Rare.

Being a Leader is hard.

That's why it's rare to find her.

Organisations call 'Leaders' people who:

• Made a Widget well enough to supervise other people to make (often different) Widgets
• Did something in another organisation that their boss wants them to repeat for them
• Get invited to meetings with limited chairs to learn to advocate their boss's opinion 
• Umpire Widget conflicts (rarely) and interpersonal conflicts (mostly)
• Make their Widget better than anyone else in the organisation
• Control others so that the boss doesn't have to

Boss's call them 'leaders' to acknowledge what they want them to do is hard - yet not Leadership hard.

It's a rare boss who will pay you to make decisions that contradict her.

It's a rare boss who will trust you to trust others to change direction from the one she chose.

Rare good bosses means rarer Leaders.

Firms.

In November 1937 Ronald Coase discovered Good Decision Making.

He won a Nobel Prize for Economics in 1991.

Here's the gist of what he published in his paper.

The patron of the Good Decision is the Entrepreneur.

She creates a Widget.

Other Entrepreneurs apply their Widget to hers on its way to a buyer. Each demands decisions: pricing, colour, size, insurance, contracts, transport, dispute resolution, intellectual property ownership. Each decision has a cost which is passed on to the price of her Widget. 

She realises it's cheaper to bring all of those individual decisions under one roof.

The Firm is born.

The external costs of decisions move to be cheaper internal Firm expenses that still add to the cost of the Widget.

The price of a Widget is the sum of each decision that is made on its way to find a buyer.

The Firm is only viable if its Decision Making costs less than out in the market - or another firm.

Good Decision Making defines the successful Firm.

In May 2012 at age 101 and a year before his death, Ronald Coase made another contribution to our understanding of Good Decision makers.

When asked why such a great mind as his failed to predict the speed of China's rise as an economic power, he said:

'I've been wrong so often I don't find it extraordinary at all.'

Job.

The entertainment reporter Michael Idato gave us a rare and brilliant example of the relationship between Widget Thinking and Defining Moments in the workplace wild.

A leaked two year old internal email from the former executive producer of the 'Sunrise' television programme to Network management proposed replacing two presenters and the newsreader.

The leak led the 'Sunrise' presenters who remain on air to not just dismiss it, but to ridicule it and cite their continued tenure as evidence that the former producer was wrong and the email was meaningless.

Yet as Michael Idato observed:

'Sunrise's former executive producer....would not have been doing his job if, at every turn, he was not considering alternatives, lest the happy Sunrise family he had assembled passed their use-by date and started to creak with age. His first loyalty is not to them, it is to his employer, and the promise that he will deliver them an enduring hit.

'The same could be said for the Nine Network's management, who would not be delivering value for their stakeholders if they were not examining the on-air performance of their entire talent stable in minute detail, regularly, and willing to do whatever it takes - or sack and replace whoever they need to - to win.

'It was that attitude that saw Jessica Rowe wrenched from the Today line-up several years ago. Make no mistake it was appallingly handled at the time, but it was a brutal and vivid demonstration of the business of television and the very small role that human decency has to play in it.'

Amidst the denials and damage control rose the refreshing voice of Karl Stefanovic, host of the Sunrise rival, 'Today', who said (in a text book use of the three most powerful words in the English language - I Don't Care):

'I know that [network management] is actively planning to get rid of me, and I like it, I embrace it, I don't care....It's best to go, 'it's TV, eventually they will [get rid of me],' so I'm just gonna have a great time and sail on into the sunset.''

A similarly healthy response to the email came from former Sunrise co-host Melissa Doyle, who was one of the three presenters that the email suggested changing:

'It was one view....Television, radio, newspaper executives the world over are probably discussing staff, columnists, et cetera, all the time....I figure that's the nature of the job. It's television. If they didn't have that conversation then you would probably wonder.'

The producer who wrote the email was doing his job - deciding to give his best advice to ensure the success of the Widget - albeit at the public cost of three people's jobs.

The management did its job - deciding to reject the advice as not serving the Widget.

The three current presenters did their jobs - deciding to reassure viewers that they are one big-happy-family, which protects ratings, which dictate the price of advertising which brings in revenue which buoys the stock price which is their boss's Widget.

Three different decisions that may look in conflict on the surface but each serving the Widget.

Perhaps it's Karl and Mel who are the best examples of a healthy shrug at the inevitable clanging of our professional and personal Widgets.
 

