you find an employee who can see through the noise and articulate a clear vision of what needs to be addressed, you should nurture and reward them. Of course, as a manager it is also your job to cut through the noise and determine the key issues but many times you will not be close enough to the situation to make an accurate judgment. Thus, you are better off if you can find these exceptional employees and integrate them into the decision-making process.

Side Bar: In order to simplify, you must first understand the issues deeply yourself. That means first studying and analyzing the complexities. This reminds me of a “Pet Peeve” I have (for my other Pet Peeves, see: https://jtglass.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/possible-hot-buttons-for-your-managers-translation-%e2%80%9cmy-pet-peeves%e2%80%9d/). I am always disappointed when I hear complaints from students that they did not “have enough to do” during an internship. If you really do not have enough assigned to you during an internship, you have the perfect opportunity to define the area you study and then practice your analysis and simplification skills. And you get paid for it at the same time! This is an opportunity that will not come along often so if it does, please don’t complain about it, take advantage of it. In fact, one of the best internship projects that I have heard about was one in which the student did exactly this – his boss did not have anything for him to do so he spoke with several other people, decided what problems needed to be solved and then worked on the one he felt he could have the most impact on. He left a new inventory process at the company by the end of the summer internship that simplified the tracking and managing of inventory for the company!

In summary, develop your ability to cut through the extraneous issues in your projects (i.e., the noise that surrounds all activities) and focus on the most critical issue that will enable you to achieve the goals for your organization.

It’s been a while since my last blog — my apologies! Life gets in the way of so many things we want to do.  As they say; so much to do, so little time!  This started me thinking about how to be more efficient so that I could post my blog more frequently. Of course I went through all of the regular time management and prioritization activities to try to find more time and it helped a little. Then as I was observing some of my activities I had a small “ah-ha” moment. There is efficiency in procrastinating! Let’s be clear — procrastination is generally a bad trait and perhaps if I were better at prioritization there would be little benefit to procrastinating. Nonetheless, looking back over my various jobs and activities it is clear that procrastinating has some benefit. So let me explain.

The basic premise is simply that if you handle every task and request as quickly and efficiently as possible, you will handle every task and request. On the other hand, if you selectively, strategically procrastinate, with the tasks and requests from various constituencies, some of them will go away or get done on their own. In fact, it’s a bit of a miracle how many tasks appear to be urgent one day and disappear the next!  Thus, if part of your prioritization is to wait on tasks and only handle those that are truly time sensitive, you will end up having fewer tasks to do. This reminds me of a story Dr. Fox tells about growing up. His father’s first response to any request (for example, I want a minibike, I want a puppy, etc., etc.) was: “Think about it for a week and ask me again.” Of course, you know the end of that story. Nine times out of ten, a week later, young Dr. Fox would be on to something new and wouldn’t want what he previously requested. Don’t take this too literally but you can apply this to your employees – if you are TOO available it may be easier for them to ask you for help than to figure something out themselves. Thus, although I fully support open door policies, they have a downside.  You need to use good judgment when you implement them. If you procrastinate in replying to your employees when the requests are not urgent, you will find that sometimes they will figure out how to do it themselves. Maybe even better than you could have!

Hopefully some of you are thinking; “But wouldn’t you ideally like to tell people to work on it themselves and get back to you rather than procrastinate in your reply.” Absolutely!  But then again, life is not generally ideal and the act of replying and managing in an ideal way is not always possible. Thus, being passive about some requests may be the practical approach.  In fact, this could really be considered a way of prioritizing.  You are just putting the non-urgent items on the back burner.  This is particularly important for those of us that are a bit obsessive, handling email in real time and tasks in a somewhat obsessive way.

There’s another way that procrastination can be valuable. Synergies between your various tasks. I have found that sometimes tasks organically bundle themselves if we procrastinate.  We become much more efficient with these tasks if we procrastinate than if we do them in the precise order in which they come to us or even in some precise order of their priority. A few tasks build up that require you to talk with a particular colleague or dig into a particular computer app, etc. and doing these tasks together is more efficient than doing them one at a time.  Or perhaps you procrastinate, carrying a task on your to-do list and then fortuitously run into a colleague in the hall who is a key link in these tasks. Rather than spending the time to set up a meeting or try to get on her calendar for a conference call, you take care of the tasks on the fly.  Again, score one for procrastination!

