While it is
important as to how you deal with you failures, at the same time it is
important to deal with the surrounding vibes that get generated when something doesn’t
go as per the script. One of the oft-heard phrases i have experienced in such
circumstances is a deferred piece of reinforcement called as "I told you
so..." (only if you heard me on time).
Before i
delve further into this topic, i wanted to share interesting story in the book- The case of Bonsai Manager . Here it goes-
Dave Kote
used to work in GE during 1980s, when Jack Welch was "Neutron
bombarding" the company. Dennis Dammerman had been appointed as a CFO in
1984 in succession to the very successful Tom Thorsen. Dammerman's mandate was
to renew the finance function, which was rather set in its ways. Jack Welch
balked at the wasteful bureaucratic procedures and the bloated number of data
obsessed staff at the headquarters.
35 years
old Dave Cote was at a relatively junior position, three levels below
Dammerman. One of his tasks was to compile a detailed report of sales in every
country in which GE operated- not for the current period- but the project sales
for next 5 years. Dave enquired from his peers and immediate bosses on why this
report was being prepared and to what use was it being put. The response he got
did not provide him the clarity, but was accompanied by the request to carry on
doing it. "While we have not used it in the past, we may in future",
was the message. Dave was puzzled and did as was required.
One day in 1986, Dave received a phone call to meet Jack Welch. He became quite anxious and nervous on the prospect of meeting Jack. He entered Chairman's room, armed with every possible question that could be posed to a young financial analyst by an aggressive and colorful chairman.
"So,
Dave, you look like a smart guy, why the hell do you ask our operating managers
to forecast sales for next 5 years, and anyway what do you do with this data
?" thundered Welch.
"Well, that's a fair question", replied Dave tentatively, "I circulate it to
the departments that plan for future strategies of the divisions and perhaps it
facilitates the planning and allocation of resources."
The
conversation continued in the predictable manner for a while longer and
concluded with the Chairman saying, "I am going to get Dennis Dammerman
here, and ask him why this kind of stuff is being done. How bloody
wasteful!". Dave Cote was convinced that he was going to be fired.
Upon exit from the room, Dave Cote immediately contacted Dammermann to tip him off.Dammermann was quite calm about the whole thing, and seemed self-assured about how he would handle the matter. Dave kept repeating to Dennis that "Jack was really upset".
Soon
thereafter, the practice of asking for and compiling such data was
discontinued. The episode still bothered Dave because this outcome could have
been achieved had the initial issue raised by him been squarely addressed.
However, not being the "I told you so" type of manager, he set about
his other tasks, a bit puzzled and perhaps a bit wiser. He had still not been
fired, so he kept a low profile.
2 months later, there was a company party. From a distance, the chairman noticed Dave and beckoned him. "So have you stopped producing that stuff ?" asked Jack Welch.Dave Cote worried that a further inquisition might follow. A colleague, who was standing in the group, interjected, "Jack, you should know that Dave was the guy who kept questioning the need for this report and had recommended stopping it".
"Is
that right ?" asked an aghast Jack Welch. "I did not know that.
Nobody said that to me."
That evening, in an appreciative and mentoring tone, Dave's boss, Dennis Dammermann said, "Dave, you don’t know how well you have emerged from this episode. That fact is that you wanted to stop it. Yet, not once did you defend yourself by saying, "I told them so." Both these insights have gone down very well with Jack. Good things will happen to you."
Some months
later, Dave Cote was selected for a much Senior position, 3 levels higher- a
rare honor and privilege at GE.
After i
read this, there were a lot of things that sounded relevant in this story. Of
course, there is a bit of destiny at play here especially looking at the end
result but one thing that is reflective here is an attitude had gotten
eventually rewarded here. An attitude that shuns "I told you so..." thought
line on seeing something not work.
In our work
lives, we are faced with many situations where we could have predicted an
outcome of an event, change or a process to be negative and eventually when
that negative outcome happens, the first thing our minds wants to do is to sing
the tune of "See, i told you so...".
Personally,
i see the phrase "I told you so..." quite critically because-
- It is
actually a dead statement, of no value. Who does it benefit afterall ? To the recipient,
who is anyway down facing negative consequences of the event. Certainly not.
- This
statement may give some righteous feeling to the person who says this but may
possibly hit recipient’s self-esteem (especially when all he may be
anticipating is some empathy).
- This
statement promotes a bit of negativity at the work place where the person who
uses this seem to be saying- See, i was better than you at foreseeing
consequences.
- This
statement may eventually be a backward step in a situation which would already
be so grim. Imagine, a team facing crisis and someone comes and says that
"I told you this will happen". Suddenly, instead of thinking about
the way out of the situation, everyone goes back in the past thinking how we
could have made better decisions.
- This seems
more like one of the parental phrases who might use it to discipline kids. Work
place,for sure does not contain any kids, so why use this.
- This may not
even be useful completely in postmortem of the situations or projects where
the focus is usually the problem and not necessarily the person.
- Uses a
statement of this kind affects the risk taking abilities of an individual/team
in question. It is as if saying- "I warned you and you still took this
step." This may refrain people from trying anything new.
- If such a
statement is overused in a team, this probably is a sign of weak team work
where passing the blame is the key.
- This
statement can only be helpful if you have to hopelessly prove a point against all odds, that too
only to some extent.
I am not
sure if not using this phrase will get one the rise like the case of Dave Cote
but i am sure that over-use of this term will not take one forward for sure. While
i will write about why people tend to overuse this phrase sometime later, but
it for sure does not add any value to relationships- personal or professional.
When was
the last time you heard- “I told you so…” ?
Images Source:
http://www.zdnet.com
http://www.myfacewhen.net/view/166-i-told-you-so
