Meridian Group - Company Culture Consultants

A person with a problem is motivated to do something about it. Why do we take people’s problems from them and give them to people who are not motivated?

Warehouse gridlock!

It was 8:00am on the first day of my monthly visit to the distribution center. I walked in and immediately found the DC manager almost panicked. “The warehouse has filled the receiving docks with product and is beginning to receive on the loading dock. If this continues the warehouse we will go into gridlock. Then no stores will get their orders!”

With daily deliveries to 200 stores this was a serious situation. Fortunately the crisis was averted but the system problem remained—buyers don’t plan purchases and deliveries with the warehouse people. The result can be a sudden arrival of fifteen truckloads at already full docks. The receiving clerk, reluctant to tell the drivers (with loads of fresh food) to go away, diverts the trucks to shipping. This soon leads to gridlock.

Poor relationships

Communications between Buyers and warehouseman are rarely good. Buyers see themselves as special people and their suppliers want to keep them feeling that way. If you sell meat to a company with 200 supermarkets you will do what it takes to keep that company’s buyer ordering your brand of hamburgers. You do whatever is needed make that buyer feel like a king. Being human the buyer will soon begin to believe that is true, that they are very special. The lowly receiving clerk, having tried to talk with the buyer before and been rebuffed, soon gives up on directly solving his problem and takes the bureaucratic solution of going up the chain of command, working through channels.

The clerk calls his supervisor who calls his superintendent who calls the manager who calls the director who calls the SVP who calls his EVP who talks across to the marketing EVP who tells his VP to talk with the buyer. Going up and back down the chain of command takes time, messages get distorted and none of those people, except the receiving clerk, actually has the problem. The clerk is the only one truly motivated by those fifteen extra trucks. (Of course once the problem expands and the warehouse starts to lock up, the warehouse manager has a problem, but that would come later.)

We want to keep any problem with the person who has it. Here we needed to create a situation where the buyer and clerk jointly plan purchases and deliveries. That means the buyer has to see the clerk as a peer and the clerk has to see the buyer as approachable, i.e. they have to have a personal business relationship. They need to see that they are on the same ship. The buyer doesn’t have a problem, but the receiving clerk needs the buyer’s help to solve his dock problem.

Middle managers also have to change their cultural norms

In this company we had to overcome not only the reluctance of the buyer to talk with the clerk, but of the clerk to see that their role included calling the buyer, whom they had never met and only rarely talked to by phone. We also had to have middle managers let go of their traditional roles in the chain of command. They had to be informed of the major boundary crossing—the clerk talking to the buyer—but understand how not to get involved and take the problem away from the clerk. This was a major struggle for those who largely define who they are by their ability to take on other’s problems.

Once we clearly understood who had the problem we initiated a process where people from many levels and areas looked their role, at how they inadvertently undermined problem solving, and how they could help people keep problems where they belonged and where they could be solved simply and quickly before growing into disasters.

New broad vistas

Managers realized that this clerk/buyer problem was just the tip of the iceberg. They are still in the process of exploring the implications throughout the company, which now seem almost endless.

A postscript—Continental Airlines negotiations

Some years ago I read an article The Wall Street Journal that first triggered my thoughts on “who has the problem”. This is from my clipping.

“At a Houston meeting in late 1994, with Continental teetering on the brink of a third bankruptcy, eight major creditors began yelling at him (Mr. Brennenman, the CEO)—at which point he headed for the door, announcing that he was going home to watch television.

“They were screaming. ‘How could you do that?’ Mr. Brennenman recalls. “I just told them they were the ones with the problem, not me. The first step in problem solving is figuring out who’s got the problem.” Continental ended up with breathing room, and within 14 months those creditors were all repaid in full.”

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For more information on how Company Culture affects performance read http://www.companyculture.com/basics/benefits.htm

You are free to use material from "A Better Workplace" in whole or in part as long as you include complete attribution, ncluding live web site link and e-mail link.



