Key Distinction · 09
Breakdowns are Opportunities for Breakthroughs
Deal with breakdowns quickly, and see them as impersonal. All accomplishment is a series of resolved breakdowns.
A breakdown is an opportunity for a breakthrough.
High performing owners are adamant about dealing with breakdowns quickly. Unresolved issues lingering in the background are a sure way to reduce an organization’s potential for performance.
Consider that all accomplishment is constituted by a series of resolved breakdowns.
There’s a specific view on breakdowns that we have discovered to be particularly useful in maintaining our own level of performance. We’ve discovered that viewing breakdowns as inherently not-personal (e.g. “they” are not out to get you) is extremely empowering. Breakdowns are just things that are in the way of us achieving what we want to achieve. Nothing more, nothing less.
Breakdowns with people are an inevitable part of your experience at CRS and life in general. Somebody promised you they would get something done before a certain date and did not. You are sharing your vision for the next steps and somebody thinks it’s really a terrible idea. You promised to get something done by a certain time and did not — worse yet, you didn’t want to communicate it because you really thought you would make the deadline. Somebody has bypassed you as the team lead and is commandeering your direct report. There are really endless opportunities to “F things up”, and we all do it.
What differentiates a great leader in these situations is how they deal with breakdowns. If you really think about it, breakdowns are never really about you and me; as mentioned above, seeing them as truly impersonal is a key skill to develop and practice.
Here is a list of useful pointers when faced with breakdowns:
- Don’t deal with the breakdown when your blood pressure is high.
- Acknowledge the breakdown.
- Give your peers the benefit of the doubt — specifically if working remotely.
- Focus on what you are both committed to.
- Apply 5-day alignment, or a By When on an interpersonal issue.
- Put structures & systems in place that support not running into the same breakdowns over and over again.
Breakdowns also happen within systems. Consider that a key aspect of an outstanding leader is that they design systems that follow our “If it breaks, will you notice?” principle — systems that raise their issues before anyone else notices.