To be sure, I’m not recommending procrastination for all things equally. For some items it is simply unacceptable to let them sit and others will expand if they sit, thereby decreasing your efficiency.  Then there are those that become emergencies if you procrastinate and cost you much more than just time! Nonetheless, with these caveats, strategic procrastination may be an overlooked skill.

Today I would like to blog about the advice to “go for the talent”. What I mean by this is simply that whenever you have a chance to work with someone or to hire someone, you should go for the most talented person that you can find. This might seem obvious but you would be surprised how often it is not the case. For example, sometimes the most talented person is not the perfect fit for the position or the project but even if that is the case, I would still encourage you to choose the most talented, brightest individual. They will learn what they need to and will provide lasting benefit to your organization. Of course, talent is not always easy to determine or to measure and should include how to get things done in an organization (i.e., not just technical talent but also how well someone works with other people to accomplish things). But too often I see people making choices based on how well someone fits a very specific content for a position or other extraneous parameters which will not ultimately determine how valuable the individual will be in your organization or to your project. A good example is how we hired a consultant over 5 years ago for the MEM program when Dr. Fox and I first came to Duke. The consultant was Ms. Julianne Goss (now Julianne Sachs) who, at the time, did not have much experience in our areas of need and had no “brand name company” on her resume. However, we knew that she was extremely talented and we knew that she had a passion for team training and leadership development. So we decided that we should hire her as the team trainer for our MEMP orientation. As they say, “the rest is history”.

Shortly after she began work with the MEM program she was hired into the HR department at the Timken Company. Coincidentally, I held an endowed professorship sponsored by the Timken Foundation while I was on the faculty at Case Western University and I knew that their human resource activities were first rate. She continued working with us while being employed by the Timken Co., each year providing our team training and expanding it as needed and as the MEM program grew. She then moved to New York and worked for Merrill Lynch as a vice president in their HR department, further solidifying our wise decision to bring her on board as a consultant for the MEMP prior to this exceptional experience and brand name employment. As I am sure you know, Merrill Lynch was purchased by the Bank of America over a year ago during the financial meltdown, presumably (on the surface anyway) putting Ms. Sachs in a tenuous position. Well, we just heard this past week that despite the trials and tribulations of the financial industry and Merrill Lynch, Ms. Sachs has been promoted to Senior Vice President at the Bank of America. Yes, at a time when many people are being laid off from their positions and mergers are causing downsizing of groups like Merrill Lynch as it was purchased by the Bank of America, Ms. Sachs has achieved a countercyclical career trajectory and has undergone a significant promotion. She continues to work with us and in fact is expanding her role by assisting Professor Ted Ryan with the redevelopment of our core management course (all while maintaining her full time position with Bank of America of course!). Clearly, if we waited to hire Ms. Sachs as a consultant for the MEM program now, after her experience and brand name employment with some of the best HR groups in the country, we would have a much slimmer chance of getting her assistance and we would have missed the opportunity to obtain her input for the past 5 years!

A corollary to this suggestion regarding hiring talent is the following; “hire people that are smarter than you”. The most secure managers I have known and worked with, make it a point to find the smartest, most passionate people they can find and are entirely unafraid that someone will be smarter than they are and will end up challenging them for the next promotion. In fact, the best managers welcome this opportunity and encourage it. They realize that if someone is smarter and better, then that person should have the next promotion. You can continue to learn from them after the promotion and they can help you with your career development. A better fit for a different position will come along later if you lose out during such a competition. And hiring someone better than you are and smarter than you are, will always make you look good both at the hiring stage as well as throughout their time with the company.

So I encourage you to find your niche where you are an exceptional talent in an organization but do not be afraid to hire more talented people below you. And don’t worry about the brand name or exactly the right experience when looking for someone to work with or when hiring someone – find a talented, smart individual and you will benefit both yourself and your organization. Ms. Sachs is a great example for the MEMP.

For our posting this week, we are very fortunate to have Gautham Pandiyan’s perspective on professionalism and suggestions for our MEMP students.  Gauthum and I were meeting recently about the work he is doing with a start-up company and we began discussing professionalism – how important it is and yet how hard it can be to explain.  He had some great comments that I wanted him to share with you so he kindly agreed to write up the following.

