Parole Agent Work is Level Two Work
If you follow my blog, you know that work exists in levels, and we can classify roles by work level.  If a parole agent’s job involves sorting information to identify relevant clues and then adding clues together to draw conclusions, then it is level two work.

Level Two Work Calls for Level Two Capability
If we add to that the fact that people’s problem solving capability occurs in increasingly complex levels, we know that in order to be competent in a parole officer role, one would need at least level two capability.

Why Would Someone Ignore Clues that Could Save a Life?
Finally, because I believe people are wired to work and want to contribute at work, I have to ask myself, why would a parole officer IGNORE clues?  I daresay that maybe they weren’t ignored, but rather they were not RECOGNIZED as clues in the first place.  This phenomenon would occur if the state had level one capable officers employed in level two roles.

Where is the System Broken?
So is the recruiting system designed to screen specifically for level two capability?  If not, you might expect something like this tragedy to occur.  Additionally, we have to ask is the system set up to provide level-two felt-fair compensation for this role?  You really do get what you pay for, and level one pay will draw level-one capable people, who will not be competent in a parole officer role.  Again, knowing this, we could predict this type of tragedy.

Just another example of how understanding work levels could change the world and save lives.  I’m OK.  You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.

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I was reminded last week at the Global Organization Design Society’s International Conference that Ford Motor Company worked with Elliott Jaques and The Levinson Institute in the areas of requisite organization design and talent assessment years back.

Was a work-levels, science-based approach to organization design and talent assessment a contributor to Ford’s sole survivor status amongst the big three?

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I doubt that I will be able to keep the blog fires burning during that time, because I don’t want to miss a minute of the dialogue.  So, for now, you will have to talk amongst yourselves. 

Discussion Topic:  

Why does Management Science have yet to adopt a universal set of definitions, practices, accountabilities, authorities, standards, and rules of engagement?  The plumbing industry managed to do it nearly a century ago.

I’m OK.  You’re OK.  Let’s fix the system.

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• Level 5 - The brand, the business model, the strategy
• Level 4 - The infrastructure, the future focus strategic work, operational change decisions
• Level 3 - The operational processes for consistency, best practices for efficiency and waste minimization, contingency planning.

A Single Franchise Unit Can Be Managed at Level Two
Franchising allows someone currently capable of level 2 work to run an effective business by “outsourcing” the higher level work. 

What is Level Two Work?
Level 2 work consists of day to day operations, dealing with customers, scheduling and training staff, and this is the accountability of the franchise owner.

Win-Win
When you consider that Elliott Jaques, the father of the Requisite Organization model, estimated that only 10% of the world’s adult population has capability at level three or higher, the franchise model allows a large percentage of people to complement their natural gifts in a way that allows them to earn a generous living for themselves and their families.

Da, da, da, da, daaaa.  I’m lovin’ it.

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Organizational engineering, talent assessment, and designing managerial leadership systems rooted in Elliott Jaques’ meta-model, Requisite Organization.

What a marketing nightmare - creating demand for services that most executives have never conceived of!

Let’s Learn from Other Professions!
While most professions and industries have standards of practice which weave a common thread throughout the work done, managerial leadership is lacking the adoption of universal rules of engagement.

• Can you imagine the chaos if your bookkeeper decided to “shake it up” and put debits on the right and credits on the left? Bounce
• Have you ever visited a house where the plumber put hot on the right and cold on the left?  Ouch!

The Plumbers Figured It Out
Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about what the plumbers were facing in 1926 (Does it sound like the state of management today?)

In 1926, a group of Los Angeles plumbing inspectors recognized that there were no uniform requirements for the installation and maintenance of plumbing systems, and at that point in time disease was rampant, a lot of it spread through improper sanitation. Disorder in the industry was the result of widely divergent plumbing practices and the use of many different, often conflicting, plumbing codes by local jurisdictions. It was these plumbing inspectors that understood the necessity of developing a model code that could be uniformly applied across jurisdictions.

So what is Requisite Organization? 
Requisite is a meta-model that combines science-based theory regarding levels of work and human capability and the two universal values of trust and fairness and endeavors to:

• Create organizational conditions within which most people can be successful.
• Enable productive work.
• Eliminate the wasted energy used to compensate for three structural flaws - 1. Organizational layering errors 2. Mismatching people to roles  3. Mismatching people to managers.
• Design explicit “rules of engagement” across functions.
• Create explicit, uniform, and universal minimum accountabilities and authorities for three sets of organizational players - 1. Employees 2. Managers 3. Managers-once-removed.
• Create a science-based methodology for matching people to roles.

Trust and Fairness - Core Values
I believe in Requisite Organization because you can always trace the principles and policies within it back to a desire for trust and fairness - two precursors to employee engagement. 

Human Dignity
The other thing that stands out is respect for human dignity.  Requisite organization purports that nearly all organizational dysfunction can be traced to poor structure and systems, not deficient employees.   (BTW - I pasted that last sentence from Wikipedia.  A fun fact for you to know is that I was the one who wrote most of Wikipedia post regarding Requisite Organization.)

