Controllable Factors and Uncontrollable Factors

How much can a business owner account for. There are factors in every model that cannot be controlled. The lesson today will be learning when does one attempt to control a seemingly uncontrollable factor and when does one accept that the factor is uncontrollable.

Let’s begin with the easiest example to define our terms. The weather is an obvious uncontrollable factor. Yet, there are still conditions in which you can prepare for and ultimately control. A factor is a variable that influences an outcome. Rain, causing mud and unhappy men. Rain here is the uncontrollable factor. Mud would be the condition and the outcome would be unhappy men.

Why do I feel the need to break it down to a kindergarten level like that? Mainly because it makes it easier for me to write about going forward:

The point I want to get to is that every outcome can be controlled. While I cannot argue that there are uncontrollable factors. I am arguing that you can control the outcome like unhappy men from our example, and once you know what you’re doing, you will be able to control the conditions produced like the mud.

Lesson One:

Uncontrollable factors do not have to lead to uncontrolled outcomes. Just because it is raining, it does not mean that you have to have unhappy employees.

The outcome is a direct product of the leadership. The leader decides the systems put in place to incentivize their men. If bossman has no plans for rainy days and lets the men decide on if they want to come into work. It would crush production every time it sprinkled. If the leader doesn’t care about his men he would tell them to assume to come in everyday. Or, you could have quality leadership and have a system in place in which you assume as the leader that you come in 5 days, 40 hours a week, but you let your supervisors tell the crew if its worth coming in for work that day.

One, they are going have to do most of the outside work. Two, if the supe doesn’t come in you really don’t want to have to pay for the labor of crew for that day. Three, you owe it to your employees to have a system in place to account for known potential conditions. If it is Spring in Mississippi, you either have way to work through the rain or you might be off for a week. If your supervisor is up to the task of working with the crew to complete the job, he will tell the crew to come in. If your lazy supe takes them off. Well, then you dont pay them for a week and you know who can’t perform.

All of that to say that leaders should have systems in place. When you have systems in place, you can account for the conditions and then predict the outcome. The more complex the outcome, the more factors at play and the more conditions that need accounting for.

First Lesson Every Leader Must Learn

We all start out doing something that we do not enjoy as a means to make money. It does not matter the industry or the stage of your career. One will find themself getting paid for something that they are not motivated to do. You can spend that time learning or passing time. Learning can simply be observing and understanding the process. Passing the time is an example of a trap. Whether it’s intentionally burning the clock, or just working with no intention. The traps are what each leader must identify to protect their employees from themselves.

Once the traps are identified an employer can build a model minimizing traps, and incentivizing quality. We have now hijacked the mammalian mind. We have preemptively identified the choke points and built a model that avoids the trap. As we know the best way to not fall into a trap, is to completely avoid it. Not try to outsmart, or to out maneuver. It will always be best to COMPLETELY AVOID. This is the employers job. Do not send your guys into traps and be mad when they inevitably fall into one.

Now, we have a business model that avoids all known traps. Now what’s the process of hijacking the mammalian mind? The goal to incentivize the employee to take responsibility and avoid the unknown traps. When you send a supervisor on a job and he has additional work that hasn’t been accounted for. There MUST be a system in place to reward that employee for seeing the work that needs to be done, and then making sure that it gets done. Have the system in place so that he is willing adjust. We need employees that attack problems, not try and cover them up.

Finally, I hear you asking. How can we make sure that my employees attack problems? Have a bonus system in place. The anticipation of a bonus will incentivize the employee to attack the problem, and the thought of just covering up the problem never even crossed his mind.

So, the first lesson that every Leader must learn:

Motivation is unpredictable. Systems are predictable. Create a system that motivates your employees and the quality work your after will come.