The American view:Frictionless Performance Always Outshines the “Hot New Methodology”

 I read a lot of leadership-focused material. Not so much to learn the creators’ “nuggets of brilliance” but to understand how my peers and new hires will be changing their own leadership styles to keep up with current trends. Since I got into corpo work, I’ve seen all kinds of trendy “leadership revelations” flash and fade: Lean Everything, Total Quality, Six Sigma, Agile, Whatever Maxxxing, et al, ad absurdum. I appreciate the theoretical value of fresh starts and new ideas, but I’ve never been swept up by the hype that ushers in every new “miracle methodology.” No matter how jazzed people get over it, the Hip New ThingTM never delivers on its utopian promises.

For the record, I’m not – I swear! – a bitter old coot who refuses to let go of the past. I agree with the gurus that change is inevitable and that new ideas deserve a fair hearing. That’s where we part ways, though. Just because a management idea is new doesn’t make it auto-magically true. Even if your cool new take worked once doesn’t mean it’ll work anywhere else, pal.

What has always worked for me is the humble proletariat pedestrian principle of “learn your job.” You can dress that idea up as “P-cubed” or “Three Ps” to fleece the working masses, but at its heart is one simple rule: “no, seriously: lean how to do your bloody job!” You’d think that idea would be so obvious that it wouldn’t require a brand name to catch on. Unfortunately, as our current farce of a government continues to demonstrate, it’s exasperatingly clear that executive management still hasn’t grokked the concept.

My “bottom line o front” assertion is simple: If you intend to lead other people, you must earn your people’s respect and trust. The first step in earning others’ trust that is to demonstrate that you know what the [BLEEP] you’re doing.