Tags: Performance Operations & Uncertainty; Ego Dial; Planning Fallacy; Motivation; Inspiration; C-Model; Managing Up – Managing Down; Leader – Manager; Safety Vs Threat; Process – Outcome Loop; Affect Vs Effect
Do you put people before the task and do you prefer to focus on the outcome or process?
As a Practitioner, Head of Performance/Medicine or Leader would you say that you are people or task orientated and do you have a tendency to focus on the process or the outcome? If you imagine both as continuums and plot them against one another it allows us to see both desirable and undesirable opportunities and pitfalls that sit within each of the four quadrants that appear.
People Orientated – Outcome Focused
People Orientated – Process Focused
Task Orientated – Outcome Focused
Task Orientated – Process Focused
It is likely that we travel back and forth across the continuums and between the four quadrants flexing our approach to the content and demands however, I wonder whether our preferential styles dictate how we operate and this can cause issues for those we work with and/or lead. We must recognise that our colleagues, different disciplines and departments might have contrasting operating styles and I wonder whether this can lead to inter-personal issues, lack of clarity and misalignment when we don’t take time to consider this.
If you reflect on your organisation, those that lead and manage you or your direct reports, can you see any of these four ‘styles’ at play and is it a good or bad thing? What behaviours and processes emerge and could this be a result of people’s orientation and focus? In terms of the work you do, if you have a strong task orientation, what would happen if you moved to focusing more on relationships and those around you?
