Have you ever worked hard trying to improve things at your workplace, yet end up frustrated with the progress or results?  Or perhaps you've had a goal to achieve but find that another month has gone by without any real progress?  I hear this a lot in group learning sessions and one-on-one with coaching clients. The concept of understanding written and unwritten rules is often helpful to getting beyond the frustration.

Life is filled with written and unwritten rules.  On the highway closest to your home, what is the written rule for the speed limit?  Here in the United States, it's usually 55 or 65 miles per hour.  According to the written rule, you are in danger of receiving a violation if you exceed this speed.  What about the unwritten rule?  If you go the same speed as the flow of traffic (even if it is substantially faster than the posted limit), your odds of getting a speeding violation are quite small.  In boating, the written rule says that a sailboat has the right-of-way over a boat under power.  All sailors know the unwritten rule:  the biggest boat wins!  I might have the right-of-way over an oil tanker, but you can bet I'm not waiting for him to turn!

Our personal lives have written and unwritten rules.  A written rule might be "I believe in taking care of myself."  The unwritten rule might be that sleep, exercise, and a reasonable diet are the first things I'll toss when the demands of life increase.  The written rule might be "My family is my top priority."  The unwritten rule might be that the job has me so consumed that even when I'm home I'm not really "home".

Organizations of all sizes have written and unwritten rules.  The official policy might be "Nothing gets done without the boss' signature."  The unwritten rule might be "''Do it and ask for forgiveness later' always works better than 'Please!'"  A software development organizations might say "We believe in re-use!", but the rule that everyone lives by is "Get the release out on time or else!"  Many organizations state "We empower our employees" but in practice, the real shots are called from up top.

Written and unwritten rules are not inherently good or bad.  The benefit comes from: 1) recognizing what they are, and 2) understanding the gap between them, and 3) taking action on the insights.  Let's look at these more closely.

Recognizing the Rules

Recognizing the written and (and perhaps more importantly) the unwritten rules in an organization can help you more effectively get things done.  Written rules are about intentions--how we want things to be.  Unwritten rules are about reality--how things really are.  The truth is that reality always wins over intentions.  Get a better grasp of the unwritten rules in your organization and you are better equipped to navigate the waters necessary to get things done.  While everyone else is following the written word, you are getting things done because you understand what is necessary within the organizational culture.  In an environment where we increasingly need to influence without direct authority over people, a firm grasp of the unwritten rules of an organization can provide significant help.

Understanding the Gaps

Mission statements lacquered on a wall plaque are only meaningful if the gap between their words and the reality of day-to-day in the organization is very small.  The wider the gap, the greater the organizational illusion.  You may recall the Jerry Weinberg quote from January's Horizon Time:  "It may look like a crisis, but it's only the end of an illusion."   If you pretend to focus on customers, respect employees, value quality, (or whatever else you say is important) but do not follow-through in reality, the illusion will eventually lead to a crisis.

There are always gaps between the written and unwritten rules in the real world.  If your organization is filled with them, don't be surprised and don't use it as an excuse to just complain!  The issue is: Where are the biggest gaps?  What can you do to take advantage of the gaps, if appropriate, and help close them, where possible (check out the QBQ! feature below for additional healthy questions to ask).  A great place to look for remedies is taking a realistic look at incentives currently in place.  If you say one thing but incent people (even subtly) to do another, there should be no surprise that gaps exist.  Use this new knowledge to take the initiative to make things better!

And may I encourage you to take advantage of this knowledge to improve your personal life as well.  Regardless of what people say, I generally find that a quick review of their calendar and checkbook provides a reliable window into the reality of their life.  Take the time to identify what really is important to you.  Even if you aren't living it out today, what do you really want to be true about you?  Feeling courageous for a dose of reality?  Take the risk of asking your spouse or a close friend how they think your real life lines up with your desires.  Closing the gap requires filling in some blind spots.  With this information you can then make the tough decisions necessary to more closely align your schedule, your resources, and your energy with those things you value. 

Here is my March challenge for you: Get your team together and do a little "Unwritten Rules" exercise.  The Team Questions section below provides one way to run the exercise.  You might want to do a similar exercise on your own, or perhaps with a loved one or coach, to tackle gaps in your personal life.

Do you want to be more effective in achieving personal goals you have set?  Do you want to be more effective at getting things done at work or making it a better place to spend the best hours of each day? There is power in taking an honest assessment of what is actually happening in the behaviors and choices of the real world.  Take time to recognize the unwritten rules, understand the gap between them and the written rules, and then take action based on the insights you learn.  You'll be amazed by the results!

Team Exercise

• Directions: Before the meeting, print out this newsletter and have copies available for team members.

• Ask the participants to take a couple minutes to read through the newsletter article.  Ask them to highlight interesting points.