Results
Finally, it works!  After over 10 years of working with the model, I am convinced it is valid and reliable, and managers appreciate it.  Sure, it takes courage, discipline and practice to convert an organization to a fully requisite organization, but managers ultimately see that it is worth the effort.

I’m OK.  You’re OK.  Let’s fix the system.

What has your experience been?

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Requisite Work Levels
Since work levels is a recurring topic here at Mission Minded Management, I thought it might be helpful to publish another set of “real life” examples of work by level.

Sample Longest Task by Work Level:
Work Level 4:
Design and implement a comprehensive strategic talent management system. (2-5 years)

Work Level 3:
Write and implement the operational plan for the roll out of one element within a strategic talent management system. Build feedback loops, assess, and refine processes into a set of best practices. (1 to 2 years)

Work Level 2:
Manage a 4 - 12 month project to implement one section within a serial “roll out” of a new HR methodology or program.

Work Level 1:
Support HR department by providing products as defined, i.e reports, material production. Or by delivering administrative services as trained, i.e. inventory maintenance, scheduling, shipping. (1 day to 3 months)

What level of work is your role?

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Red Herrings

What is a Manager’s Job?
So if it is not a manager’s job to motivate, what is a manager’s job? 

1. To effectively match people to roles (use a science based model to hire well),
2. To practice effective managerial leadership, (click here for a list) and
3. To create work enabling conditions.

When you do this, motivation will be a natural outflow of the conditions you have created.  Your job is to create the conditions.

Newsflash: Humans Are Wired to Work!  They Need Not Be Coerced and Bribed
Humans are wired to work!  If they are not motivated to work in the job they are currently holding, then that was a poor hiring decision.  If they are thwarted and frustrated when they try to work because they are working within faulty systems, fix the system rather than bribing them to push through the pain and craziness of working within a broken system!

Don’t Believe It?
I came across this video yesterday of some college students working quite diligently, not on their coursework, but working nevertheless.  My 11-year-old son is very bright but is not much for academics. This is the kind of activity I fear my college tuition check will eventually fund.

I’m OK.  You’re OK.  Let’s fix the system.

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The Right Altitude
Ram Charan uses the phrase, asking questions at the right altitude.  Once again, intuitive proof that we all sense work levels, but don’t have a language to speak about them.

If we didn’t have measures for distance, and we wanted to talk about altitude, we’d be stuck using words like high, medium, and low - relative terms that you and I could debate all day and not agree.  However, with measures like feet or meters, we have a common understanding and efficiency in our conversation.

Similarly, you and I could stand in a room and argue all day about whether the room was warm or cold and never come to an agreement.  But we could walk together to the thermostat and instantly agree on the temperature.

Let’s Create a Collective Understanding - Work Levels
Understanding work levels allows us to design work enabling organizations.  Understanding work levels and human capability to problem solve in levels allows for matching people to roles.  Understanding work levels allows us to match people with leaders.  Understanding work levels is foundation knowledge for management science.  Did I mention that I think you should understand work levels?

I’m OK.  You’re OK.  Let’s fix the system.

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Thank you for your continued support and readership.  Please send a link to a friend!

Here were the most-read posts published this year:

• Managerial Accountability is not MISSING it’s just MISPLACED
• If You Want Accountability, You Must Grant Authority
• Job Analysis Via Time Span of Discretion - A Universal Level of Work Measure
• Employee Engagement Kiss of Death - Ignoring Performance Issues
• Young High Potential Leaders - Use Wait Time to Build Character

And our all time most-read posts:

• I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money - Why You Should Deliver Sensitive Messages in Person
• Exceptional Customer Service Flows from Sound Organizational Design
• Innovation Snobbery is Not Serving Organizations
• Where Jack Welch Got It Wrong - The Mandatory Annual Low-Performer Cut
• Not All Work is Equal - Exploring Work Levels 1 - 4

I’m OK.  You’re OK.  Let’s keep contending for fixing the system!

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Who Sets the Conditions?
What do the executive levels directly control?  Executive levels:

• Create the strategy
• Decide the “business brand”
• Obtain the funding
• Select the geographic markets
• Design the products/services
• Prioritize the target market
• Choose the delivery channels
• Supply the infrastructure
• Provide the resources

Operational Accountabilities
The operational levels are accountable to steward and make best use of the resources, to refine and optimize processes, to assure operational quality, and to adequately train and monitor front line employees to create products or deliver services. 

Sleeping at the Wheel
Sleeping at the wheel has fairly short feedback loops in the operational world.  Operational workers caught doing this don’t last long.  Executive sleeping at the wheel is a far more insidious issue, and it has far more wide reaching ramifications.

When  a company is in danger, operational cost cutting and waste reduction is like bailing a sinking ship with a teaspoon.

Where is the Governance?  What are Boards of Directors Doing?
It’s time for executives to put their big boy and big girl britches on and stop making operations carry the weight of executive level incompetence in system design and strategic insight. 

I’m OK.  You’re OK.  Let’s fix the system.

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