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The Problem is You, Hugh

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I’m oftentimes surprised by how difficult I make things.

Here’s what I mean.

We have a nine-month-old Giant Schnauzer puppy named Remy. When I walk Remy, I carry lots of treats to entice him to remain focused on me. I want him to see me as the purveyor of all things good, pleasant, and rewarding. If he sees me that way, he pays attention to me and follows my lead.

For several weeks I’ve worked on having Remy walk on my left side. Dogs are creatures of habit, and if Remy learns to walk on my left, it makes walking what will eventually become a 90-95 pound dog easier and safer for me as well as for him.

On our walks, Remy started to cross and walk in front of me. Doing so was not only was frustrating, but it slowed us down also. Crossing in front of me happened so many times that training Remy how to walk on my left became an almost singular focus for our walks.

Knowing that Remy (actually all dogs) love treats, I tried luring him back to my left side with a near-constant stream of treats. Treat giving involved taking a treat from my pocket, holding it in front of him at nose level, and training him to receive the treat in the “right position.”

For several weeks I made no progress. I started to think Remy was simply a nine-month-old stubborn brat, or that he enjoyed being in control and able to slow us down. Remy has an exceptionally high drive and is truly above average in intelligence. It could have been either.

This morning I realized none of what I thought about Remy was true. If you wanted to meet the source of stubbornness and wanting to be in control, you needed to look at me on the other end of the leash. I was the problem. Why? The answer is just too simple.

Every time I give Remy a treat, it is accompanied by one of the phrases: “good boy” or “with me.” When I say our phrase and remove a treat, I’m training Remy to pay attention to me, and if he does, he’ll be rewarded.

Since Remy has been trained to know that “good boy” or “with me” means a treat will follow, he also knows the source of the treat is my right pocket and is compelled by nature to get to the treat as early as possible. His recognition of the treat giving process leads him to cross in front of me to go for the treat. I tried for two weeks to keep Remy from crossing in front of me. I wanted him to exercise greater patience in waiting for the treat. I was unsuccessful and became highly impatient.

I had a eureka moment this morning. By putting treats in my left pocket, the problem would go away. The source of the treats would be moved to my left side, just what I wanted.

It worked, and not only is Remy walking well on my left side, but I’ve confirmed that Occams Razor is correct. The simple solution is always the best. I’ve also confirmed that my dog is smarter than I am.

In the world of work, the same kind of simplicity can lead to better performance, but far too often, leaders and their teams are overscheduled and overwhelmed by their to-do lists. They can’t see the best solution that’s sitting right in front of them. That doesn’t mean leaders and teams are stubborn or stupid. It means that the demands of work are preventing them from seeing alternatives they didn’t know existed.

So what are leaders and teams to do? Identify one product or process in your business that is not performing to the standard you believe it can or should. Take an employee or customer for a walk through the process and watch them experience the process. What part of the process is frustrating, enticing or repelling them? Ask them what they suggest for making the product or process easier or better, and then do something to make that happen.

If you don’t, you’ll likely end up frustrated like me and blame the one person or dog that is doing exactly what your process has trained them to do.

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