Conducting research for his book, “Becoming a Successful Manager,” communications consultant and former Northwestern University Professor Bob Parkinson asked managers the biggest mistake they and their colleagues tend to make. Many of the responses, he said, related directly to communication. More specifically, what they said was: 

• Managers talk too much
• Managers don’t listen
• Managers tell others, “How I would do it.”
• Managers don’t allow or encourage feedback
• Managers correct more frequently than they praise
• Managers don’t care how employees feel

To be fair, managers have a lot of responsibility and are normally faced with multiple projects and deadlines. They need to make sure tasks are completed quickly and correctly. But failing to take the time to encourage teamwork among colleagues and subordinates can be a costly mistake.

Larry King made an observation that I absolutely love. He said: “I never learned a thing when I was talking.” That certainly is true in my case. Early in my career, when faced with a problem that needed a solution, my tendency was to start talking. Make suggestions on what next steps to take. I was open to suggestions from others, but I can’t say as I actively solicited their thoughts.

These days, I like to think my tendency is to first ask the question: “What do you think?” Employees will contribute their ideas if they feel they are wanted and appreciated. If you don’t respect their opinion, however, they likely won’t respect yours. From my experience, it’s a whole lot better to have multiple brains working on a solution rather than just one.

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This is Stinky, a Beanie Baby our children gave me many years ago as a birthday present. When I asked our daughter, Allison, why they gave me a pet skunk, her reply was: “You figure it out, Dad.” And so I spent some time thinking about it, and here’s what I came up with:

Skunks have a very effective defense mechanism, which has served them well for millions of years. When threatened, they simply turn their back on the predator, stomp their little hind legs (I’m not making this up), and let loose with an odorous spray that repels both man and beast. This protective behavior has served skunks well throughout millennia … until man began building superhighways through their habitat.

Years ago, there was a government study that observed skunks that had been turned into road kill (why they would study this, I have no idea). What the researchers discovered was that, in most cases, the flattened skunks were facing away from the oncoming traffic. In other words, what had always worked for them before, no longer provided a solution. Their flatulent defense was no match for 18-wheelers.

Charles Darwin observed that the survival of the fittest is not based on the strongest or the fastest of the species, but those most able to adapt to changing surroundings.

 Doesn’t that lesson apply to us as well? How many of our projects have failed to meet expectations because we eventually did not change our methodology? Take a lesson from Stinky: perhaps its time for a process re-design.

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