Two Way Traffic...

A recent jaunt to Johnson City, TN gave me ample opportunity to do some thinking on quite a number of fronts, as you might imagine. One thought that was spurred by the numerous highway construction sites we encountered on the trip. Traffic in those areas was slow and congested, typically a result on the road narrowing to one lane. But, in one particular case the traffic issue was due to One Way traffic. As I sat there hoping for a fast resolution, my thoughts drifted to good ole work.

I got to thinking about how many times in my career I’ve been exposed to situations that I’ll analogize as One Way traffic. A very basic human characteristic is that we are chronic complainers. People are almost always quick to criticize or complain about something and rarely make or take the effort to understand whatever it is any better. Rather, they will spend a great deal of effort complaining about the way things are….rather than channeling that effort into understanding why things are the way they appear….better yet….spend some time trying to positively bring about a change…or in other words---trying to COMMUNICATE.

Most of my career with this Org. has been in some time of supervisory role. Countless times exist where an employee has criticized me or the Org. because of some decision or directive. While I certainly lay no claims towards perfection or as having all of the answers, I have been employed to making decisions and setting some direction…..and as such, my efforts are geared towards that end. I thought back on some of the history and tried to identify what it was that was central to the exchange. I break my trance….traffic still a dead stop---as the one way traffic coming towards me funnels past. It occurs to me… Aha!

ONE WAY TRAFFIC! That was it….for whatever reason in many of those cases I was thinking about, was due to one way traffic. Information was exchanged in only one direction--- The other party didn’t think they had a voice, a say in the decision and was upset as a result. I challenged this thought---Hmmm, not that unusual I think—as a child, Mom and Dad direct, in grade school through high school, the instructors direct. In college, the Profs direct…in my early years with this Org. they direct….today my Super directs. At home my wife directs…etc, etc, etc…. OK so it’s not like people aren’t used to be told what to do and when to do it. So what’s the difference?

The difference in many cases is that the other party doesn’t like the decision/direction because it directly impacts them in some way. The decision, whatever it is, requires some effort from this person. (If you haven’t noticed, few folks complain about issues that don’t affect them…) As a result, they don’t like it…from this point on it’s a wrong or bad decision/direction and the complaints will start to roll. Rather than stand up and address the issue with the decision maker, most folks choose to instead just complain.

Try to see it from this perspective…When the unhappy person made decision that they disliked the decision/direction if the thought process had been…”I think I’ll ask for some time with “Jim” and ask about the (insert your issue here), problem, and see why that decision was made AND let him know why I don’t think it’s a good move…” WOW!! Epiphany material!! The decision to communicate with the other person to identify all of the factors that went into their decision and discuss it with them would likely add another perspective to the situation. Perhaps even help alleviate some concern or misperceptions.

Unfortunately, in my experience that rarely happens. I believe it takes a very mature person to arrive at that type of thought process. But, once that maturity is attained, the results can be spectacular for the company and the supervisor/employee relationship. It’s called mutual respect. No harm comes as a result of mutual respect…in fact in my experience…only positives have resulted from that type of relationship.

As the work force changes and expectations about the work environment also shift, that maturity and code of conduct will be essential. I see it more and more every day in the generation just now entering the work force. They are willing to step up and ask the questions…they are willing to ask for time to discuss issues that are relevant to them. They will have a much better understanding (and relationship) with their employer because they are willing to assume some ownership on the issue. They are willing to discuss it…to find out more…to grow. Hence this type of relationship becomes a TWO WAY traffic situation….and that is ALL GOOD.

As we work towards moving Conservation forward from a technology perspective….lets all make a vow today to communicate more often and make it of better quality….with our customers, with other staff, with our supervisors and leadership. The results will certainly be a more informed, mature workforce that is spending less time complaining about things (aka doing nothing productive) and more time focused on improving them.

My efforts at improving traffic flow?.....I encourage each and every one of you to stop in my office sometime…ask a question…try to gain (OR provide) additional perspective. If you have a situation that doesn’t make sense to you, let’s talk about it…otherwise ONE of us is sitting dead still on the Interstate of life, watching the other lane move past us…

TAFN