What about the things at work that don’t involve people?

A new teacher once told me “Teaching would be so much easier without any students!”. I choked back my temptation to point out the obvious--that students are why and who we teach. On some level, he was making a point: people are messy and complicated. Watching any reality TV show--or even a local school board meeting--provides ample evidence.

So, you are thinking “What about the parts of work that aren’t about people?” There’s often conversation about switching to a new system for This or a new process for That, and there’s plenty of times at work we are focused on documents, products, presentations, reports--you name it. 

A shot of the office from the early days--turns out, white is a frequent choice of paint color (although there are like 10,000 types of white). Note the accent trim in forest green.

When people would ask me what I learned in actually founding a school, I always said “Until I did it myself, I never realized that every school I have ever walked into had a paint color--and not only did someone pick it out, they had to pick something out that would appeal to the masses, send the right message, be appropriately stimulating and/or calming.”  Every aspect of a school had to be built and decided upon by people in some way--I had never realized how extensively until I did it myself.

While people aren’t the only thing, I am here to tell you--possibly to your chagrin--that they are interwoven in every area of work. Sometimes this is frustrating--because like that teacher thought, it would be so much easier without them!

Your most pressing issue at work involves people. The audit with a major finding that needs better credit card receipt documentation in order to remove said finding? You are going to need people to keep track of, code and turn in the receipts. Yes, the systems, the tracking, the policies all matter--but people are a part of the solution. I once managed someone who used to work in a plant that was heavily roboticized to produce bottles of soda. I made an off-hand comment once that at least he didn’t need to worry about people as much there. He said  “Are you kidding? We had to get people to do maintenance rounds regularly, spot safety issues, follow proctors--it was all about people there too!” 

Even with a deliverable like a strategic plan, or a process like employee surveys, people make the difference between something done, and something done well. If you’ve ever seen two teenagers clear their room--one  motivated, one unmotivated-- the difference in the level of time, energy, yelling involved is tremendous. 

Structuring work in a way that people are successful, using systems that help sustain excellence and committing to a culture of excellence and growth mean that not only will the strategic plan get done--it will be done in a way that ensures it doesn’t just sit in a drawer, it is a  plan the organization truly rallies around for the next five years. People are a part of everything. What are people a part of in your world that may surprise others?

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 It’s a powerful question: how often do you think about this, and why? Leave a comment below!