People who are new to management often face an array of challenges while getting their feet wet in the swampy world of managing investment advisors. While not exactly a hazing experience as it doesn’t entail any kind of fraternity paddles (“Thank you sir. May I have another?”) the so called “honeymoon” period is shockingly short.
Wolfgang was a freshly minted sales manager when he met Yancey. Indeed, Yancey had some management experience on his resume, and he made it clear early on (as in the first month) that he was going to do as he pleased when it came to dealing with Wolfgang. It really wasn’t a big deal as Yancey’s book of business was really plain vanilla and not a compliance headache. He just made it clear he wasn’t going to be Wolf’s buddy.
One day Yancey stopped in to see Wolfgang to report a problem of some importance: someone was stealing food from the breakroom. It wasn’t the moldy three-day old zucchini bread left behind by the OPS manager. No sir. People’s bag lunches were being invaded, raided and pawed. Bleh. Yancey made it clear he wasn’t going to be spreading rumors or going to be an informant, but he demanded Wolf do something about it. This was going to be Wolfgang’s first management test.
First Wolf sniffed around and found out it was indeed a problem. And yes, the office was not happy about the situation. Wolf’s boss, the well thought of complex manager, had bigger fish to fry and wasn’t much help. So, it was up to Wolf to show his meddle and dig out a solution. He was faced with a classic management dilemma: fix a bonifide problem but not engage in overkill. What if the thief was the biggest producer? What if it was the complex manager? What if it was an assistant with an eating disorder? What if it was Yancey? Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease, Wolf insightfully reasoned.
A week or so later, Yancey popped in to see our rookie manager. He closed the door carefully. He sat down. He looked Wolfgang in the eye, never blinked, never said hi, but simply demanded to know what he was going to do about the “Great Caper Caper.” (OK he didn’t ask about someone stealing those little green things that go on fish dishes, but the Editor couldn’t resist the pun.) But he did want to know what Wolf’s solution was.
He first asked if he could trust Yancey with highly confidential information. Could he keep a secret? Yancey said of course he could be trusted – he was not the office blabbermouth he said. Then Wolf deployed his brilliant plan. He told Yancey that two days after their previous conversation the office installed a pair of micro sized cameras in the breakroom to photograph the thief. Moreover, they already had two clear images of the thief in action. The firm was ready to fire the offender immediately after they got a third picture since those anal human resources weenies insisted on it. It was just a matter of time. Yancey was again sworn to secrecy and he went on with his day.
It was very interesting to Wolf to see what happened next. The thieving stopped immediately. As in that day. He also noticed that the breakroom was being utilized a whole lot less. And when people were in that room, even just to get a cup of coffee, they were looking around at the ceiling, the floor and all around. Clearly, they were looking for the cameras. Finally, Yancey still stopped in to see Wolf, but the conversations were businesslike. Yancey wasn’t ever going to be Wolf’s friend, but no doubt, he had now won Yancey’s respect. Wolfgang had passed the test.
By the way, no cameras were actually installed.
So, what did we learn here kiddies?
- No matter what they teach you in management training school, not every problem requires direct, dramatic action. In this case, the relatively trivial yet real problem went away without meetings, announcements, memos or confrontation.
- Be careful about trusting folks you don’t know well with confidential information. In this case, the savvy rookie manager, got information out and figured out who might be a player in the underground communication network that exist in all offices. He also knew one producer he could never confide in.
- That underground communication network can be selectively exploited to accomplish management objectives.
- Creativity is a good substitute for confrontation.
- Sometimes you don’t have to get to the absolute bottom of an issue to act on it.
- Find a way to get a win early. In this case, the opportunity for a win came to Wolf. He recognized it and acted on it.
- Sometimes new managers are told to do nothing for 90 days. While it makes sense to get the full lay of the land, find ways to build respect and political capital. You’ll need them in large supply soon enough!
Got any examples of creative problem solving? Of course you do. Email them to the editor confidentially at manageia2@gmail.com.
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