LEARN A LITTLE:
The Principle of The Thirds
You may have heard of the rule of thirds as it pertains to photography, but the principle of the thirds being shared here pertains to the nature of organizations and human dynamics.
I have no statistical research to support the principle, just over thirty years of practical experience and observation. As an aside, knowing the reality of the principle helps one maintain a positive mindset.
Basically the principle is as follows:
“No matter what you do, propose, choose or give away, 1/3 of the people will be for the action, 1/3 will be neutral (undecided) and 1/3 will be against the action.”
Let me illustrate, or better yet, propose that you engage in the following experiment. Get yourself a number of $100 bills and pass them out to your workforce. (Please note that at this time I have no source of $100 bills—each reader is on their own.)
After distributing the $100 bills, record the results. 1/3 of the people will be grateful and excited. 1/3 will be neutral–they are wondering if this is a practical joke, whether you’re going to take the money back or how much more they will now owe on taxes because of the unexpected increase. And then there’s the 1/3 who will be against the action or negative in their reaction. This last group will, of course, keep the money. Their reaction will be, “What a cheap ______. With all of the money he/she makes they could have easily given $500,” or they will conclude that they got the $100 because you’re trying to buy their loyalty, keep out a union or make up for the previous harm that you caused them in the past.
Who makes up the thirds?
- The 1/3 who are for the action: These are the organizational optimists, those that change freely and the employees who see opportunities and possibilities as well as problems.
- The 1/3 who are neutral: These are the fence-sitters who, in fact, may be risk-aversive. Sometimes described as organizational voyeurs, these are the people who are watching and waiting to see who’s going to win, how serious the effort is, or are trying to decide if they should jump in and if so, when?
- The 1/3 against the action: These are the resisters, the pessimists, the negative thinkers or those who might resist any change. This group often includes the gossips, sarcastics and overwhelmed.
From the perspective of “Now that I know this, what do I do about it?” the following course of action is offered.
Spend the majority of your time in terms of organizational dynamics with group 2, the neutrals. Next, spend your time with group 1, the people who are for the action. Then, unless you can ignore them, spend the smallest portion of time with group 3.
An observation of Casey Stengel* comes to mind in this regard. “The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided.”
One last thought: Be aware of the fact that there is often movement through the three groups, with respect to the issue at hand. Managerial life would be easier if people stayed in their groups, but they do not always do so. And that’s one of the dynamics that makes leadership such an interesting challenge.
*For you youngsters, he was a very successful manager with the New York Yankees in the 1950s. He won 10 Pennants and 7 World Series championships.
LAUGH A LITTLE:
REFLECT A LITTLE:
Proverbs 3:3 (The Passion Translation)
Hold on to loyal love and don’t let go,
and be faithful to all that you have been taught.
Let your life be shaped by integrity,
with truth written upon your heart.
READ A LITTLE:
Upstream
Dan Heath (2020, Avid Reader Press)
Upstream is a 2020 release written by Dan Heath, senior fellow at Duke University and well-known, best-selling co-author with his brother Chip of Switch and The Power of Moments.
In its essence, Upstream offers convincing arguments why organizational leaders should spend more time preventing problems rather than just responding to them. We need to move from a downstream focus to an upstream mindset.
Heath discusses the three barriers to upstream thinking. I was especially intrigued by the barrier identified as tunneling. “When people are juggling a lot of problems, they give up trying to solve them all. They adopt tunnel vision. There’s no long-term planning; there’s no strategic prioritization of issues.” As a result, our thinking is always short-term, reactive—think “firefighting.”
Another excellent chapter in the book is entitled “How Will You Change the System?” Heath states, “Upstream work is about reducing the probability that problems will happen, and for that reason, the work must culminate in systems change. Because systems are the source of those probabilities. To change the system is to change the rules that govern us or the culture that influences us.”
It is a positive, very readable book with many great ideas to consider and act on.
If you are curious about curiosity this book is for you.
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