A Slice Each Archives - understand-culture

Whose Is It?

Who owns this? This is the first question about any task. The answer is a name.

Point person. This is the one named person who handles an issue.

Go-to person. This is the person everyone turns to for a certain kind of problem.

On the hook. A person on the hook is personally responsible for a result. If it fails, the blame is theirs.

The ball is in your court. The next move is yours, and nobody else can make it.

That’s on me. The speaker takes personal responsibility for a mistake.

Too many cooks spoil the broth. Work with too many people in charge goes badly.

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody

“You may have heard the story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.” An important job had to be done, and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry, because it was Everybody’s job. In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. The story is passed around in offices, schools and churches. Its author is unknown.

The Single-Threaded Leader

Amazon calls it the single-threaded leader. Colin Bryar and Bill Carr describe the model in their book Working Backwards. In it, “a single person, unencumbered by competing responsibilities, owns a single major initiative.”

They quote Dave Limp, Amazon’s head of devices: “The best way to fail at inventing something is by making it somebody’s part-time job.” When Amazon decided to build up its digital media business, Jeff Bezos put Steve Kessel, then head of media retail, in charge. Kessel gave up his previous job. He did not run both.

Unity of Command

“Unity of command is essential to success.” The US Army’s Field Service Regulations already said this in 1914. In 2011 US joint doctrine still listed unity of command among its principles. It means that all forces operate under a single commander.

Do Your Job

“Do Your Job” was the New England Patriots’ slogan in the 2014 season. Coach Bill Belichick shouted it often on the sidelines. He explained it this way: “each of us has a job to do, and the only thing that we can do is do the best that we can.” The receiver Danny Amendola said: “everybody has a role on this team, no matter what it is.”

The Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks, 28 to 24, on February 1, 2015. In September 2015 NFL Network scheduled a documentary with the title “Do Your Job: Bill Belichick and the 2014 Patriots.”

Grading the Group Project

CATME stands for Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness. Purdue University developed it with support from the National Science Foundation. Students use it to rate themselves and each teammate in five areas. One area is contributing to the team’s work. The ratings look anonymous to the students, but the instructor sees who rated whom.

In 2015 its developers reported that more than 6,500 faculty at more than 1,200 institutions used it. One course syllabus on Bucknell University’s website multiplies each project grade by a personal grading factor. The factor typically ranges from 0.6 to 1.1, depending on the self and peer evaluations.

The Bystander Effect

In 1968 the psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané published a study on whether people help someone who is having a seizure. When participants believed they were alone, 85 percent went for help before the seizure ended. When they believed one other person was present, 62 percent did. With four other bystanders, only 31 percent did. The authors called the effect diffusion of responsibility.

The research was prompted by the murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens on March 13, 1964. A New York Times story reported that dozens of neighbors saw the attack and did not call the police. Later reprints of the headline gave the number as 38.

That story was wrong. A 2007 article in American Psychologist found no evidence of 38 witnesses. In 2016 the Times itself called its story “flawed.”

Pilot in Command

“The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.” This is the first paragraph of Section 91.3 of the Federal Aviation Regulations.

The next paragraph gives the same person room to act. In an in-flight emergency that requires immediate action, the pilot in command may depart from any rule of that part as far as the emergency requires. Afterward, the pilot must send a written report if the FAA asks for one.

The rule speaks of one person. The pilot in command is both “directly responsible” and “the final authority.”

The CEO’s Signature

Every quarterly and annual report of a US public company carries a personal certification from its chief executive and its chief financial officer. Each officer certifies that he or she has reviewed the report. Each certifies that, to his or her knowledge, it contains no untrue statement of a material fact. Each also certifies that the financial statements fairly present, in all material respects, the company’s financial condition and results.

The rule comes from Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, signed on July 30, 2002. The two officers also answer for the internal controls that bring information to them. The SEC rule adds one detail. They may not have someone else sign it for them under a power of attorney.

Closing the Loop

Let’s close the loop on this. — Let us finish it and confirm that it is finished.

Check the box. Cross it off the list. — The task is done, and the list shows it.

What are the next steps? Who owns this? — The questions at the end of a meeting.

Let’s wrap up. Tie up loose ends. — Finish what is still open.

Get it over the finish line. — Complete it, even if the last part is hard.

One more thing off my plate. — One less open task.