Dominique Stender Good software is only the beginning

Responsibility vs. Freedom of Decision

I'd like to talk about what I call the "Responsibility vs. Freedom of Decision" conflict. You could also call it the "Delegation vs. Trust" conflict.

What I mean by this is: A job is delegated to you and it is made clear that you are responsible for the success of that job. This can be the implementation of a feature, managing a new client, bringing a certain amount of business this year, correctness of your project estimation, whatever. The responsibility is made yours, but you can't make the decisions required to get the job done most effectively and most efficiently. You have to stick to what someone else thinks is best.

In this conflict, the course is already set. You're standing on the command bridge of a proverbial ship where all controls have been removed. Yet you are responsible for the save arrival of all passengers. Sounds familiar?
It is important to me to make clear that this is not an issue only affecting non-management employees. It affects everyone in a hierarchy.

I recall one particular incident which I'd like to share. I was the assigned consultant for a new client. The responsibility was to identify all tasks required for that project and come up with an estimation. I did and do that regularily. The catch? We already knew the maximum budget the client had, and also the required release date. In fact the offer had already been sent and signed based on both. Even worse, a quick glance through the requirements made it clear that it was unrealistic to expect everything in good quality, for that budget, at that date.

At that time we did estimations mostly for the purpose of creating a realistic offer, only rarely were these estimations used internally for quality control and such interests. In that regards, an estimation was not required anymore. Think about this. If the goal of the job (a realistic offer) is already obsolete (offer had been sent and signed), the job itself might be obsolete as well. Nonetheless I finished that estimation as I saw a chance to track the actual efforts and compare it to my estimation after the project was over.

The estimation caused a huge uproar in the management, who claimed it was too high. I had a long discussion to convince them that the efforts are realistic - in the end it took a second estimation done by a colleague who came to a similar figure. Nonetheless the client had been convinced that time and budget were fine and no one wanted to change that. So there I was, responsible for a project that I already was convinced would not meet time, budget or quality (pick one), yet unable to do something about it.

I believe everyone of us can recall a similar scenario?

Of course I am not free from comitting the same crime. I have a vision for a new feature and stake out the route I believe is best and 'convince' my team to stick to that. But during development they might learn that another approach might be better. Yet, I staked the route, so they will tend to try to follow it. My fault, not theirs.
Yet I frequently see that if decisions are left to the team, after a learning period they usually come up with pretty clever ideas. They prove that I can trust them. Sure, guidance and mentoring is required every now and then but that is good - I hope not to become obsolete any time soon.

This is a call to all managers and leaders out there to trust your people. Give them the responsibility, delegate to them, but don't forget to give them the power and freedom do act as they see fit at the same time.

By no means do I want to advocate anarchy. Rules and guidelines are there in all but the smallest of organizations. They are there for a reason. So yes, we have to stick to that rule. Unless they make no sense and you can prove it. What is wrong with that? I don't see the point of sticking to a regulation 'because it is there', knowing that another approach might be better, faster, cheaper.

Managers! Trust your team! Let them make their own decisions! Ask for their opinion and listen to it! Mentor them instead of keeping them on a short leash.

Team! Learn to say no! Do what is right, not what is easy! Be opinionated and share your thoughts and doubts! Make suggestions, especially when no one wants to hear them!

How about you? Did you experience similar conflicts? Let everyone know how they were resolved. I'd really like to know so leave your comments!