Motivating People: The Power of Suggestion
03/06/07
When the redesigned product failed testing for the third time, there was panic from the executive suite to the production floor. The company’s multimillion-dollar contract was in jeopardy.
Management formed a trouble-shooting team, which toured the department that assembled the suspect part. While most team members huddled with supervisors and the department head, the HR manager struck up a conversation with a production worker whose sole task was installing a key component.
“Have you worked on this project very long?” he asked.
“Ever since the prototype stage,” she said.
“What do you think is wrong with the new design?”
“I’m installing this part upside down.”
His jaw hit the floor. “Why in the world are you doing that?”
“When I got the new assembly instructions, I knew they were wrong. I told my boss right away that the engineers had made a mistake, but he told me to mind my own business and go by the book. So that’s what I’m doing.”
Her boss’s Neanderthal “I’m paid to think/you’re paid to work” attitude is too darned common, even today. It costs companies untold millions of dollars in lost time, scrap, and rework as well as high turnover and employee apathy.
The simple technique of asking people what they think has value far beyond trouble-shooting problems, however. Asking workers who’ve had a series of authoritarian bosses to share their opinions is both flattering and refreshing. It validates and reinforces their self-worth by acknowledging the value of their experience and on-the-job savvy. On the other hand, people who work for arrogant know-it-alls are usually happy to watch them crawl out on a limb and saw it off. Who can blame them?
When you ask people to share their opinions as part of your daily routine, you compliment their common sense and judgment. Some, like that production worker, will offer up surprising insights even if your company has no formal suggestion system. It’s a practice that deserves a place at the top of your motivational repertoire.