Confidence.

'Once you surrender the idea of intrinsic, objective value, you start asking the question “if the value isn’t in there, where does it come from?” It’s obviously from the transaction: it’s the product of the quality of a relationship between me, the observer, and something else. So how is that relationship stimulated, enriched, given value? By creating an atmosphere of confidence where I am ready to engage with and perhaps surrender to the world it suggests.'

- Brian Eno

The information thuds onto our desk.

It lies there. Inanimate. Markings on paper. Pixels on glass.

We breathe in - and exhale our spirit into it.

We give it life.

We name it:

Complaint. Criticism. Appeal. Escalation. Grievance. Demand. 

Or we name it:

Feedback. Evaluation. Comment. Test. Observation. Assessment. Question. Gift.

The actions that we take in response to the information and its relationship to our Widget are what gives it value. We need to engage with it with the eagerness and curiosity that serve our Widget - not our ego.

We need to be brave enough to surrender our understanding of the world for a new one.

If we are all these things - then we invite more thuds upon our desks.

Competing.

'In review tribunal proceedings there is no necessary conflict between the interests of the applicant and of the government agency. Tribunals and other administrative decision making processes are not intended to identify the winner from two competing parties. The public interest `wins' just as much as the successful applicant because correct or preferable decision making contributes, through its normative effect, to correct and fair administration and to the jurisprudence and policy in the particular area.'

- Managing Justice: A Review of the Federal Civil Justice System.

The complaint arrives.

Step 1: Step Back and feel the offence, indignation, anger, fear, fatigue or betrayal well up inside you - then allow seconds, minutes, hours, days for it to ebb away. [I'm human.]

Step 2:What's my Widget and what does this complaint teach me about it? ['The first job of a leader is to define reality.']

Step 3: Do I seek other information to help me to learn about this complaint and my Widget?

Step 4: Is there anything clouding my vision about how this complaint serves my Widget? ['A leader serves.']

Step 5: Is there anyone who might be affected by a decision I may make?

Thank you complainant for testing my Widget. ['The last job of a leader is to say 'Thank you.'']

It's rare to find anyone with this wisdom.

Because Leaders are rare.

Our Justice System is precious.

Lists.

It's the idea of creating the space.

Mundane tasks like checklists free up space in our calendars and our heads for the artistry.

The Widget is the most visible part of a ‘successful’ person’s life. We can easily assume that it’s simply the product of an innate talent or instinct or gift that we don’t have.
 
Perhaps the only difference between successful people and the rest of us is that the former have a spark that motivates them to invest the time in things like checklists that release the oxygen that allows their spark to ignite into a flame that attracts the rest of us.

The rest of us who don’t have a Widget to inspire us to do the mundane ’10,000 hours of practice’ stuff.
 
Maybe if we can overcome the reputation of Checklists and Rules and Boundaries as compliance and elevate them to being a means of freeing us up to do the interesting stuff – then we’ll be onto something.

Lie.

'The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.'

- Abraham Lincoln

In the movie 'Die Hard 2', the villains hijack the air traffic control tower and program the Instrument Landing System to tell approaching aircraft that the runway is 200 feet lower than it actually is. The pilots adjust their landing speed and angle of descent according to the data they're being fed and the aircraft crashes into the truth of the earth.

Our usual response to a bad decision is a lie.

We don't comply with policies. ('It's not relevant to my work.')

We work overtime to compensate for insufficient staffing or resources. ('Others depend on me.')

We smile and rise at the end of a wasteful meeting. ('No, I don't have any questions.')

We keep turning up and doing work we hate. ('I've got a mortgage.')

We send false data back to a decision maker.

Each time we avoid responding truthfully to a decision, we affirm it.

We give an inaccurate position back to the decision maker of the lay of the land.

'All is well!' we declare to them and the organisation.

'Your policies are so practical. Don't change them.'

'Your staffing is appropriate for the Widget. Don't review either.'

'Your meetings give me such useful information. Keep them up.'

'I'm happy in my work. All is well.'

Eventually the boss brings in external consultants to manage team building/performance reviews/change management/work-life balance/staff retention/lunchtime yoga/redundancies.

The most effective way to improve the decision making of others is to respond truthfully to them with a position relative to the Widget.

At least don't lie to yourself.

Clarity.

At Apple Inc.'s Annual Meeting last week, the CEO Tim Cook was challenged about whether Apple's environmental policies were a profitable return on investment.

