Control is an illusion: how to create alignment and engagement.

• Author: Dee, Kevin M.
• Position: HR Matters

Control is an illusion often perpetuated by authoritarian management over willing and unwilling employees. The truth is--no one can make another person do something that they do not on some level consent to do.

Engage and Align

There is an exercise I love to do in organizations. It involves me placing a pen on a table and requesting the group members to try different verbal methods to get me to pick it up. The usual methods attempted include the polite method, the demanding method, the bribery method, the direct method, the indirect method, the angry method, the manipulative method, and a whole host of others.

There's usually a lot of laughter as we identify the methods used to try to get me to pick up the pen, which I steadfastly refuse to do. The purpose of this exercise is twofold. The first is to demonstrate that you can't make someone do something that they don't want to do. Secondly, it shows the many ways that people act and the methods they use to coerce people.

Most of these methods when used in the workplace don't leave either party feeling very good about the interaction. Groups will often come to that "Aha!" moment when they realize they have more power than they knew. Managers will often realize that they need the buy-in and engagement of all their employees in order to get the job done.

This is especially true in evermore competitive workplaces and industries. Managers who do not engage and align their people around a common set of outcomes seem to wind up playing "whack a mole" all the time. In business the moles are problems. Managers and teams whose workers are not invested and aligned spend most of their time putting out fires or lighting them under floundering employees.

Goals and Outcomes

It's not just about setting a goal and holding someone accountable to it. It's all about the "why" of the goal or the "What's in it for me?" that really matters to individuals and teams. By taking the time to identify and communicate the benefits, purpose, and needs that drive goals and activities, employees and teams are more likely to buy in and commit to their achievement. Great managers and teams know and communicate the reason and relationship of goals and outcomes that they are committed to achieving and will uniformly outperform their competition.

Years ago, I was salmon seining in Prince William Sound. I had a crew that took every opportunity to eat and...