Leaving the corner open allows for the contents to breathe.
INTRO:
This is a long-form post combining three areas that can benefit from acknowledging and embracing ambiguity. The idea is that sometimes we need to let #ambiguity breathe a little (rather than try to seal it off).
Clear #communication is often associated with strong #leadership. When I work with leaders on the skill of delegating, clarity is essential. I use the analogy of placing a specific task in a Tupperware container that you hand over to someone else:
“This is yours now and I am not going to worry about it anymore… unless you are not doing it.” Clear, decisive, but not always easy in practice.
Many areas of our working world make high levels of clarity (with satisfying burpable corners) impossible and impractical. Accepting this means that our time and energy is better spent working with this ambiguity rather than trying to stamp it out or, worse, pretending it is not there.
Language plays an important role in #collaboration, but if we look to written words to remove disagreement, we are failing to acknowledge the ambiguity. These efforts (often in long memos and emails) try to seal off the container, i.e. “Look. It says so right here! I have receipts!”
The areas below benefit from lose corners, and will feel more like yoghurt, kimchi or sauerkraut. Rich, alive and extremely good for overall health!
PART#1: Accountability vs. Knock-on Consequences
WHAT BELONGS IN THE CONTAINER:
People have tasks to complete and responsibilities to fulfill. It is reasonable to expect people to live up to a baseline standard.
WHAT NEEDS TO SPILL OUT (OR NEEDS ROOM TO BREATHE)
In our collaborative, interconnected and interdependent working world, no set of tasks can completely isolate from the rest of an operation. There will be blurry lines between roles and responsibilities, which are often a function of expectations, but also a function of consequences, intended or not. (i.e. "I was just doing my job" doesn't work anymore.)
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO SEAL IT OFF:
A frequent critique of performative accountability is the descriptor “tick-the-box.”
Passing the restaurant health-and-safety inspection should equate to hygienic and risk-reduced food preparation and disposal. The objective is not simply to “pass the test,” and if some areas of the test are questionable, we can engage in a discussion to better align.
Whether it is a sales forecast or a project plan, thoughtful and knowledgeable people working together should be able to align on realistic objectives and the resources required to achieve them.
Whether externally regulated or internally championed, we have to be open to discussions of whether “something has to give,” what that "something" could be and what would happen if it does in deed "give."
PART #2: Strategy vs. Execution
WHAT BELONGS IN THE CONTAINER
There are some hard realities about how the world works. When it comes to allocating resources (time, money, energy, and attention) toward having an impact, it is best to fully understand what is possible. Ambition is welcome, but there is no point in setting ourselves (and others!) up to fail.
WHAT NEEDS TO SPILL OUT (OR NEEDS ROOM TO BREATHE)
The world works in mysterious ways and sometimes gives us surprises. Chess is known to be a battle of strategy, but one move can seem at once ill-considered only to reveal innovative genius. Best to not be too rigid in our beliefs.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO SEAL IT OFF
Confirmation bias is a powerful force as we try to make sense of the world around us and navigate our way forward. Well-thought-out theories can easily lead us to ignore valid exceptions. Like all of those in possession of a hammer (even one that carries due diligence and rigour), everything will look like a nail.
KPIs and other metrics quickly emerge from any thesis or business theory. Strict adherence to these can encourage selective and creative reporting of actual results. We have also seen instances where a successful operation failed to help a patient or may even have caused them harm.
Acknowledging that a theory cannot capture the whole picture creates an appetite to allow unseen parts of picture to emerge or even change completely. By realizing and accepting the uncertainty and unknowns, our strategic minds remain curious and inviting of new information that further deepens our understanding.
PART #3: Governance vs. Practice
WHAT BELONGS IN THE CONTAINER
There are good practices, whether legally required or procedurally sound (or both!) within which we should operate.
WHAT NEEDS TO SPILL OUT (OR NEEDS ROOM TO BREATHE)
Like any rules-based structure, there are reasonable interpretations that differ. This applies to both complying with regulations (to reduce risks), as well as to aligning our activity (to increase our impact). It is the “spirit” of the regulation that spills out, rather than its “letter,” which neatly fits behind the seal.
One example is term limits for Board members and Chairs. Sound in practice, but far from unassailable under every single circumstance.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO SEAL IT OFF
We can resent constraints that hinder our actions, although, in uncomfortable areas of complexity, attributing behaviour to an external rule or convention can provide a nice shield (i.e. “It's not me. I am just the messenger.”).
When we allow a practice to exist without being overly (falsely?) constrained, we see any friction more clearly. When we see that people are struggling with respecting a convention or constraint, we can become curious rather than controlling. The former lets us see the broader context; the latter ensures that should this practice continue (which it likely will), it will be in the shadows... or worse: as a broad-daylight breach that builds cynicism around other rules and contraints.
People tend to adhere to constraints, even if they don’t agree with them, when they understand the logic behind them. To go back to term limits, the thinking is (1) leadership refresh brings new ideas and perspectives that help us succeed today, and (2) we need to have an eye on tomorrow for this organization to succeed for years to come.
Adhering to term limits necessitates leaders being willing to themselves be “refreshed” (and maybe staying involved by taking on other roles), but also requires the hard work of finding and developing a next generation of leadership capacity.
FINAL WORD
There is a communication role in helping others see how adhering these areas hang together: Accountability carries uncontrollable consequences; Strategic decisions directly affect how work is carried out; and Governance policies curtail some activities. Acknowledging, accepting and even allowing for some spillage helps everyone to appreciate the nuanced space between how it is SUPPOSED to be and how it ACTUALLY is.