8 Need

What Is the Necessity?

More than 2,000 years ago, Plato claimed that “Necessity is the mother of invention.” If you want to get something done—if you need to get it done—then you have to understand why it is necessary. Think about how often we use the words want and need and how interchangeable we make them. We want lots of things. I want a new car, but do I need one? When getting clear about a headscratcher, ask why it is necessary to solve.

Think of a goal or task to do that you've had for a while. Do you ever think about why you haven't accomplished it—or even spent much time on it? I sometimes excuse that lack of progress on not having time to do it, but I have time. We all do. We just choose to spend that time on something else. I haven't accomplished it because the need to accomplish it isn't there. If it were necessary, I'd get it done.

Here's a simple business example: Many information technology (IT) departments send out periodic notices to employees to clean out their corporate e-mail inboxes, because e-mail takes up loads of storage. What do you do when you receive that request? You might delete a few e-mails, but you probably don't spend much time going through the old ones. Why should you? Where's the need? It's a request, a want—and although the IT department really needs to recover storage, or they will have to buy more, what's your need to help them with this? You don't have one in this regard until one day, when you get an “Inbox full” message. Guess what happens then? You're deleting old e-mails like crazy—because now, it's become necessary.

One of the most common headscratchers we encounter when training executives or managers is “How do I get my people to make more decisions on their own?” We usually engage in a brief discussion about how their reports always come to them for advice on every little thing. Inevitably, my response is, “Your people are not making decisions themselves because they don't have to. They come to you, and you give them the answers. You take the responsibility for what happens next, because it's your idea—so why should they? Instead, be available to help, especially on the bigger decisions, but make it necessary for them to make the call.”

Have you ever asked a group of people a question and then been met with silence? What do you do? After only a few seconds, you rephrase the question, ask another question, give them an idea of the direction of the answer, or just answer the question yourself. Instead, what you should do is make it necessary for someone to think and then answer. The easiest possible way to do this is simply to shut up. You ask the question; then it's their turn. Do not speak! You are guaranteed to get a response. People need to put an end to the awkward silence that's now present. It works every time.

When we critically think about a headscratcher, we ask what the need is. Let's say your headscratcher is “We need to improve our response time to customers.” As a critical thinker, you'll inspect the words, determine the why and so what, and then get to the need. Of course, improving response time would be great, but why is improving response time necessary? Will you lose customers if you don't? Will you fail to meet your objectives on customer satisfaction? If your answer is yes, then this objective is indeed necessary. But think hard about whether it's truly necessary. Our workdays are filled with a million things to do and figure out. I don't know anyone who says at the end of the day, “Gee, I don't have anything to do. I'm finished with everything.” There's always something to do, and we generally have a limited amount of time to do it. This is what makes it so important to distinguish necessary things, those with the potential to make a real difference, from wants that won't contribute very much.

Ever see the same goals come back, year after year?

“We need to be more agile.”

“We need to be more customer-centric.”

“We need to grow revenue faster.”

“We need to cut expenses.”

Of course, you know from reading just a few chapters of this book that these goals are not clear at all. One of the reasons most people and organizations never achieve them is because everyone has a different interpretation of what each one truly means—thereby making their completion evasive. Another reason is that the need isn't clear, so when something with a clear need comes along, it takes priority—and trumps the time you'd use to reach these goals.

Priorities are sometimes set using the “who shouts the loudest” method, but the critical thinking method might start with understanding the need with respect to time. Is it needed? By when? Conversations about what will happen if the task or initiative isn't completed by that time will help flesh out needs versus wants.

Great Teams and Need

If you want to align people and get them excited, motivated, and charged to accomplish a goal, the greatest motivation you can give them is making it clear why it is necessary for them to accomplish the task.

