Why Aren't They Doing What I Want Them to Do?

A leader frequently finds herself at wit's end trying to understand why her people won't perform up to expectations. There are really only four possible reasons why people fall short:

1) LACK OF SKILL: They don't know how to carry out the tasks required to perform as expected.

2) LACK OF WILL: They aren't motivated to do their best.

3) BARRIERS: They may know what to do and have the desire to do it, but there's something in the environment that blocks their performance - for example, lack of needed tools and resources.

4) GOAL CONFUSION: They may not actually know what's expected of them, often because it hasn't been clearly communicated to them.

Unfortunately, when a person isn't performing successfully, the most common approach to addressing the situation is to treat it as an issue of skill or will. This approach tends to put the responsibility on the performer to remedy the situation. However, as W. Edwards Deming once said, "A bad system will beat a good person every time." Rather than treating every performance issue as requiring a training solution (skill) or calling for a "fire" to be lit under the performer (will), the leader might also consider the possibility that she bears a big part of the responsibility. After all, Reasons #3 and #4 are factors largely under her control.