People Are Like Puppies

There are some who will think I am crazy, but I am steadfast in this belief: People are like puppies.

(Yes, me too.)

Each inherently wants to please
Each is lost without a clear and consistent set of expectations

You see, a puppy doesn’t know why she could climb up on the furniture yesterday but is in trouble for it today. This doesn’t make sense to her. That is being reprimanded doesn’t fit between her floppy little ears.

As employees, we deserve the same consideration of clear and consistent expectations. To that end, you should expect this clarification of the person(s) you work for as well. After all, your definition of ‘success’ in your role may be quite different than theirs.

For those in leadership positions, I would challenge you to look at your teams horizontally rather than vertically; to invite them to weigh in with their expectations of you. Because, honestly, if you aren’t working for those who report to you, then you are failing in your first order of business. And, just as was stated above, if you define your own success for them, then you may end up falling terribly short on delivering what they need to be successful for you.

“IT-driven initiatives” are a great example of this for, in most of these cases, the IT organization has taken it upon themselves to define and initiate projects based upon success/value indicators they have defined. Often, these factors are defined in terms of cost-savings, easier deployment, cheaper support, easier implementation, and so on. All of these are great value-adds, but at the end of the day, it is the expectations of customers which must be met. And in order for them to be met, they must first be understood.

Expectations. People. Puppies.

A customer will not take on the cost (or risk) of upgrading and implementing your new version of a product simply because it is cheaper for your company to support. “Cheaper to support” is not a success factor for them, but “x, y, and z new features” very well may be.

For example: If you expect your lead technologist to stay abreast of emerging technologies, then document it. If you expect him to share this information in the form of presentations with the rest of team so that they may all benefit from his research and analysis, then document it.

During your meeting to discuss your documented expectations of him, and to gather his of you, you learn that a) he expects you to support him when he carves out time to research new technologies, b) he expects you to keep him from getting bogged down with project-level work, and c) he expects a fair budget for books, conferences, etc.

Agree upon what is reasonable, and document it.

Only when you have mutually agreed upon expectations of each other can you successfully come together as a team with the knowledge and trust necessary to be effective; to be successful.

Take nothing for granted, and make no assumptions about motive, initiative, drive or goals.

Most importantly, don’t make any assumptions about what is expected of or by you.

Setting expectations in horizontal teams is a perspective worth considering.