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 are the new dates actually met? What happens to the people involved when dates are not met? What happens to the bottom line? What does this tell you about possible strategies the next time your boss tells you the delivery date is changing?

• The next time you find yourself in this situation, see the sidebar ​Rule of Three​ and ​Solving Problems:
  Create New Situations​ to develop alternative approaches for accomplishing the work.