By Chad Pearson, Plexxis
If your projects look financially fit until they reach 80%-90% complete-when the wheels fall off the cart and profits plummet-this article is for you.
And if you have invested significant time and money into clever spreadsheets, custom reports, consultants and technology that connect the field and office, yet STILL have this problem, this article is definitely for you.
You may want to look beyond technology and process to the human element, and consider a drastic shift in culture as a solution to your unreliable data and poor job visibility. Hang with me and I’ll break it down….
People touching data is likely the cause of distortion.
There are thousands of ways humans distort data, but we’re going to focus on two that create an environment that makes it almost impossible to get accurate data, regardless of how good your technology is.
The two human trends are
1) Price’s Law and
2) our increasing addiction to distraction.
Trend #1 is Price’s law, which says that 50 percent of the work is done by the square root of the total number of people who participate in any project. It’s an unfortunate equation that is accurate more often than not. For example, if your company has 25 people involved in administrative tasks, approximately 5 people do 50% of the work.If your company has 100 people, only about 10 people do 50% of the work.
Therefor, as companies grow, the number of people who grossly underperform grows exponentially. This lack of performance and care destroys the quality of data collection.
Trend #2 is our growing addiction to distractions. Productivity expert, Chris Bailey (http://chrisbailey.ca/), has shown beyond doubt, that the barrage of distraction through our connected devices overstimulates the brain so much, that attention spans can shorten to as little as 40 seconds.In short, more people are becoming addicts of distraction and less capable of being productive.This lack of focus results in a growing risk of people lacking the attention to detail needed for quality data collection.
The Solution
We do not believe there is a quick fix to this problem.
In the future however, technology will solve this problem by collecting all data passively without humans. (Thank you, Captain Obvious…how then do we fix the problem until technology frees humans from data collection and entry?) As we all wait for technology to evolve, we recommend a drastic change in culture that few companies will consider.
The following are 3 steps we promote for building a culture of truth & transparency that promises the highest levels of productivity and quality data.That may sound simple, but remember, truth hurts! If you want a culture of truth, prepare for the pain. Let’s begin….
- Step up or step aside, you decide:
Step up:
If you decide to step up as a leader, get ready to invest more time than anyone else and lead by example.You’ll need to start saying “no” to things in your life that do not align with the mission,so you can stay focused on protecting the culture.
Step aside:
If you’re at a stage in life where you want to slow down and are not willing to sacrifice more than you already have, you should step aside and pass the torch to your replacement. Consider part-time roles such as a board member or advisor as your wisdom and guidance will be invaluable.
Leading cultural change is more than a full-time position, it is an ‘all-the-time’ position, so you should decide if you want to step up to the challenge, or step aside and help mentor an emerging leader. BE the change the company needs
2. Choose the core and no more:
With the understanding of Price’s Law, identify the core group of people who drive 50 percent of your business, and then evaluate which people in that group have the integrity needed to build a culture of truth and transparency (some people may have great work ethic but terrible integrity). After identifying your core group of talent with integrity, come together to define the new culture and develop the strategic plan to create it. NOTE: You may need a professional in this area to complete this.
3. Courage to slow down, so you can speed up:
Once you have a plan in place, it’s time to pony up and execute, which means you’ll need to make decisions that most people could not make.
Here are some examples:
- Unforgiving policies around addictions with technology and distractions that you likely have yourself and will need to overcome. (Chris Bailey shares some great tactics anyone can use to improve in this area.)
- Begin coaching people outside the core group and set strict deadlines for them to change patterns of behavior that hurt the new culture.
- (here is the toughest one) Replace people who do not show progress, regardless of who they are, their skills, or how badly you need them. This may hurt the company in the short term,but replacing those who can’t adapt with people who can, is the catalyst to building a team where high performers are the majority, rather than the minority square root of the group.
Consider building a culture of truth and transparency through courageous and attentive leadership.It may be the best way to overcome Price’s law and addiction to distractions so you can finally have real time data without distortion and the productivity you have always hoped for.
Chad Pearson brings a unique perspective to the industry combining 12 years in construction technology with 30+ years in combat sports and law enforcement.He is currently the Dir. of Business Development at Plexxis Software, which creates estimating, accounting, project management and mobile app solutions for specialty contractors. For more information, please visit www.plexxis.com or call 866-PLEXXIS