Guest Post by Gautham Pandiyan:

As I sat in your position a year ago as a new MEMP student during orientation, I wondered why I was hearing so much about “professionalism” and “professional conduct”. I learned soon that there were some good reasons behind it that I would like to share. Hope you are all having a good start to your year. My name is Gautham Pandiyan and officially I am a MEMP Sept. 2009 graduate but I obtained another master’s degree from Duke prior to the MEMP and I have known members of the MEMP class from 2004 onwards.  I was in danger of becoming somewhat of a Duke institution before finally graduating and leaving! Each year I have seen the MEM program grow and change in many ways. Several things have improved considerably about the program, and some other shortcomings and areas for improvement have come to light as well. The flexibility in coursework, the opportunities for engagement outside the classroom, the great faculty & staff and more, are certainly shining features of the program. I have also greatly enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm shown by the diverse student body for many different areas of interests including my pet favorite, commercialization & entrepreneurship.

As a long-time Duke student, I have however noticed that the reputation of the program within Duke, and to some extent outside Duke, tends to be tarnished by the behavior of just a small number of students. While the majority of the student body conduct themselves very professionally and perform exceptionally, a small minority tends to act unprofessionally, hounds professors & recruiters and comes across as somewhat avaricious. A good friend of mine works at Duke hires a student each year to work as a Data-entry technician under her. Every year she tells me she gets flooded with resumes, phone calls and emails from  MEM students that ignore the instructions of the application process, and attempt to get hired by hounding her. As a result she has a very negative image of the MEM program. This is highly unfortunate as it might affect her future interactions with others from the program. The same is true of several Fuqua faculty and recruiters as well. It is easy to see how the action of just one person can bring considerable disrepute to the entire program and affect all of us. This is why the program administration constantly stresses professional behavior and why it behooves all of us to conduct ourselves in the most professional manner. While understandably everyone is worried about their short-term future and jobs, it will affect everyone in the long-term if this worry trumps our conduct.

While apologizing for sounding preachy if I do, I challenge you all to adopt a student code of conduct or culture that will ensure that the MEM program is represented in the best possible manner both within and outside of Duke, and I am sure you will continue to bring many accolades to it! Good luck for a great year!

Editor’s Note:  I would like to add that developing the culture that Gautham refers to can only happen if we all hold each other accountable for this culture.  There will be times when we all, perhaps inadvertently, act in ways that do not support this culture.  If we help each other develop the habits that Gautham refers to it will benefit our careers and the MEM program!

The first day of classes for Duke is this week!  This is always an exciting time.  Students have survived a demanding orientation schedule by now and are ready to jump into their courses.  I have been blogging this summer more about real time “on-the-job” issues rather than student and graduate school issues.  So as the new school year gets started, I would like to steer the discussion to what you should do to prepare for graduate school.  The most important suggestion I have is to remember that you are no longer an undergraduate and that the purpose of graduate school, especially in the case of the MEM Program, is to prepare for the “real world”.  Here are some thoughts on how best to do that: 

Professionalism – Start right away thinking about how to develop and demonstrate the somewhat amorphous thing called “professionalism”.  You cannot imagine how being the most professional of a set of new recruits at an organization will set you apart.  But what does that really mean?  There are lots of ways to look at it but I think the idea of “adhering to a set of quality standards in an organization” is one way to look at it.  But a laundry list of what it means may be a little easier to grasp:

• Respect others; respect diversity – continuously demonstrate this respect
• On the (rare) occasion that you cannot make, or will be late on, a commitment, let someone know
• Be proactive and positive; take responsibility for your actions and your environment
• Identify, and help resolve, problems
• Check your appearance, know how to dress for the occasion
• Demonstrate integrity (honesty; sincerity; trustworthiness – and again, honor your commitments)
• Be open, direct and forthright
• Make your actions and words consistent (do what you say you are going to do)
• Provide clear, logical written communication with appropriate tone, grammar and spelling
• Be articulate in your verbal speech and listen actively to others.

Underpromise/Overdeliver – When students first arrive at Duke for their graduate degree, it is natural to want to get involved in everything and experience as much as possible.  The problem is that most of you do not have the experience to be able to judge how much you can take on – there are only 24 hours in a day!  So push yourself to do as much as possible, take some risk by trying new things but be careful not to let your colleagues, professors or friends down by promising more than you can deliver.  And if you do find yourself in that position, take responsibility for your mistake and inform all those who are impacted and don’t let it happen twice. 