• After everyone is done reading, have people draw a big "T" on a piece of paper, providing two columns for the exercise.  Have them label the left column "Unwritten Rules" and the right column "How this helps/hurts".  The idea is that unwritten rules can have trade-off's--they can actually help in some ways, but cause harm in others. Ask the team to spend 2-3 minutes brainstorming Unwritten Rules they have observed in the day-to-day reality of the workplace, and the consequences of them.

• If you took more time, you could undoubtedly identify more issues, but keeping the time to a couple minutes will draw out the most obvious issues. 

• After the allotted time, go around the room soliciting one unwritten rule at a time from each person.  Have the person mention what they put in the "How this helps/hurts" column as well.  Record the comments on a flipchart that has a similar two column setup.  You will probably have some rules repeated as you go around the room--there's no need to write the same issue on the flipchart twice. 

• Get agreement on the top 2-3 rules that have the widest gap or worst consequences.  This can take some discussion, but use this time to focus on where the greatest return for any change would be.

• Have the team brainstorm together ways to start shrinking the gap on these 2-3 rules.  NOTE: It might mean that some written rules need to be modified to be more relevant.

• Begin taking action on the ideas generated in the session.

• Send me a quick e-mail summarizing an unwritten rule gap that you identified and some ideas that came out of your session!  Thanks!

• Do more?  How can I realistically keep up when there is more work than people to do it?

• Work/life balance?  How can I even consider that when the demands keep increasing at work and home?

• Develop my staff?  How can I find time to grow myself and my staff when we can hardly make it through the day?

Can you relate to any of those questions?  Our organizations are filled with people who struggling to keep up with the demands of life, at work and at home.

In the opening of my learning session called Beyond Time Management, I ask participants to describe the current pace of life in a word or sentence.  Inevitably I hear responses like, "Out of control!", "Overwhelmed!", "Hectic!", and "Stressed Out!".  What would your response be?  Most organizations today are filled with people who are feverishly treading to stay above water, and in the meantime, things are falling through the cracks, people are getting burned out, and the ultimate impact on them, your customers, and your organization are far more critical than most leaders realize.

I want you to know that I can help you and your organization.  Beyond Time Management is a powerful learning session that is helping people at all levels of organizations get back in control of the responsibilities they are trying to juggle.  The highly interactive session is extremely practical and focuses on proven concepts and steps you can take to get back in control--regardless of whether or not you think you're an organized person.  Help is available for you, and companies all over the U.S. are benefiting from this practical teaching.

Would you like to provide practical help for those in your organization or association?  Contact me today to schedule the Beyond Time Management learning session at your location.  As a Horizon Time subscriber, you are eligible for an exclusive benefit!  If you schedule a Beyond Time Management session prior to April 15, 2002, I will include a free one-hour follow-up coaching session with a person of your choice a month after the session.  This $200 benefit will help make sure you not only get the content to help you get back control of your life, but you'll also get expert coaching to make sure it is actually implemented.  As with all my learning sessions, I personally 100% guarantee your satisfaction.  Contact me today to get your session scheduled.

Buy a copy of QBQ now or download the e-Book for free!  Click on the cover above now for more information.

Many readers enjoyed January's interview with David Allen.  Click on the cover above now to buy his excellent book Getting Things Done.

Interested in getting a better understanding of how to re-engage your organization?  This is the book for you!  Click now on the cover above to add it to your collection.

Personal accountability is a topic that doesn't really get much air time.  However, the lack of personal accountability in the workplace consumes more of your time as a leader than you might realize.  And, after some honest reflection, it could just be that personal accountability is something you and I could improve on as well!  John G. Miller is author of the book QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, an easy reading book that teaches some powerful lessons on personal accountability.  Rather than interviewing John this month, he has given me permission to include the short first chapter of his book.  Information on how to get your own copy of John's book is available at the end of the excerpt.  If you don't have time to read this all now, consider clicking here to view the printer friendly version so you can print it out and read later.  Enjoy!

Each month I include links to help in your personal and leadership development. Here are the links for this month!

"Don't Waste Time and Money", by Marcus Buckingham, Gallup Online Columns.  Organizations are constantly wrestling with the question, "What is the best way to increase each employee's performance?"  Are you putting your hope on competencies?  Don't waste your time and money, according to Marcus Buckingham. 

"Relax, It's Only Uncertainty", interview by Kevin Pierce. Business Prescriptions Radio.  Kevin Pierce conducts 5 short audio interviews with educator and author Randall White on his book by the same name.  Check it out to see if the book by the same name is for you.

"Skills:  Successful CIOs stress business acumen, not technical expertise", by Eric Berkman, March 1, 2002 CIO Magazine.  This isn't news, but technical leaders need to be reminded:  if you want to succeed, you must improve your communication skills and your business knowledge.

"Managing Difficult People", by Paul B. Thornton, CEO Refresher: refresher.com. Are you stuck with some difficult people to manage?  Paul Thornton provides some ideas on how you can navigate this challenge.

Horizon Time is written by Andy Kaufman and is available via e-mail or on the Web for free to all registered subscribers.  You are invited to forward this newsletter to anyone interested in growing their leadership skills!

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