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OUR EXPERTS...
Why don’t people do what they are supposed to do?
By Sara Lee of S. Lee H.R. Consulting Inc.
Ever heard of the story about the “Red Horse”? One day, Aunt Molly
was visiting her niece, Suzie. Suzie was drawing her mom a picture of a
horse. The horse was beautiful with multiple colours, big feet, huge lips
and eating in the pasture where the sun shone like no other. Aunt Molly was
captivated and commented to Suzie, “Where is my horse?” Suzie, thrilled that
her Aunt Molly wanted a picture, replied, “What color would you like?” Aunt
Molly said, “Red.” So off Suzie went to draw the picture. Oh Molly was
excited! Ten minutes later Suzie presented the picture to Aunt Molly, and
guess what - it was a picture of a red horse. Aunt Molly was very
disappointed, but told Suzie it was awesome. Aunt Molly was expecting
something more like what her sister received but instead she got, literally,
a red horse. So what went wrong? Didn’t Suzie do as her Aunt had requested?
The Key Message Here: Never assume your people know what you
want. Remember assuming makes an “ASS of U and ME”. Aunt Molly would have
been better off to direct Suzie to be creative and free. Instead, she
directed her to draw a red horse.
People do not do what we ask them to do because, more often than not, we
give them little or no direction! And when we give them direction, we think
they should be able to figure out what we really want or “read between the
lines”. After you have assigned a task, and the work comes back less than
what you wanted, follow these simple steps:
1) Look first at what you did wrong. Were you clear, concise and specific?
2) Then look at what the person may have done wrong. Be sure to tell them
what they did right and that you appreciate them making the effort.
3) Take a moment to look at what you did right. If you don’t do positive
reinforcement for yourself, you may lose some of the desirable actions.
Moral of the Story: You have to ask for what you need 100
percent of the time; NOT 50 percent, not 75 percent, not 90 percent but 100
percent! If you don’t get it, you only have yourself to blame!
And of course be very clear about what you expect.
For more practical advice on employee relations, contact Sara Lee of
S. Lee H.R. Consulting at 403.870.5253 or visit her website at
www.leeconsulting.ca
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