Do you like Autonomy and the Consequences that Come With It?
Do you like Autonomy and the Consequences that Come With It?
December 5, 2011 by Taylor Studios
Are you a self starter? What motivates you to do the work you do? Are you emotionally mature enough to look in the mirror? Are we singing from the same hymn book? These are some questions from a recent meeting with other business owners. We were discussing things like reviews, turnover and the differences between demographic generations.
We all want to have the best work places, not have turnover and hire the best people. I want to change our review system. I think our’s is antiquated and cumbersome. Plus we have a coaching environment in which we set goals. Isn’t this enough? The problem is some people operate well under a system of – here are your goals, now go figure out how to achieve them. Some want a more structured approach.
If you subscribe to the theory of motivation this is something most people want – autonomy. Most of my small business owner friends also like giving autonomy. We want to set clear expectations via goals and objectives and then set them free to achieve it. The rub is when people don’t achieve it. We then look to the Cs (Capacity, Competency and Clarity = Consequences). You can look to the Cs to help understand why someone is not achieving the goals. But do you have the gumption to enforce the big C – Consequences? Can you answer the if/then question for your direct reports? If you don’t hit your goal then ___? I posed that question to my management team and got a bit of stammering. It’s a question worth pondering. One point of view of why they are not hitting their goals is because they don’t think they have to. Is that harsh? We also discussed a PIP = Performance Improvement Plan.
Many of us had more turnover in Generation Y (Millennials) than other demographic groups in recent history. My thoughts on why, range from you don’t know what you want to do when just out of school and have to test the waters to this group will jump jobs more than others given the modern nature of work. One thought is this group might not like autonomy and a self-directed work environment. Maybe they want to be told what to do and have more structured guidance? No one says they want more structure and process, yet figuring things out on their own seems to stress some out. I relate it to the new structured childhood that was referred to in the book . We used to go play in the woods, parks and fields. We would make up play in our imagination. We would build forts, damn up creeks, collect bugs, role play, etc. Now kids have to be at soccer practice at 4:00, band practice at 6:00 and everything is planned on a calendar and structured. I think about myself as a child way out in a field on my own on a tractor. If that tractor broke down, I had to figure out what to do. I grew up with autonomy. According to the book, the old fashion playing in the woods leads to more innovation and creativity. Will our future generations have this?
When running a company, there are always more questions than answers. I guess the key is asking the right questions. What do you think?