
A Kemp's Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempi), ashore, probably to lay eggs. Kemp's Ridley sea turtles nest only in two areas of the shores of the Gulf of Mexico: at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas (a human engineered re-colonization), and in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. As late as the 1940s these turtles were abundant, but hunting, habitat destruction and pollution reduced their numbers to about 1,000 by 1970. After listing as being critically endangered, they have begun to recover, and before the BP Oil Disaster, 8,000 adults were believed to be alive.
What happens now is difficult to predict, but it is clear that the BP blowout will kill many Kemp's Ridleys. A return to the population levels of the 1970s is possible, as is total extinction. That human intervention has had both positive and negative effects on the prospects for the species illustrates the dynamics of self-canceling effort and disunity of purpose.
For more on the Kemp's Ridley, see the Google video, "Saving the Kemp's Ridley", or read Leslie Kaufman's May 18, 2010, article in the New York Times, Gulf Oil Again Imperils Sea Turtle". Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Sometimes we work hard to achieve a goal, but measurable progress remains elusive. We sense movement, but we aren't making progress. It can happen in any organizational effort — projects, new product development, research, process improvement, organizational change — anything. And it can happen in Life — career advancement, weight loss, pursuing a dream.
When this happens, what can we do? Here are seven popular ways to get nowhere and what can be done about them.
- Irrelevant effort
- The work itself isn't relevant to progress. Perhaps it's progress-neutral, or it might be progress in a direction unimportant right now (or ever).
- Review what you're doing. Exactly how does it move you towards the goal?
- Self-canceling effort
- The work underway might have both positive and negative effects that cancel each other out. An example: digging a hole but failing to throw the extracted dirt out of the hole.
- Are you doing anything that erodes the value of the overall effort?
- Misleading measurement
- The method of measuring progress might be faulty. It registers no progress, but progress is actually real.
- How do you measure progress? Why do you believe that there's a connection between progress and whatever you measure?
- Running in circles
- Even though each bit of effort moves you forward, you eventually revisit wherever you are. A form even more difficult to detect is like Brownian motion — you rarely (or never) revisit any one spot but the average position doesn't change.
- What's the evidence that the work underway actually produces steady advancement?
- Missing pieces
- The work requires Unity of purpose requires
investment. Announcements,
memos and orations alone
cannot achieve it.infrastructure that you don't yet have in place. Consequently, the progress you do make is periodically erased. Bailing out a leaky rowboat without first addressing the leaks is a good example. - Is there anything you could have done earlier that would have made what you're doing now any easier? Is it too late to go back and do it?
- Saboteurs
- Someone or some people are actively working against progress — political foes, disgruntled team members, or even yourself. Maybe you're aware of this, or perhaps some of it is outside your awareness, becoming visible only episodically.
- Have you talked with those involved in this conflict? If not, what would happen if you brought the issue into the open? Could it possibly be worse than what's happening now?
- Disunity of purpose
- Here the different elements of the group (or the different parts of your Self) are all working steadily and making good progress, but they do so in different directions with different goals in mind. In some situations, this disunity becomes clear only after a revealing incident.
- Unity of purpose requires investment. Announcements, memos, and orations alone cannot achieve it. Unity of purpose follows only from extensive mutual communication.
I'm certain there are many more ways to get nowhere. I'm equally certain that mastering just this much would be progress. Top
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Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Don't Worry, Anticipate!
- Dramatic changes in policy or procedure are often challenging, especially when they have some boneheaded
components. But by accepting them, by anticipating what you can, and by applying Pareto's principle,
you can usually find a safe path that suits you.
Express Your Appreciation and Trust
- Some people in your organization have done really outstanding work. You want to recognize that work,
but the budget is so small that anything you could do would be insulting. What can you do? Express your
Appreciation and Trust.
Decisions, Decisions: I
- Most of us have participated in group decision making. The process can be frustrating and painful, but
it can also be thrilling. What processes do groups use to make decisions? How do we choose the right
process for the job?
Workplace Antipatterns
- We find patterns of counter-effective behavior — antipatterns — in every part of life, including
the workplace. Why? What are their features?
Disjoint Awareness: Bias
- Some cognitive biases can cause people in collaborations to have inaccurate understandings of what each
other is doing. Confirmation bias and self-serving bias are two examples of cognitive biases that can
contribute to disjoint awareness in some situations.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming April 30: On Planning in Plan-Hostile Environments: II
- When we finally execute plans, we encounter obstacles. So we find workarounds or adjust the plans. But there are times when nothing we try gets us back on track. When this happens for nearly every plan, we might be working in a plan-hostile environment. Available here and by RSS on April 30.
And on May 7: Subject Matter Bullying
- Most workplace bullying tactics have analogs in the schoolyard — isolation, physical attacks, name-calling, and rumor-mongering are common examples. Subject matter bullying might be an exception, because it requires expertise in a sophisticated knowledge domain. And that's where trouble begins. Available here and by RSS on May 7.
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