'If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock,' Tim Cook was reported as saying.

He didn't say 'You're wrong,' or 'Let's mediate and come up with a compromise'.

He said 'Here's our Widget. If it's not the Widget you want, then choose another one.'

The internet lit up with debate about the response.

Widget clarity liberates.

Follow.

Interviewer: 'We are supposed to do the right things...'

Retired US Navy SEAL: 'Do you know what the right thing is?'

Interviewer: 'Well...not to kill innocent civilians...'

Retired SEAL: 'You don't have any idea. Not to be rude or anything, but one person's...what they think is the right idea is, is completely opposite from what the other one is. That's why we have to solely focus on our Leadership, our Admirals, who have been around and have been through all of this and they make the calls and it flows all the way down to us and we follow our orders to the T. Being in the SEAL teams we're outside of the box thinkers. We're not idiots. Most SEALS have their degrees and a lot of them have their Masters and we've been in this game for a very, very long time. So the thing that we ask - not out loud - we hope and pray that the American public has enough trust and faith in us to do and make the right decision....It's war and there is no right or wrong answer...'

To dismiss this response as the predictably military gung-ho blind 'We just follow orders' is to ignore some powerful insights into good decision making in the most extreme circumstances that also translates to the every day.

Navigating a good decision requires a fixed north - the Widget.

The Widget is designated by the Leader.

The decision maker accepts the Widget as the creation of a person who they trust - even if that trust is that there will be money in their bank account each fortnight.

Implicit in the dynamic between Widget, Leader and decision maker is that the decision maker continues to choose the Widget.

If I sneer at this equation it's either because my Leaders are managers or I choose not to choose.

'Right' and 'Wrong' are irrelevant.

It's all about the Widget.

(It's not about the Widget.)

Encapsulates.

'When people ask me what I do I try and show them this. I am really proud of this clip - it encapsulates what I want to bring to every and any live performance I film or stage for the camera.'

- Hamish Hamilton, Director

What would I show someone if they asked me what I do?

Would it encapsulate what I try to bring to my Widget?

Would I be really proud of it?

Would it arouse goosebumps every time I showed it?

If not - why not?

Stream.

'Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.'

W.H. Murray

Start with the Widget. 

Save your energy arguing Widget Thinking is dehumanising for more creative battles ahead .

(Yawn.)

Remember - the Widget doesn't care.

Surrender to the cool, indifference of it. Accept its objectivity. A gift from your boss.

Make good decisions and feel Providence stir.

Doubt.

'Perplext in faith, but pure in deeds,
         At last he beat his music out.
         There lives more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds.'

- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

'One of the reasons that a person is interested in what other people have to say is they know they don't know. Doubt is the place in me for you to affect me.'

- John Patrick Shanley

A Leader holds certainty with doubt.

A Leader is someone whom others choose to follow. People won't easily abandon their driftwood and tread water over to your raft if you're bailing water.

Doubt is never on the PowerPoint list of The 10 Qualities of a Leader.

Yet Leadership is inherently a transitional state between certainties. Leaders are on a journey from here towards their belief in Something Better Over Somewhere. Otherwise it's Management. (There's nothing wrong with that.)

People who complain about their Leaders almost always don't need Leadership. They need a Manager. Or a parent.

Almost by definition, if someone has certainty about where they're going and how they're going to get there, they are not a Leader. They're an airline pilot or a train driver. (There's nothing wrong with them either.)

Each of us hears the call towards Something Better Over Somewhere. Many of us respond, only to fall back as the tether between our ego and the opinions of the world tightens.

She breaks free and suffers the whiplash of our jealous displeasure.

She lays down a pathway of good decision making to a familiar beat of self-doubt that calls:

'Come! I am just like you.'

Joy.

It's half time during the NBA Playoffs. 10 million people are watching you at your desk making your Widget.

Hamish Hamilton is a Director whose work directing a U2 concert in Boston in 2001 was played live around the world during the 17 minute NBA half time. He was filmed at work and these images were included in the U2 Elevation DVD.

It doesn't take an expert to recognise that we are watching a pristine practical example of how good decision making, technical excellence, widget thinking, teamwork, structure and artistry come together to create excellence.