Balance – Balance is an important concept for your career in management and your time as a graduate student.  You will always be balancing competing needs as well as demands for your time.  This balance is dynamic and needs to flow with the environment.  You will need to move more in one direction or another depending on your judgment of what is needed at any point in time.  Of particular importance in your graduate work, will be balancing the following:

• Academics vs. Job Search Activities
• Extracurricular vs. Course Activities
• Social vs. Individual Activities

There is no single right way to balance these activities but I would urge you to be careful not to lose the “long term” considerations as you make these decisions on where to focus your time.  It is easier to react to short term, sometimes urgent issues that may not be as important as the long term issues when considering your career goals.  In fact, the impact of learning as much as possible during your time at Duke is tremendous because it can be valuable for many years into the future.  It will be beneficial for your career over multiple jobs and multiple organizations.  Whereas some activities are focused more on a short term goal or need, learning is an investment that will pay off for years to come.

Representing the MEM program – It is important to remember that you represent the MEM program in everything you do while you are here and in your work life after you leave Duke.  (You will also be representing your company when you begin work).  Every year we hear from a variety of groups including employers, faculty from the Fuqua School of Business and prospective students, about their experiences with MEM students.  Those we hear from tend to stereotype our students and program based on very limited interactions – MEMP students are “________” (fill in the blank depending on the interaction – articulate, respectful OR pushy, self-absorbed…..).   Many times these groups are “wowed” by our students but too often, one bad interaction, one student who is disrespectful or unprofessional, causes someone to make a negative assumption about MEM students; thereby giving us a hole we need to dig out of, hurting not only you but many MEM students who follow you.  So PLEASE consider the broader consequences of your actions whenever you interact with others; you are representing the MEM program and all your fellow students.

Take advantage of Your Technical Roots – Every year, some fraction of our incoming students are expecting to leave their technical roots behind.  But think about it, there are several reasons why this is probably not a great strategy.  How can you add value to an organization without in some way utilizing what you have studied during your 4 years as an undergraduate?  You will learn business fundamentals during your time in the MEM program but if you don’t also build on your previous background, it is as if you are starting over and only have a year to learn something of value to the company instead of five times that (i.e., your undergraduate degree plus your MEM degree!).  Part of the problem is that students sometimes focus on what they want in their future without considering what value they provide to the organization.  It is this value that determines if an organization will hire you, not what you need or want!  And consider the relatively small number of people who have the technical background that you have.  This means you are more likely to be competitive if you take advantage of your technical background. 

Well, there are many other things to keep in mind as you enter the MEM Program but I think this is a good start.  As you familiarize yourself with the new environment in graduate school, consider how you can lead by example and help develop a culture that reflects the goals of the program and the aspirations of its graduates.  It will be great practice for your job after graduation too.

When I began my management responsibilities while in industry, it quickly became apparent that I had several hot buttons or “pet peeves” related to interactions with my employees. I was managing a R&D (Research and Development) lab and it did not seem to matter if the employees were part of the scientific/engineering staff or the administration of the facility, on a regular basis someone would hit one of my hot buttons. Over time I learned to control my reaction to these hot buttons and employees learned which items were particularly sensitive to me and we had a harmonious existence. But on reflection, I think that many managers have these same hot buttons and thus I want to share them in this blog. In summary, they are:

• “we have always done it that way”
• “but you let Sam Smith . . .” and my favorite,
• “that’s not my job” (or “that is not in my job description”)

Let’s take each one of these in turn, starting with the last one.

That Is Not In My Job Description – Actually, it probably is! There is a little phrase or oft ignored sentence at the bottom of every job description I have ever read that was written by a professional HR department that says “Complete other tasks as assigned . . .” But that is not really the point, is it? The point is that if your boss asks you to do something and your response is “that is not my job,” you are not likely to have ANY job much longer. And it is surprising how many people still say, or act like they want to say, this. Rolling your eyes, a stunned look or a grunt of disapproval are all proxies for this phrase! Of course there will be times when you need to push back and explain to your supervisor that you don’t have the time, resources, skills, ambition, or whatever to do a particular set of tasks. But I implore you, the first reaction out of your mouth when your boss asks you to do something should, be; “happy to help, when do you need that by?” If a job that you do not want to do comes up, I would urge you to go ahead and do it. Then, if it becomes a recurring theme, approach it just like you should approach any other problem with your boss; identify the problem and the solution and go to your boss with a proposal. Of course there will be plenty of times when your solution is not accepted by your boss and they continue to ask you to do jobs you do not want to do. In that case it may be time to move on, preferably with open dialogue about why, with an amicable departure, and with an understanding of the fact that you might well end up working together again in the future (as they say, it is a small world!).