	Site Map \| FAQ \| Search A Better Workplace --- Meridian Group's Newsletter, Number 1, 10-14-01 This newsletter presents real-life management issues and how people addressed them to improve their company's culture. Please pass on A Better Workplace to those in your network.
	______________________________________________ Keep a problem where it belongs — with the person who has it. A person with a problem is motivated to do something about it. Why do we take people’s problems from them and give them to people who are not motivated? Warehouse gridlock! It was 8:00am on the first day of my monthly visit to the distribution center. I walked in and immediately found the DC manager almost panicked. “The warehouse has filled the receiving docks with product and is beginning to receive on the loading dock. If this continues the warehouse we will go into gridlock. Then no stores will get their orders!” With daily deliveries to 200 stores this was a serious situation. Fortunately the crisis was averted but the system problem remained—buyers don’t plan purchases and deliveries with the warehouse people. The result can be a sudden arrival of fifteen truckloads at already full docks. The receiving clerk, reluctant to tell the drivers (with loads of fresh food) to go away, diverts the trucks to shipping. This soon leads to gridlock. Poor relationships Communications between Buyers and warehouseman are rarely good. Buyers see themselves as special people and their suppliers want to keep them feeling that way. If you sell meat to a company with 200 supermarkets you will do what it takes to keep that company’s buyer ordering your brand of hamburgers. You do whatever is needed make that buyer feel like a king. Being human the buyer will soon begin to believe that is true, that they are very special. The lowly receiving clerk, having tried to talk with the buyer before and been rebuffed, soon gives up on directly solving his problem and takes the bureaucratic solution of going up the chain of command, working through channels. The clerk calls his supervisor who calls his superintendent who calls the manager who calls the director who calls the SVP who calls his EVP who talks across to the marketing EVP who tells his VP to talk with the buyer. Going up and back down the chain of command takes time, messages get distorted and none of those people, except the receiving clerk, actually has the problem. The clerk is the only one truly motivated by those fifteen extra trucks. (Of course once the problem expands and the warehouse starts to lock up, the warehouse manager has a problem, but that would come later.) We want to keep any problem with the person who has it. Here we needed to create a situation where the buyer and clerk jointly plan purchases and deliveries. That means the buyer has to see the clerk as a peer and the clerk has to see the buyer as approachable, i.e. they have to have a personal business relationship. They need to see that they are on the same ship. The buyer doesn’t have a problem, but the receiving clerk needs the buyer’s help to solve his dock problem. Middle managers also have to change their cultural norms In this company we had to overcome not only the reluctance of the buyer to talk with the clerk, but of the clerk to see that their role included calling the buyer, whom they had never met and only rarely talked to by phone. We also had to have middle managers let go of their traditional roles in the chain of command. They had to be informed of the major boundary crossing—the clerk talking to the buyer—but understand how not to get involved and take the problem away from the clerk. This was a major struggle for those who largely define who they are by their ability to take on other’s problems. Once we clearly understood who had the problem we initiated a process where people from many levels and areas looked their role, at how they inadvertently undermined problem solving, and how they could help people keep problems where they belonged and where they could be solved simply and quickly before growing into disasters. New broad vistas Managers realized that this clerk/buyer problem was just the tip of the iceberg. They are still in the process of exploring the implications throughout the company, which now seem almost endless. A postscript—Continental Airlines negotiations Some years ago I read an article The Wall Street Journal that first triggered my thoughts on “who has the problem”. This is from my clipping. “At a Houston meeting in late 1994, with Continental teetering on the brink of a third bankruptcy, eight major creditors began yelling at him (Mr. Brennenman, the CEO)—at which point he headed for the door, announcing that he was going home to watch television. “They were screaming. ‘How could you do that?’ Mr. Brennenman recalls. “I just told them they were the ones with the problem, not me. The first step in problem solving is figuring out who’s got the problem.” Continental ended up with breathing room, and within 14 months those creditors were all repaid in full.” _____________________________________________________________ For more information on how Company Culture affects performance read http://www.companyculture.com/basics/benefits.htm You are free to use material from "A Better Workplace" in whole or in part as long as you include complete attribution, ncluding live web site link and e-mail link. 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