Overview

The purpose of this blog post series is to provide a conceptual framework and a set of tools that dramatically improve your performance as a leader. No matter where you are in your organization, from construction crew or design/engineering team member, or a foreman or project manager, to corporate executive. New best practices in AEC industry operations, driven by lean and progressive design-build, require us to rethink leadership.

Objective

In this ninth post we present more of what you need to know to become a High-Performance Leader. In this post we apply the Win/Win decisions discussed on HPL Post #8 to the challenge of how to lead collaborative problem solving.

High Performance Leadership: Collaborative Problem Solving

Welcome back to this High-Performance Leadership Blog Series. If you have not read Posts 1-8 yet, please consider doing so. They will set the stage for this discussion.

In this post #9 we'll discuss how to lead problem-solving efforts. Big agreements at the end of a problem-solving process are generated by a series of smaller agreements. Put another way, if you don't agree on the problem, you probably won't agree on the solution.

The big agreements on the problem and then on the solution often require stakeholders to answer questions like these listed below, and build a foundation of smaller agreements:

• Is this a problem that needs to be addressed now?
• Do we sufficiently understand the situation, its important elements and causes?
• Do we have a clear, compelling definition of the issue(s) to be addressed?
• Have we envisioned and agreed on what success should look like?
• Has that vision of success been turned into clear Conditions of Satisfaction (COS) and success criteria by which we can measure the results of our new actions?
• Have we identified all the solution/improvement options we should consider?
• Have we evaluated those options to understand the relative advantages/value of each?
• Have we agreed on solutions/improvements to recommend for implementation?
• Have we identified a workable path forward?

These questions will require many important conversations, evaluations, and agreements. These discussions should happen in a planned, but agile process. Leading such a process can be a bit like conducting a 7th grade orchestra class as it gets ready for the big annual concert. You need to keep in mind how the music should sound while you guide many improvements and corrections along the way. You must be on top of your game.

Let's begin with the problems caused by the word "Problem".

In common language, the word "problem" has a negative connotation, as in "What's your problem, man!?" We imagine how nice life would be without "problems". But we know that such wishful thinking is not realistic. Our lives demand a constant series of problem-solving exercises where we, alone or as a team, make one choice after another. And each choice has consequences which might require additional problem solving.

Solving problems, making choices and acting on them are basic life skills. Leading a team of diverse people through collaborative problem solving about complex design or operations issues requires more than basic skills.

In High-Performance Leadership, we embrace the pursuit of perfection in the face of complexity, uncertainty, and changing conditions. We focus on constant improvement of our means and methods to create ever-better technical and social system outcomes. To be successful, we need tools and best practices to lead collaborative problem solving: conceptual tools, Interpersonal/behavioral tools, and process tools/templates.

Here are some helpful conceptual models that can also be used as templates.

Here is a simple model:

W. Edwards Deming, one of the fathers of Total Quality Management, pointed out that "no person can perform better than the limits of the system in which they work allow." This has profound implications. It directs us to focus away from individual failures and blame. Instead, we focus on how to improve the performance of our work processes and systems. If you have not carefully analyzed your current situation and defined your future goals/metrics it will be hard to identify and implement corrective solutions.

The envisioned future should be free of the current problems. The gap between current and desired states must be bridged by coordinated improvements over time – what we call "change initiatives". The more complex the situation, the more stakeholders must be involved. Conflicting stakeholder interests must be resolved. All this demands High-Performance leadership skills.

How do we determine the complexity of the problem situation? Here is a model to determine the relative complexity of any situation we face so that we can vary our approach accordingly.

Simple problems usually don't need a team. We need to join two objects: Nail? Screw? Glue?

At the opposite end of the scale, "Wicked" problems, a term coined in the UK where several huge civil projects, like the construction of Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, or the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, were so long and complex that we had to assume at least some critical conditions would change and some planned solutions would become obsolete. Agility is needed to turn an aircraft carrier. On big projects a mix of agility and stamina are required to balance continuing progress against unavoidable change.

Complex problems are the most common sort in construction. They require a more nuanced, whole-systems approach. They are like puzzles with many pieces to manage and fit together. Often, several elements of the situation must be figured out and changed in a coordinated and simultaneous process. The conversation between structural and mechanical engineering during design is an example of the need to collaborate to find the best possible solution that addresses potentially differing COS.

The C-A-C example below provides generic examples of Current State analyses that can be conducted, and examples of future state considerations to be explored. This example was created by an organization that undertook a Lean Transformation. Note that the Arrow contains parallel transformation initiatives. Several cross-functional change teams simultaneously worked on and coordinated their work to create a comprehensive transformation solution.

In this example, the leadership of a construction organization needed a compelling story to engage all the diverse stakeholders needed to support the transformation. The current state analysis must explore and confirm a need to improve things. The future state vision must inspire commitment to the promise of a better future. The parallel change initiatives need to design and coordinate changes that support each other team's efforts.

All this takes High-Performance Leadership skills and tools to make it work. Collaborative Problem Solving requires a series of meetings that engage the right stakeholders at the right time. With simultaneous design or construction teams the series of inter-related team meetings must consider where the work of one team can affect the work of the other teams.

Successful facilitation requires us to keep discussions well organized and productive. Our focus on the current situation requires an analytical mental state. Our definition of a desired future state requires a creative, imaginative mental state. Getting agreement on solutions needed to make the required changes requires curiosity, and a win/win mental state. Teams can break down if members are not clear which activity is needed, in what sequence. There are distinct problem-solving tools that facilitate each of these types of interactions and thinking.

In post # 10, the final in this series, we will provide a useful problem-solving model that will help you know where you are and where you need to go next in the problem-solving process, no matter the complexity. We will explore the "Problem-Solving Pathway" which provides a framework for building collaborative agreements that generate great follow-through. We'll wrap up with some key takeaways. Don't miss it!