Think about the best, most enjoyable, and most successful team on which you have ever been. What made it so great? One attribute we see in every case of great teams is that members have a common need. This ensures that everyone is focused, aligned, and marching to the same tune. Politics and personal agenda go away, and everyone is on the same page. Priorities are clear. Perhaps you have heard the expression “A team is gelled.” Even opposing parties in a government seem to be more functional when the necessity is clear. It's when the necessity is unclear and in debate that things get ugly. If you're a leader who wants your team to be extremely productive and work together, make sure members are all executing a common need: not yours, but yours and theirs. You must all see and agree on the common need. Those companies possessing that clarity thrive.

One example of how powerful a common need can be took place in September of 1995, when the dial-up Internet business was exploding. (For the readers who grew up with broadband, the prior method of connecting to the Internet was via a phone landline—incredibly slow compared with today's connection speeds.) The norm at the time was to charge by the hour of usage. But then the chief executive officer of one of the largest Internet companies woke up one morning and decided to differentiate the offering, so he announced, “New pricing: $19.95 for unlimited usage.” This took the vice presidents of the company completely by surprise. They thought it was a joke! But, no joke: the press release was already out. Even more unsettling, the announcement proclaimed the new pricing and packaging would be available by the first of January, a mere three months away.

After the senior team got over the shock and bewilderment at making this goal so public, they realized that this had to happen. It was necessary—and that need drove a remarkable sense of cooperation throughout the company. The silos of departments went away. Your responsibility became our responsibility. The teams helped one another, made compromises, moved people around—even got pizza for one another. The workload was intense, but the necessity of achieving the goal overpowered every obstacle, and the team was ready to launch the new service by the first week of January. Their focus to meet the need created a strong camaraderie and admiration among the team members, and many of the relationships established during those three months continue to flourish today.

Need and Survival

Of course, there is no better need to get people motivated than the need to survive. In 2000, I was working at a company that had fallen prey to the communications industry collapse. Prior to 2000, the availability of investment money to grow communications networks was like water pouring from a faucet. There were 50 medium-sized communications companies, all of which were spending investment money like there was no tomorrow. Then Wall Street investors did some math—and oops! The spigot was turned off completely. We needed a plan to become profitable, and fast. Of course, we had a plan before, but investments had been easy to get. Being profitable was a want—not a need. Now, if we didn't get profitable—and quickly—the company would liquidate. The need was simple: be profitable, or cease to exist—lose jobs, fire everybody, liquidate the assets, and say good-bye to customers. This need made many of our initiatives become clear—both those that we discovered no longer mattered and needed to be stopped and those that made a difference and needed focus, resources, and execution. Many of our competitors didn't recognize this need, and they certainly didn't get their employee base to recognize it. We emerged from bankruptcy; most did not. We succeeded because the entire employee base understood the common need: survival.

Here's another, much more extreme example of necessity: Do you think you can swim 10 miles in open ocean water? Most readers would say no and never even attempt such a crazy stunt. But picture this: You're out on a boat 10 miles from shore, and it sinks. Are you just going to raise your hands and declare it's time to die? I don't think so. You'll try to swim, and although you may not make it, you'll certainly die trying. Why? It's necessary. I bet you would swim a much longer distance than you have ever swum before—and maybe even make it to shore.

Getting Started with Need

Here are a few places you can use need:

• Priority setting: Understanding the need behind an initiative can help in setting priorities, especially in groups. Conversations about why something is necessary and what might occur if the initiative isn't a priority can take the emotional attachment out of this process.
• Interdepartmental cooperation: When departments are not communicating or cooperating well, look for the lack of a need or for multiple needs. If needs are aligned, then cooperation and communication happen, because both become necessary.
• Timing and sense of urgency: When you or your coworkers have a different sense of timing or urgency to get something done, then have a needs conversation.
• Use of the critical thinking tools why and so what: Inject a few “So why is that necessary?” questions into the conversation.
• Leading: Communicate the necessity of your goals. Why do you have to do it faster, better, and with higher quality? Give your employees the real reasons. If you're like Apple, maybe it's the need to be the best or to be different. If you're a pharmaceutical company, maybe it's the need to help people live better lives. If you're working on the manufacturing line of an airline or auto company, maybe the need is to prevent accidents and injury to your customers. Find and explain the common need; you'll see productivity, morale, and performance improve.