The improve play is one of the most powerful aspects of Marquet’s suggested framework. Improve is chapter 7 of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don’t. Improve is a time for stepping back from the pressure of getting stuff done to consider whether you are doing the right thing, right. We have spoken about the need to pause, reflect, and replan periodically – this is the heart of the Improve play. The author states:
“Improvement — which comes from egoless scrutiny of past actions, and deep reflective thinking about what could be better — is the core purpose of bluework, which is meant to improve redwork.”
The term egoless is important and easily overlooked. Forgetting that phrase is where things often go wrong.
Several themes in this chapter struck me during this read. The first is suggesting that we are not pushing continuous improvement, but rather discontinuous improvement. In the chapter, Marquet makes the argument that striking off in a new direction based on a new idea or “improvement” in the middle of redwork is tampering. Marquet uses the Deming Experiment to illustrate the point (see https://deming.org/explore/the-funnel-experiment/). In the Deming Experiment, the experimenter corrects their aim after every marble drop. The result is more variability than if the experimenter never corrected. A simpler way to reflect on the difference between continuous and discontinuous change is to consider pee-wee soccer. Since the children have no sense of playing a position, the game quickly becomes an exercise in chasing the ball. The mob continuously adjusts to the direction of the ball. At higher levels, game strategy changes are directed by the coach during breaks in the action as the players shift from doing (playing) to thinking (planning and being coached).
Marquet suggests running the Improve play after a planned end of redwork. Coupling together a few of the plays we discussed earlier, pause then improve is a potent way to take control of the work around you. Teams need to build in periodic, planned pauses (control the clock play) to reflect and replan (improve play). Scrum uses the cadence of sprints which culminate in reviews and retrospectives to control the clock and improve. Arguably a pause and retrospective should be triggered by any significant error – this would be the ultimate control of the clock play. The concept of controlling the clock (introduced in Chapter 3) becomes clearer in Chapter 7 because it is directly tied to doing something with the pause. Use cadence, such as sprints, to make sure pauses to reflect happen. Pre-programming the improve play reduces the barrier to both controlling the clock and taking control over how work is done.
As a side note, I think the author’s suggestion of banking changes and new ideas until pause is a good idea. Using the concept of banking ideas requires a place to put those ideas when you have them or the discipline to remember them. I think the former would be more effective — even though everyone I know thinks they have perfect recall. They don’t and neither do I. Any number of tools will satisfy this need including the venerable sticky note.
The second concept that struck me was the distinction between the “being good self” and the “get better self”. The “being good self” sees that they are doing as good and defends that position. This is similar to the fixed mindset described by Carol Dweck. Alternately the “get better self” views life as an opportunity to learn and grow. Asking someone stuck in the “being good self” mindset to improve sends a message that they are not as good as they should be. That type of message shuts down any imputes to improve. One of the scariest statements I have heard in a retrospective is “Why are we doing this? (The retrospective) We are as good as we can be.” This was a reaction to a perceived attack on a person’s or team’s competence. Amy Edmondson’s 2002 paper, Managing the risk of learning: Psychological safety in work teams, (https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/02-062_0b5726a8-443d-4629-9e75-736679b870fc.pdf) states that reflecting on getting better “carries a risk for the individual of being seen as ignorant, incompetent, or perhaps, just disruptive.” Organizations that punish perceived weaknesses or failure will foster mediocrity. As leaders, we need to create a psychologically safe space where getting better is not career-threatening or we will kill our organizations.
A feeling of competence provides a person with the basis to feel that they are in control of things that matter. When that is consistently challenged an individual can develop learned helplessness. Learned helplessness struck me during this read of the chapter. Perhaps it was the retrospective I observed where a team lead and manager told the team how they were to improve. Marquet states “If we have no control over our ability to improve, then we learn that any effort to improve is futile, and a waste of time.” Doing everything for someone else is the same as telling them what to do. When you are in a position of power and don’t allow autonomy you are causing learned helplessness.
As in previous chapters, Marquet suggests several ways to execute the Improve play.
- Forward, not backward – Believe in growth not in controlling behavior.
- Outward, not inward – Focusing on others can short-circuit the desire to protect ourselves.
- On the process not on the person – You can’t “fix” people but you can fix the process.
- On achieving excellence, not avoiding errors – Avoidance of errors is synonymous with punishment and blame.
One final thought that Marquet drives home in this chapter is that “punishment runs down the power gradient, not up.” The power gradient often stands in the way of making the right decision. Improve only works when change is embraced.
Previous installments of our re-read of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don’t (buy a copy)!
Week 1: Logistics, Introduction, Foreword – https://bit.ly/3sTqyu3
Week 2: El Faro – https://bit.ly/3RnkUue
Week 3: The New Playbook – https://bit.ly/3Llgmki
Week 4: Control the Clock – https://bit.ly/45UFp5Z
Week 5: Collaborate – https://bit.ly/3PzFiXI
Week 6: Commit – https://bit.ly/46DMmsF
Week 7: Complete – https://bit.ly/47aTDQe