But you gave Sam Smith . . . . – As your manager, I probably don’t care what I let Sam do or what I gave Sam when I am talking to you because his situation was different from yours. You should not care either! Rather, you should focus on the value you bring to the organization and why it is in the organizations best interest to agree to your request – not because they gave it to Sam Smith. Your manager can generally not discuss the details of what has happened with another person so it is unlikely that they can explain why there is a difference (and there usually is). More importantly, if you consistently prove your value to the organization over time, provide positive leadership with your actions, you are much more likely to receive the benefits of a top performer than if you complain about what you have not gotten relative to another employee. Don’t misunderstand this; you cannot sit back quietly and expect that good things will come your way. You need to speak up, volunteer for tough assignments, discuss concerns candidly (but in a positive manner), demonstrate leadership, etc.

Asking for something is generally not the problem; it is how you ask that is usually the issue. Every year I am surprised by the number of emails I receive from students that start in a negative and emotional way and end with a request! That is not a winning persuasion strategy. At the very least, acknowledge that there may be two sides to the story and that you may not be considering everything that your manager needs to consider. (As a manager you should look past the way an employee makes a request and simply assess the request on the basis of its merits. But as the employee making the request, you need to realize your managers are human and even if they are able to do this, you have just demonstrated your poor communication skills to them). Be genuine, don’t patronize your manager but try to put yourself in their place. What if you do all this right and still feel your manager is treating you unfairly or discriminating against you? Find a new manager. Generally it is beneficial to have a candid conversation with your manager first and determine if there is simply a misunderstanding but let’s face it, there are plenty of bad managers out there. There is not a single way to find a new manager. It can be in the same company it can be moving to a new organization. You may need to burn a bridge with your current manager or you may want to do it without “rocking the boat”. It really depends on the details. But whatever the situation, avoid phrases like “You gave Sam Smith….” Instead focused on the value you have provided to the organization and why they would be better off if they help you find the satisfying, exciting work that you desire. If they won’t, it is probably time to part ways.

We Have Always Done It That Way– When I ask an employee “Why are you doing that?” or some variation thereof, the last response I want to hear is “Because we have always done it that way.” (The common variation is “Should we change that?” and the response “But we have always done it that way.”) In fact, I cannot think of a single instance when this phrase has any relevance. Even in a manufacturing process where you do not change the process without lots of consideration, documentation and approvals, this phrase does not belong. The only thing this phrase does is indicate that you are not thinking about what you are doing and don’t understand the reasons for your actions. It also tends to indicate that you not continuously trying to improve the way things are done. (This relates to not optimizing your career described in my last blog). So even if your only alternative response is: “I don’t know”, this is infinitely better than “because we have always done it that way.”

The tendency to react with this phrase is understandable because most employees are uncomfortable with change. Change involves uncertainty and risk. In some companies, operating in this mode and even answering this way may be safer than changing the way a process is being done and making a mistake. Thus, it can feel natural to fall back to this crutch – you are not responsible because that is the way things have always been done! However, to really excel, you will need to take some considered risks and these should involve always trying to improve the way things are being done. Of course, you should understand the consequences if you are wrong, think through the changes carefully and know when you need to ask your supervisor and when you should just try it (Side bar: One of the skills I cherish in my direct reports is the ability to know when to ask permission and when to ask forgiveness. That is, those who have good judgment about what I will want to weigh in on before the try it and when I would rather not spend time weighing in on something before they just try it. No one gets this right 100% of the time – there are times when I wish even those employees who do this well would have checked in with me first but when that is the case, I am very careful not to overreact because it will cause them to come to me too frequently). So the next time you are not sure why you are doing something or why you are doing it in a particular way, find out! Better yet, find out and change it! Make it better, faster, cheaper, more efficient. Your boss will appreciate it.