How many times have you heard the phrase, “Control the controllables”, at work? Daily, weekly, at your performance review? Don’t worry, it is a rhetorical question because we all know this is common office lingo. In other words, it refers to worrying about only what you can control and not what you can’t control. Are these words of comfort, words of wisdom or a copout? In our experience, this often means avoiding change and ambitious transformation. Read on as we explain why controlling the controllables may be an excuse to avoid real business change.
Controlling the controllables
From a sporting perspective, ‘control the controllables’ helps athletes and sports stars with mental toughness. It reduces distractions and builds confidence by focusing on the things that you can control and improve. Areas such as nutrition, effort, sleep, attitude and focus can be refined and improve your performance. Focus is particularly important so as not to overwhelm the individual and make the task seem insurmountable.
Now, take this example into the business world. You focus on your role, maybe your team and what you need to communicate to your boss. You control only what you can directly influence in your sphere of control and excel at that, communicating your performance upwards. Understandably, many managers and directors do what they need to do against what they are measured on. That way, they can balance their energies and time against the reward they are able to collect. The downside now also starts to become clear. Where there are dependencies, opportunities to change upstream or downstream processes or transformational programmes with wide-ranging scope, controlling the controllables could become a set of blinkers. Furthermore, it leads to a stovepipe mentality and siloed thinking – stymying collaboration and performance.
Removing the blinkers and controlling uncontrollable
There are probably very few organisations that ask for regulation. With more rules and procedures to comply with come additional cost and complexity. Similarly, someone who regularly espouses to control the controllables is unlikely to be seeking to control the uncontrollable. Ultimately, that is someone else’s job, too difficult or might distract from the performance level that is comfortable. When you have a department that delivers what is asked of it to the generally accepted level, why change it and complicate your life?
If we take a transformational lens for a moment, was NASA satisfied with a rocket that could get into orbit? No, it decided to aim for the moon and to land on it. Was Apple satisfied with a mature and declining market for personal computers? No, it developed the iPhone and put it in the palm of your hand. Did Porsche acknowledge the death of the internal combustion engine and set about an all-electric future? No, it developed a bio-fuel that may be used in cars with internal combustion engines beyond 2035 (in the EU at least). If any of these simply ‘controlled the controllables’, they would never have gone beyond their comfort zone.
Enabling teams to go beyond controlling the controllables
When challenged to innovate, change or transform, many managers and directors will ask for resource. This usually means people but can also mean budget. If management roles are fixed with rigid performance metrics, there is little incentive to act differently. If the culture of the organisation does not support different perspectives or is not geared towards regular change, resistance is greater. Also, if teams lack the skills and the support to go beyond what is in front of them, how will they achieve great things?
Create the right culture
First of all, you need an organisational culture of continuous innovation, improvement, change and a “fail fast, learn quickly” mentality. Many corporate structures and jobs are benign – in that they hardly change and roles are clearly-defined with definitive reporting lines. Some managers apply pressure within that structure to force some form of change, putting teams into a ‘fight or flight’ state of mind. No, what we mean is that the leaders in the organisation are dynamic, encouraging a flexible organisational culture that embraces constant innovation and change.
Offer training and support
Secondly, managers and teams need the skills to deliver on new ideas, run projects and become a change agent. This may require a process to identify the skills gaps in the organisation and to reinforce the culture that you want to see. However, even with the right skills, managers and teams have jobs to do that don’t simply disappear. Job descriptions and performance management systems refer to tasks, responsibilities and measures which discourage going beyond the controllables. Your organisational design may be part of the problem. Consultants and third-party experts are available to help a successful transformation and guide teams to deliver change projects.
Revisit your remuneration policy
It goes without saying that remuneration plays a large part in motivation at work. For lower-paid jobs, this is essential to living and meeting basic needs. As people rise through the ranks, financial incentives morph into drivers of performance. For example, many companies have bonus schemes, commission structures, share option schemes and more. These are often tied to a small number of measures such as EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), EPS (earnings per share) or ARPC (average revenue per customer). Whilst there is always a place for these measures, middle management is unlikely to jeopardise annual bonuses or share options. The alternative answer is to request resource for change. In summary, a truly innovative organisation that embraces constant change needs an altogether more flexible and holistic remuneration policy linked to different performance measures.
Going beyond simply controlling the controllables
If you need training for managers or support for your team or to create the organisational design and culture to underpin transformation, our consultants are here to help. Here at Think Beyond, we work with senior leaders to achieve the business performance they need. We do this via our research, plan and change services to enable accelerated time to value. We are available for project work and also for short-term assignments.
If you would like an initial discussion, simply email us or add a few details online for us to call you back.
Alternatively, for more information read more about our transformation services.
Finally, why not check out the benefits of external support and consultants.