Listen to Hamish spontaneously and sincerely praise others' work as they do it. (He doesn't wait for the annual performance review to give them feedback.) Listen to him urge the team on with raw passion. (He doesn't need to act serious, aloof and boss-like when he's really feeling like shouting 'C'mon!') Watch him sway, gesture, dance and even sing in sync with the band, losing his body in his work while his brain stays focussed on the complex director's steering wheel. (He doesn't have to wait for the staff social event and a few drinks to be himself.) Listen to him drop expletives of delight at his team's work. (He's built enough trust with his co-workers not to need to worry about a bullying or harassment complaint.) Listen to him shout 'This is what we're good at!' because he knows the real meaning of team. (He doesn't have to take them on an artificial off-site, outsourced team building day.) Hear him say 'Thank you'. (He's not so self-absorbed in his creativity to not be aware that there are people at the end of his barked directions.) Watch how he harnesses the chaos while his Assistant Director Hayley literally calls a cadence beat of structure amidst the noise, lights and confusion. Watch his sheer joy as he executes responsibility for co-ordinating dozens of people and millions of dollars worth of equipment to produce a widget that will be expected to make tens of millions in sales.

Here is proof that we can make our serious widget and dance.

Hamish is a worker who loves his job and is exceptionally good at it. He has directed an Academy Awards ceremony among other high profile events including the London Olympic ceremonies.

Yet the most powerful evidence that he is truly in the élite is among the 42 comments below the Youtube video of his work. Amidst the expressions of appreciation and praise for his direction is the inevitable criticism posted in 2012 for the world to read:

'Sorry to say this, but Hamish Hamilton was the WORST ACADEMY AWARDS DIRECTOR EVER after last year!!! The execution was such a mess, especially with "And the winner is..." replacing "And the Oscar goes to", and although I taped it I won't even bother dubbing it to DVD. I guess Louis J. Horvitz and Glenn Weiss were too busy, which is why they tapped Hamish instead. Thankfully, Don Mischer will be directing and co-producing this year's Oscarcast.'

This is the comment that Hamish Hamilton posted in response:

'Glad you liked it johnnyafairbank ! Don is indeed directing and co-producing the show this year. He will do an amazing job - he is a fantastic director, a gentleman and crucially will also be a co-producer. It may be worth noting that the show was nominated for more Emmys than any Oscars ceremony ever so some people did like it. Enjoy this years show's - your obviously glad its not me ! I can send you a DVD of last years if you wish. Respect Hamish'

The level of self-confidence that produces this measured, dignified response - written with subtle humour yet without a hint of malice or attempt at public retaliation or humiliation of his critic - can only come from someone who knows in their soul that their work is very very good.

If Hamish Hamilton hasn't found who he is - then he's very close to it.

Hamish was not misplaced in believing in 2012 that his decision-making speaks for itself. A few weeks ago it was announced that he will direct the 2014 Oscars broadcast.

Kanye.

Musician Kanye West explained how Good Decision Making and Widget Thinking help him to become who he is.

His life and creative process and therefore his mistakes are before the world. They are the product of Good Decision Making and therefore teach others so he can never be wrong:

'I'm opening up my notebook and I'm saying everything in there out loud. A lot of people are very sacred with their ideas, and there is something to protecting yourself in that way, but there's also something to idea sharing, or being the person who makes the mistake in public so people can study that.'

Kanye also understands that it's all about the Widget. And it's never about the Widget:

'It's more about the art of conversation, the companionship, the friendships, and the quality of life that you get out of working—it's about the creative process even more than the final product. I think there's something kind of depressing about a product being final, because the only time a product is really final is when you're in a casket.

My mission is about what I want to create.' 

Cranky.

This is how Linda -  an educator - explained the painting:

'I don't know exactly what direct experience Scarlett has had with "the cranky man," but she certainly knows the truth of him. She explained to me that he figure in her drawing was "a cranky man"  so I had to ask her why he was cranky. The truth according the Scarlett came down to this:

'He is a cranky man because he doesn't like his house. It's not got any bathroom, kitchen bedroom or anything to eat.'(Enough to make anyone cranky, but the real truth followed)  'He doesn't know what he wants because he is a cranky person and he's always a cranky person who says he doesn't know!'

I felt in the moment that she was sharing this meaning with me that I was being given a great insight into what makes someone cranky, not knowing what you want and the consequences of that...

Widget Thinking. From the mouth of a three-nearly-four year old.

Appearances.

He ended his written complaint with 'Thank you for appearing to care'.

Brilliant.

He knew the difference between our Weekday and Weekend Widgets.

