Bailing Water and Plugging Holes
When the ship’s taking on water, bailing is important, but plugging holes is essential.
Don’t let urgency distract you from necessity.
Accept, acknowledge, and act:
- Complaining without bailing water or plugging holes makes you deadweight.
- Pretending it’s smooth sailing, when the ship’s taking on water, makes you untrustworthy. Leaders shout, “We’re sinking when the ship’s taking on water.”
- Alert the crew with confidence, not desperation. “We can do this,” is better than, “We’re SINKING.”
- Keep one eye on the horizon. Neglecting the future exhausts the crew and exasperates management. The crew needs a future beyond bailing water.
- Make changes. ‘More of the same’ isn’t the answer when the ship’s taking on water.
Necessities:
The captain’s job – when the ship’s taking on water – goes beyond current urgency.
- Notice progress even if it’s slow. Progress gives energy. Bailing water without progress drains the crew.
- Give daily updates. Control the message or the crew will make one up and it won’t be good.
- Seek feedback on your performance and input from the crew. “What’s working?” “What could be better?”
- Realign the crew. Some are better at bailing water than others.
- Continue development. Pour into the crew if you expect them to pour out for you. Development is investment, not expense.
- Throw deadweight overboard. The rest of the crew will cheer.
- Stay positive. Express confidence. Smile. Keep repeating:
- “I’m counting on you.”
- “I believe in you.”
- “If we keep working hard, I believe we’ll get through this.”
Embrace the challenge. Calm seas make you weak, dull, and boring. After a few weeks of smooth sailing, the greatness in you shrivels.
Tip: Keep pouring into yourself, even when the ship’s taking on water. You can’t get anything from an empty cup.
How might leaders attend to urgencies and necessities at the same time?
When is it time to get a new ship?
Great one, Dan. And it certainly can warrant an expansion…
The Leaders you refer to are probably all in the Command Center at the top of the boat, not down in the bilges with the people who REALLY know what is going on, what is leaking and where, and who HAVE been shouting about needing the tools and resources to plug the holes and even to bail.
You know that old, “…without a paddle” thing, well, these guys are often in a BIG ship and have only a small bucket. These same bilge-dwellers also have a hard time telling if the ship is leaning or even turning, something that is apparent when one can view the horizon. And any feeling of movement is often lost when one is at the bottom of the ship.
So, they might as well be growing mushrooms down there because they are kept in the dark with a lot of “stuff” to deal with.
AND, the metaphor also reminds me of the Exxon Valdez in Waterworld. Everyone running around like crazy but no one knowing where they are going…
Good one!
Thanks Dr. Scott. The term “bilge-dwellers” was worth reading your comment. 🙂 Everything else was gravy!
How might leaders attend to urgencies and necessities at the same time?
Prioritize starts with Lives first, property second, may not be the same in others viewpoints, but lives come first to me, property can be replaced..
When is it time to get a new ship?
When we can’t plug the holes anymore.
If we thrown in the towel , we have hit rock bottom and exhausted all venues.
Of course “the Captain goes down with the ship” but we are building leaders!
happy Friday Dan! 🙂
Happy Friday Tim. People first! It’s so easy, when the ship’s taking on water, to forget that it’s always about the people.
Happy Friday Tim! It’s hot!! 🙂
Dan,
Point #4, keeping one eye on the horizon, is so important to keeping your team motivated. In automotive, and I suspect most manufacturing environments, chaos seems to reign daily. Between suppliers, logistics, and internal challenges, it can seem like you and your teams are running from one crisis to the next. It can be tiring and demotivating.
“Keeping one eye on the horizon” helps us not to get lost in the daily “stuff,” and lose sight of the bigger picture.
Thanks for the post!
Jay
Thanks Jay. You are very perceptive. You describe one of the reasons I wrote this post. It’s easy to get lost in the daily crisis. It’s also discouraging for the team. Look around once in awhile. Talk about where you’re going. Cheers
I just cannot get that image of The Valdez in Waterworld out of my head! I used to play with a metaphor of a rowing shell in training sessions and have some funny cartoons that I used around that theme. The LAST illustration was the Valdez with the oars, rowing, with no one knowing where they were headed!!
Yeah, I know I have a weird brain… (grin)
I should find it and do a short blog around your article, Dan. Or, I can send that to you and YOU can pop that followup!
Dan,
Preparing this AM for our monthly planning session of what to procure next 90 days. Phone and emails are flying about the material procured last 5 weeks. I have used or spoken most of your post since it arrived. This materiel is so good. Might even open our session with a reading from the desk of Dan Rockwell. Appreciate you!
Hey Scott. Sounds like real life in the real world! I’m so thankful you found something useful. It just goes to show if you throw enough stuff against the wall something is bound to stick.
Best wishes for your meeting. Keep rockin!
I always remember the first rule of holes in all that I do. “When in one stop digging” Seems so simple but it is effective. I also attempt to spread this message far and wide. Some just don’t get it until they are in so deep, but they eventually see the simple wisdom to it.
Thanks Roger. One reason we keep digging is the hope that if we dig faster the strategies that aren’t working will magically start working. Doh!! Trying harder at the same thing doesn’t help. Cheers
Good thoughts. I have found that there is a balance between maintaining a “we can do this” attitude and an “I get that it’s tough and asking a lot” one. I’ve seen leaders fall to far on both sides resulting in demotivating the team. That’s where your necessities list can really come in handy to help keep balance.
Thanks Kathy. The idea of challenge and support comes to mind. Best wishes with your studies.
And don’t just bail from your cabin in to the galley. You can’t just save yourself. We are all in this together – sink or float – we’re all in the same boat.