This week, Professor Akie Iriyama of Waseda University Business School talks about issues based on management theory. I refer to the teacher’s book “Global Standard Management Theory”. However, this series can be easily read without this book.
I said, “I like that plan, I want to do it!” Why didn’t you do it when you said you’d do it! Professor Iriyama points out that before blaming his subordinates, it is necessary to divide this phenomenon into two parts in the first place. I think this story will be a great reference for how to proceed with your work.
[Click here to listen to the audio version](Playback time: 12 minutes 21 seconds)*Click for audio
What did you say “I want to do”?
Hello, I’m Akie Iriyama.
This time, let’s think about Sho Noda’s worries from the Business Insider Japan editorial department.
Noda, BIJ Editorial Department
This is a problem I used to have when I was a manager in a certain organization. Your subordinates say to you, “I want to do this at work.” However, even when I said, “Okay, let’s do that,” there were many times when I couldn’t move from there.
I wondered if there was something wrong with the fact that they weren’t moving, so I tried to make a schedule together and adjusted the tasks to reduce the amount of work, but it didn’t make much progress. I really had a headache and ended up not solving it in the end.
How could I have helped?
I see. In other words, when Mr. Noda comes up with a plan with his subordinates, they say, “I want to do this kind of project,” right?
Noda, BIJ Editorial Department
that’s right. At the meeting, we asked, “What kind of project would you like to do next?” So when I replied, “Wouldn’t it be an interesting project if I did it this way?”
However, when it comes down to it, it doesn’t work. This happened to both men and women.
Noda-san’s subordinate must be younger than the 29-year-old Noda-san. Ms. Ayuko Tokiwa, who has more career than Ms. Noda, have you had this kind of experience?
BIJ Editorial Department Tokiwa
Yes, we have it. Isn’t this pretty much like “there is a manager”? Are there any examples of this happening among teachers?
In conclusion, I might be doing something like a certain subordinate (laughs). In other words, you may be the type to say you’ll do it and never do it.
BIJ Editorial Department Tokiwa
No way (laughs).
Anyway, this is an interesting question.
first,I think the fundamental point of this discussion is that “planning” and “project management” are two different things.
In other words, when people come up with a new idea, even if they think “I want to do it!”It is not uncommon for the tension to already drop when it comes to the execution stageIt is.
Of course, some people will do everything they plan. But that kind of person is very rare, and I think that there are more cases where it is not actually the case.
Therefore, it can be said that the fact that subordinates who say “I want to do it” at this planning stage actually say “I don’t want to do it” is rooted in the fundamental character of human beings that quite a few people share.
Actually, there is a theory in psychology that explains this.
As I introduce it in my “World Standard Management Theory”, Professor Daniel Kahneman who won the Nobel Prize in Economics”System 1, System 2″is exactly this.
When people think and decide things, they first make impulsive decisions based on intuition, even if they are not logical. That’s how the brain works. This is System 1.
But after that, after a while, you will be able to think and evaluate things calmly and logically. This is System 2.
BIJ Editorial Department Tokiwa
System 1 is the planning phase, and System 2 is the execution phase.
That’s right. Therefore, in the first place, people tend to ignore logic and think intuitively in the planning stage, but become calm and cautious in the execution phase. That’s how the brain works.
thereforeIn a project, it is better not to think of (1) making a plan and (2) project management to realize the plan in a straight line.the two are different things.
In fact, I often hold planning meetings with various producers, creators, and publishers, asking, “Would you like to do something like that next time?”
The same is true for scholarly research projects. While drinking tea with fellow researchers from other countries who I met for the first time in a long time at an international academic conference, I asked, “What kind of research are you doing these days?” “Then we’ll do it together?”
But since we usually live in different countries, we say, “Okay, let’s get back in touch by email in the next week or so.” System 1 state.
However, after about a week, when I returned to Japan and calmed down,”This is really hard to do…”(laughs) It’s system 2.
A project is a work that you commit to by taking a certain amount of time out of your meager resources. When I think about it, even though I tried to say it, it seems unlikely that I will ever be able to do it in reality. But when I remember that the other side was enthusiastic, I can’t even say no to it. Let’s wait and see how it goes, and leave it alone for a while as time goes by. There must be dozens of times more projects that have naturally disappeared in this way than projects that have come true. I am too.
It may not be a good analogy, but it’s another matter whether you’re going to have a one-night adventure and then go on a serious relationship (laughs).
Noda, BIJ Editorial Department
I see. I feel like I understand when you say that.