Love.

'We've come to love you,' the nurse said after introducing herself and another nurse.

It was the strangest and most beautiful thing to say to me as I lay in my hospital bed a day before elective surgery. Spoken in the same tone as 'If there's anything that you need, please just press the call buzzer.' Not in a sentimental voice nor a perfunctory one nor in a rote meeting of a mission statement. She meant it.

They left and I looked out of the window and felt held in an overwhelming peace.

Imagine going to work and loving.

Ridiculous. Work is work. There are Widgets to be made. Budgets to be met. Profits to be achieved. Love is a powerful, erratic, distracting, whimsical emotion that is reserved for intimate relationships built up over time through trust and commitment and has no place in a professional workplace.

We leave love at home along with the novel by our bed, the guitar and sheet music in the spare room, the cookbooks in the kitchen, the half written MBA assignment.

We spend about a third of our lives at work - not seeking, offering nor expecting love.

Is it possible we are not engaged with our work because we've partitioned it off from love?

Is the exclusion of love in labour - whether experienced as workers, bosses or customers of someone else's work - a contributor to almost half of all Australians experiencing mental illness at some time in our life?

If a military commander believes that love is a prerequisite for Leadership then shouldn't  our boss feel the same way?

Is love of every person and thing a science that can be learned and applied as in the short story A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud?

Do we choose to work to escape the demands, obligations and struggles of loving?

If we are to become who we are - can we do so without loving and being loved at work?

'The old man still held the collar of the boy's jacket; he was trembling and his face was earnest and bright and wild. "For six years now I have gone around by myself and built up my science. And now I am a master. Son. I can love anything. No longer do I have to think about it even. I see a street full of people and a beautiful light comes in me. I watch a bird in the sky. Or I meet a traveler on the road. Everything, Son. And anybody. All stranger and all loved! Do you realize what a science like mine can mean?"'

- 'A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud', Carson McCullers

Simplicity.

'Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.'

- Carl von Clausewitz

The more business education about decision making, the worse the decisions.

The more complex the decision-making environment, the more need for simplicity of decision making process and tools.

These were the conclusions from a PhD thesis.

The participants in the experiments who were given a simple objective - make a profit - made the best decisions. Those who made the worst decisions were the ones who were distracted by information about their competition and the need to maintain market share.

The participants who were given simple tools to work through their decisions had the flexibility to adapt to dynamic circumstances.

Widget Thinking and the Five Steps provide both the simplicity and the 'sense making' that serve good decision making.

Good decision makers check their progress against their Widget as their True North.

In 1983 John Bertrand and the crew of Australia II were down 1-3 in the seven race Americas Cup final. This was his response at a press conference:

'Basically, nothing has changed. After Sunday afternoon, we had to win three boat races. Today we still have to win three boat races.'

He held his nerve and Australia won the next three races and the Cup.

Leaders don't measure their progress by where they are with respect to anyone else. They make good decisions and the rest takes care of itself.

Underpins.

The Report into the Inquiry into the 2013 WA Senate Election provides further rich examples of Good Decision Making - particularly Widget Thinking.

The Executive Summary details the many complex challenges confronting the Australian Electoral Commission in conducting an election. It concludes with this statement (italics added):

[T]his Inquiry noted a range of issues involving culture, planning, systems and practices that contributed to the loss of the ballots. The implementation of the various recommendations, findings and observations throughout this Report could assist the AEC in its future operations. The Inquiry believes that these could be achieved by pursuing a future state where the sanctity of ballots underpins all aspects of the AEC’s operations, from planning to training, to materials management and all other aspects covered in this Report.

How does the AEC/Organisation X resolve the competing demands on it leading up to and during an election/doing business? How does it ensure that there is clarity amidst the chaos/organisational life?

It asks itself: 'What decision will ensure the sanctity of ballots/our Widget?'

It resolves all issues according to this outcome.

Widget Thinking.
 

Conflict.

There are two types of workplace conflict:

-    You Conflict: I don't like you.
-    Widget Conflict: I don't like your Widget.

If only workplace disputes were all Widget Conflict.

Creative.
Passionate.
Focussed on better Widgets.

Instead – and despite how we usually argue our position -  most workplace conflict is us feeling frustrated that our boss isn’t helping us to produce our Weekend Widget.

If it really was about our Weekday Widget…then who cares more about that our boss?

Never care more about something than the boss does.