Behind Closed Doors

Now Try This

• Review your manager’s patterns. Some managers have lots of great ideas, and forget about them as soon as the words are spoken. We taught one such manager to hold up a red card when he was “just thinking out loud” and a green one when he was seriously discussing a new initiative. That doesn’t work with every manager. Sometimes, your best bet is to verbally agree and not do the work. Formulate a hypothesis on how your boss treats his flow of ideas. Then observe, gather data (including asking direct questions), and agree upon a strategy of how you’ll handle new candidate initiatives.

• Review the patterns in your organization. Create a chart that shows how often delivery dates change. What are the reasons behind the changes? How often ...