GenXmanager: Leadership for the Generation X Manager

Tonight’s episode of The Office demonstrates what happens when a problem is not thought through critically from start to finish. Ryan, former temp worker turned senior manager, returned to the Scranton branch to generate ideas to help improve the Dunder Mifflin Infinity website and boost sales. To do this he takes up the staff’s work time on Friday which means everyone will need to work Saturday. Jim, however, decides to present an idea to the rest of his office colleges. If they work late Friday, they can avoid coming into work Saturday. The office staff agrees to stay late.

It is about 9PM and the Dunder Mifflin Scranton team is finished their work. Jim triumphantly gives kudos to the staff. Everyone is happy until they go outside to leave and see that the gate is locked thus trapping them in the parking lot. Stanley looks at Jim and says, “You didn’t tell the security guard we were working late?” “Nope,” replies Jim.

Jim Halpert had a fantastic idea but failed to think through the entire solution. The concept of ‘systems thinking’ is common for engineers and IT professionals but perhaps not as common as it should be for managers. Business happens due to the interplay between people, processes, and technology. When making decisions or simply planning, it is essential to think of the whole and how the parts work together rather than simply looking at the parts themselves.

If you Google ‘systems thinking’ you will find a lot of complex theory with very little “how to” information. I don’t want to over simplify the concept, but at its core, becoming a systems thinker is relatively straight forward. After you’ve identified a problem or opportunity you will enter the problem solving phase. As you problem solve, think of the process as a whole. When does the process start and when does it stop? As creative solutions present themselves, think of the ramification of the solution throughout the process.

In Jim’s situation he simply thought “we stay late, we don’t work on Saturday.” Sounds simple. But, the solution of staying late had specific consequences. The process of locking the facility was not aligned with the solution of staying late. Without integrating these two processes, the Dunder Mifflin team was forced to wait for the security guard to come back and let them out. In the end, the cleaning people showed up and saved the day.

Completely unrelated to business lessons – I’ve noticed that this season is very serious and not as “light hearted” as in previous seasons. Thus far we’ve seen Michael and Jan suffer through financial difficulties, a legal deposition and now we see Ryan with a drug problem. I’m not sure I like this new drama. The Office is a much better show when it is focused on situations in the office and on less serious subject matter.