Feb/Mar 2006

Managers: Are you doing what really works?
Evidence-based. That's the term the medicos use these days to denote that they're using treatments and approaches that reflect the latest research about what works.
If you're anything like me, you probably thought that your doctor already was always using the treatments that were known to work. The truth is that most doctors don't have the time to study up on the latest research for every little thing that could go wrong with you. Hard enough for your own job, isn't it?

Yes, it turns out that doctors aren't the only ones. Most managers, according to a couple of guys writing in the Harvard Business Review, haven't been practicing evidence-based management for probably a couple of centuries. That's right. Managers all over the world are operating their companies and dealing with their employees according to what they learned in school, no matter how outdated or inappropriate those approaches are known to be today--or even worse, just according to how they feel.

That's why if you study these things, you're surprised to see articles about the same problems appearing over and over again. And, say these authors, you see the same old strategies dressed up in slightly different ways and trotted out as "hot" "new" solutions. And it keeps happening this way because we all keep buying into the deception.

It's not because managers are evil, they say. It's just that when you've been doing something a long time, you tend to trust your own experience. And certainly, some things--like the nature of human beings--isn't changing a whole lot. But the cirumstances surrounding those human beings certainly do. What works for a company of 40 employees is often useless in a company of a hundred or more. If you get a promotion to another kind of company and you do what you used to do, it may not work. If you do what your predecessor did, often without having a good idea if it did work, you surely don't know it it will continue to.

They debunk the popular belief that stock options are a great incentive for executives--that this creates an owner mentality that motivates people to work harder and longer. In fact, says the evidence, "equity ownership has no consistent effect on financial performance."

The authors list seven reasons why it's so hard for managers to act based on evidence. It's a telling list that encompasses many truths you've heard before:

1. There's too much evidence. Who can read and digest it all? And a lot of it is presented so stiffly that few can really "get" it and apply it.


2. There's not enough good evidence. Reliable assessments of how well things actually work are in short supply.


3. The evidence doesn't quite fit. Each company's context is slightly different; managers hesitate when they think maybe this wouldn't apply here.


4. What you hear is misleading. Here they mention the problem of consultant accountability--do they get evaluated on whether what they recommended actually improved things? Or do they just get more work--to keep trying to fix what the first try failed to?


5. You are misleading yourself. When you only hear what you already believe, you create the realities you expect. Evidence says, if you expect people to cheat, more of them will.


6. The costs of implementing the evidence-based solution are too high. The ripples from one big change may require you to evaluate further and implement additional evidence-based changes. It can all blossom into a mass of projects that will eat into the time you need to do your regular job.


7. People like stories more than evidence. And stories have their place, say the authors. Stories can be very powerful for suggesting hypotheses, enhancing hard research, and getting people to buy in.

Have you ever been subjected to a human resource practice that made you feel like crap? Somebody comes up with some way of measuring or ranking that seems to help the company improve performance, but it ends up demoralizing the employees because no one ever discussed it with real people. I've seen it often. The authors mention the perils of benchmarking some other company without really understanding why the beautiful practice works there--but might be a disaster at your place.

Yeah, no doubt about it. Managers have a tough job. That's part of why I think the HeartMath.org people are on the right track. When we all start consulting the usnpoken wisdom of our hearts more, the workplace will get dramatically better for everybody.

Sincerely,
Barbara