As leaders, we like being decisive and making quick decisions. We know our businesses well and are willing to act. Doing so without true contrarian input can be dangerous, though.
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You can make better decisions simply by identifying and relying on your own personal Mr. Spock. Yes, I’ve been watching movies again and, as usual, I can’t help but draw a leadership perspective from them.
In Star Trek (the new version—which was awesome), Capt. Kirk is decisive yet impetuous. He takes on huge risks and acts on emotion. Many times he’s right. He has a good gut feeling and intuition. He knows his team and his organization’s capabilities. He’s a great tactician. But it’s easy to see how his snap decisions could lead to disaster.
Mr. Spock, on the other hand, is brutally logical and dispassionate. Stylistically, he is diametrically opposed to Capt. Kirk. Needless to say, the two of them go at each other’s throats (figuratively, and literally when Spock snaps and chokes Kirk).
As a team, however, the two of them make better decisions. As conflict-laden and painful as their relationship is at times, it works.
As leaders, all of us would do well to find our own Mr. Spock.
As leaders, all of us would do well to find our own Mr. Spock. Here’s what I mean...
At one point in my career, I had my own Mr. Spock. I was young, impetuous, and action-oriented. My bias was to make decisions, act on them, and see what happened. Sometimes those weren’t the best decisions, and things kind of blew up on me. (I know—hard to believe, right?) During those blowups, I had my team in crisis damage-control mode. We would clean things up, learn from them, and move on with life.
One day, my Mr. Spock showed up—uninvited, I might add. He was even-keeled. He asked difficult questions. He wanted me to articulate the logic and reason behind the decisions I wanted to make. He was a complete pain in my behind.
I avoided Spock at all costs. I made decisions without involving him. I didn’t invite him to meetings where we discussed upcoming decisions. I was an immature idiot in how I related to him.
Spock, being a driven little Vulcan, often found out about upcoming decisions, and in his unemotional way invited himself to participate in the decision-making process. He asked great questions. He pointed out logical flaws. He made my life difficult, slower, yet oddly more insightful.
Spock’s involvement in the decision-making process helped the team avoid some errors, and in one case prevented a pretty good-sized crisis. He made us sharper and smarter. Over time, I came to respect and seek out his input when I understood the value he added to the process. No, I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it, but involving him was like Brussels sprouts—distasteful but good for you.
So who is your Mr. Spock? Who is that person that makes you consider other alternatives? Who is the person you avoid because they ask difficult questions and force you to think through your decisions more thoroughly? They slow you down, sure, but sometimes they’re the only obstacle between you and the Romulan warship lying in wait for you.
Let Spock know how you would like to involve him or her in your decision-making process.
Identify the person who can be your Spock. Have an upfront conversation with them about your style and their style. Let Spock know how you would like to involve him or her in your decision-making process. Be sure to agree to disagree at times, and try to clarify who makes what decisions and who has the authority to make which calls.
As painful as you might find it, you might learn a thing or two. You will likely make better decisions. Sure, things might be slower. But wouldn’t you rather take a little more time to increase your chances of success than rapidly flying into a Klingon ambush?
Find your Mr. Spock. You’ll be a better leader, because good leaders listen. Good leaders make informed decisions. Good leaders utilize all available resources on their teams. Good leaders are open to input and productive dissent.
You owe it to your team and your organization to endure the pain of dealing with Mr. Spock because, in the end, it’s better for everyone involved—including you.
Published April 17, 2024, on The thoughtLEADERS Brief on LinkedIn.
Comments
Another Valuable Pain
Valuable as it is to have a Spock, it can be equally as valuable (and painful) to have a Frank Drebin or Inspector Clouseau. Not in the sense of an absolute total doofus, but someone who knows little or nothing about the matter in question. I know it sounds counterintuitive but, if you consider yourself and Spock (both well versed on the subject), are you going to ask the stupid questions? … Are you going to overlook a root cause, because you and Spock, in your collective infinite wisdom, know with 100% certainty that it is not possible?
TrekMetrics
Alan Clayton was inspired to come up with TrekMetrics, a tool to encourage tracking both ‘right brain’ (leadership) and ‘left brain’ (management) metrics, as well as aligning the long term vision, medium term strategy and daily operations. In Trekmetrics, Captain Kirk focuses on vision/mission. Spock on strategy. Scotty on operations, and Dr McCoy on customer & team. This is very similar to the 6 Thinking Hats technique for examining problems. For instance
In simple terms, TrekMetrics calls for a combination of ‘leading’ (right) and ‘lagging’ (left) indicators, as well as strategic (top down) and operational (bottom up) indicators, again, looking at the results of the system, not individuals. So, it helps to find your Bones and Scotty too.
Mr.Spock
Dear Mike ,
You got it on the Spot or will it be on the Spock. Citing the more popular concepts like VUCA , Agility , Speed and so on, it's become very common to see many organizational members especially the Leaders to plunge into decisions without sufficient thought and deliberations . The phrase " Analysis / Paralysis" is utilized to urge many unwilling juniors to follow a path of doom . The response is to quote Poor PDCA wheel and justify that even if problems happen ( and they are bound to) they can be checked and acted upon. If we need to minimise the waste of crucial wastes including time and knowledge , this SPOCK has to be allowed to pop up . Don't confuse this with procrastination.
Thanks for a nice reminder ,
Regards,
Sundar
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