Make Courtesy More Important Than Efficiency

This is a pretend story that really didn't happen...

"Make Courtesy More Important Than Efficiency"(and you just might get both!)

OK. This lady is an executive secretary in an office. Let's call her Jane. (I know, I know - she's an "administrative assistant" or some other such stupid politically correct euphemism). Some dude (let's call him Dick) sends a packet of information to Jane's boss (who happens to be a "big wig" at the company).

Dick works in a different office building than Jane. Jane works in the same office suite as all the "big wigs" - the CEO and all the VPs are within 20 feet of Jane's desk. Jane works in the equivalent of Mount Olympus. Powerful gods of industry surround Jane daily.

Dick sends the packet of info to Jane via snail mail with a Post-It attached asking for Jane to have her boss, Joe, to review the material and sign off on it. Dick hasn't been told the company policy about "V.P. silos" and that Dick must first have a certain V.P. sign off on the packet before it can go to the CEO.

Jane sends the packet back to Dick with a Post-It note attached saying "Before Joe can sign off on this, Mary, the V.P. of Information Packets, must first sign off on it. Please have her sign off and send it back."

There seems to be nothing terribly strange in this story. Except this one point...

Dick works in a totally different office building than Jane. Jane's desk is 20 feet away from Mary, the V.P. of Information Packets. Instead of getting off her tush and walking the packet of info to Mary's desk (which would take about 15 seconds), Jane sends the packet back via snail mail to an entirely different building (which takes an entire business day because the mail has already gone out for the day).

Jane had to take the time to write out a Post-It note, stick it on the packet, put the packet into an envelope, address the envelope, and put the envelope into the the "Outgoing Mail" box - which is right next to Dick's boss' desk!

There is a lot of painful truth illustrated in this story. It is the real reason why companies can't improve. This type of behavior has no single positive redeeming value at all. It is inefficient. It is discourteous. It serves to undermine morale and teamwork. It encourages "silo" thinking. It encourages idiots to keep on being stupid.

"What you permit, you promote."

Somewhere along the line, someone in power has to identify this intolerable behavior and thinking... and stop it! It can no longer be tolerated. People like this use their positions to meet their own self-serving needs for power - at the expense of the efficiency of the organization.

Think about it: its not OK to steal $20 from your company. But it is OK to waste the time of several employees in mindless inefficient tasks, adding up to much more than $20.

Do you think Jane knows that her behavior is inefficient and discourteous? You betcha! Do you think Dick will find a way to silently sabotage Jane at his next earliest opportunity? Is the Pope Catholic?

Someone please tell me how this helps to create a high-performing team? How many people like Jane must you deal with each day? Do high performing teams exhibit this behavior? If they do not, how have they eliminated it?