95% of projects die without seeing the light of day
There are already a lot of projects that I was excited to do, but didn’t come to fruition. In my experience,90% of projects die without seeing the light of day. I think that good creators have a large number of dead projects.
But I don’t think this is a bad thing. In my opinion, the project should be wild and crazy.Planning is as optimistic and positive as possible, insteadThe trick to a good job is to keep the execution phase as simple as possibleI think it is.
So if you think, “My heart fluttered when I thought about the project, but now it doesn’t,” it’s better not to force yourself to do it. There is a difference between the planning phase and the execution phase.
Therefore, my answer to Mr. Noda’s consultation is not that Mr. Noda’s management is bad, nor that his subordinates are bored and lack a sense of responsibility. Human beings are like that in the first place.
In particular, Mr. Noda’s work is creative, so in the first place, there are people who enjoy fantasizing about planning. I love System 1.
It was only natural for people in the generation above Mr. Noda to do the work they were given without saying anything, but from now on, everyone will do only the work they want to do. Then, when I blamed him from above, saying, “Why didn’t you do it even though you said you’d do it?”In a sense, that is only a valid argument, and it will drive your subordinates into a corner.
Noda, BIJ Editorial Department
Wow, you did it. I was like, “If you don’t have time, let’s adjust your schedule.” From the point of view of my subordinates, it must have been troublesome. Reflection.
After cooling down period, check the real intention
Now the problem is”How do you navigate that interesting project and the process that might lead to its execution?”Isn’t it? From my experience, there are only three methods.
The first is to put the hot project on hold for a while, and wait a couple of weeks before asking, “How’s that going?”It means that reality is questioned after system 2 state is reached. Even if someone tells me, “Speaking of which, I’m not progressing,” I don’t say, “You have to do it.”
“I thought this project was really interesting at the time, but do you really want to do it? If you do, I’ll support you.
At this point, when I was told, “I’m sorry, Mr. Noda. That was a one-night adventure,” I said, “Is that so?” It’s uncouth to question, “Didn’t you say you’d do it?” Again, planning and execution are different, so in this case it would be wiser to give up.
The second method is for the leader, Mr. Noda, to have his subordinates commit to the execution of the plan the moment he thinks it is really good.For example, I make a schedule on the spot and let the people concerned contact me. When you’re in system 1 state, you’re forced to commit strongly until execution.
However, the condition of this method is that Mr. Noda himself thinks it is a good project. Even if his subordinates are in System 2 state and calm down, Mr. Noda himself can commit and assign another person to continue the execution. On the other hand, if Mr. Noda is not very enthusiastic about the project, but only his subordinates are enthusiastic, the first method is recommended.
The third way is to focus on execution anyway.In this case, for example, you can appoint subordinates who have little to do with you as people in charge, and you can force them to carry out the project while involving subordinates and related parties in the middle of “subordinates”.
Actually, I have been caught up in this pattern several times.This pattern is roughly in the middle of the day (lol). The reason is that the enthusiasm of the participants has cooled down, and the only goal is to “make it happen” just by inertia.
Noda, BIJ Editorial Department
I’ve done that too, but it was a struggle. “Why do I have to do this?” he said.
I know an editor who is very good at this “submission”. Since the projects are made one after another, the achievement rate of the quota for the number of publications is wonderfully high. In other words, he is a master of execution.
However, since it is a project that continues even if the participants who are going to do it eventually lose their enthusiasm, it seems that they are not able to create very good content. If you count only the number of achievements that have been achieved, he is an excellent person, but I think that he is not able to create good quality products.
BIJ Editorial Department Tokiwa
If the person who made the plan isn’t amused, it’s almost impossible to make something interesting. I really feel this in my bone marrow.
Iriyama-sensei’s work technique of “thinking optimistically and then carrying it out quietly” was a great learning experience!
[Click here to listen to the full audio version](Playback time: 26 minutes 50 seconds)*Click for audio
Akie Iriyama:Professor at Waseda University Graduate School of Business Administration (Business School). He graduated from Keio University Faculty of Economics and completed the master’s program at Keio University Graduate School of Economics. After working at Mitsubishi Research Institute, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Business in 2008. In the same year, he became an Assistant Professor at the Business School of the State University of New York at Buffalo. Since 2013, he has been an associate professor at Waseda University Graduate School of Business Administration (Business School). He has been in his current position since 2019. His books include “What are the world’s management scholars thinking now?”
(Composition: Kiyoko Nagayama, photography: Takuma Imamura, serialization logo design: Mio Hoshino)
Source: BusinessInsider
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