Strategic Thinking???

[johnapril]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

ok, breathing life into this thread -

one of my reports has a lot of trouble thinking stratigically (or what I would call stratigic thinking). I need to teach him, or let him go. I would rather teach him.

seriously speaking - did what I wrote above (previous post, about my view on stratigic thinking) make sense to you? Anybody have a better view?

Yours is the mature version.

 

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

I guard that dartboard with my life!

Seriously, assumptions, IMO, are the most important part of strategic thinking. Pure reality checks.
I would have to agree with this. As Globe's original career strategy example demonstrates, when distilled down from the MBA-babble, at root there's nothing particularly complex or intellectually challenging about strategic thinking -- in my experience, when people have difficulty forming a strategy, it's because they either aren't clear what the objective is, aren't fully committed to the objective, and/or they are making certain conscious or unconscious assumptions that are blinding them to potential steps toward the objective. Some of these assumptions may be rooted in deep-seated psychological issues, so in a workplace situation, you have to be really judicious about deciding how much to invest in someone who's resistant. Globe, you're a mensch, dude.

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

yeah, well, the problem isn't that I want him to think stratigically, the problem is that he hasn't been able to get more than a certain number out of his market for years using the skill set he has. all the evidence points to his biggest weakness being in stratigic planning. so, either I have to replace him, or I have to get more out of him, and the only way I think that I can get more out of his market is to have him work in a more stratigic way.

Globe,

You're a good man to take this sort of effort in helping him. Most sales managers I know would have moved on. Of course, most of these sales managers have likewise since moved on as well.

 

[globetrotter]

thanks, gentlemen

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by Quirk

and/or they are making certain conscious or unconscious assumptions that are blinding them to potential steps toward the objective. Some of these assumptions may be rooted in deep-seated psychological issues, .

this is a problem that I think is very common.

 

[globetrotter]

I had to decide whether to put this in "things that are pissing you off" or here.

so, this asshole report, that I have been trying hard to help out just resinged. not only did he resign, he fly into my HQ while I was out of town to give his letter of resignation to my CEO, and basically tell my CEO how he was quiting because I was pushing him to do things that he felt were not in the interest of the company. he didn't even bother to cc me on the letter of resignation, or to call or email me. and he didn't give any notice, leaving me with nobody to cover his territory.

that isn't even the whole ******* story - I was scheduling this trip to travel around with him to his territory in the summer, and made plans to send my famiy to my wife's mothers for the summer so I could focus on this guy, bought tickets for the trip, set up meetings and so on, and he drops out less than a week in advance, with no notice.

on top of that - he told us his computer was stolen, two weeks ago, and he ran 10K worth of "office expenses" through his expenses last month.

he showed up to the meeting with my CEO with a folder with all of my emails to him over the past 6 months, marked in color coded highlighters, showing how I was abusive to him and pushed him to work more than he should have.


as my boss said - if he had shown this much inititieve and stratigic thinking in his job, I would have been happy with him.


I am really, really pissed off.

 

[bbaquiran]

That sucks, man.

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

I had to decide whether to put this in "things that are pissing you off" or here.

(...)

he showed up to the meeting with my CEO with a folder with all of my emails to him over the past 6 months, marked in color coded highlighters, showing how I was abusive to him and pushed him to work more than he should have.

as my boss said - if he had shown this much inititieve and stratigic thinking in his job, I would have been happy with him.

I am really, really pissed off.

I can see how you would be upset, but this guy sounds like a loser who was out to tread water and do nothing more than absolutely necessary. Better that he left on his own so you're not out any severance or unemployment claims, and you're free to hire someone far better for his territory.

 

[Piobaire]

Sorry to hear that GT. I have had reports disappoint me before but rarely to that extent. Sounds like your CEO saw right through him though.

 

[thinman]

Bad news and a lousy way for him to quit, but in the long run, you're better off without him. It's good for you that your boss seems to know that the reality of the situation was not exactly as your report painted it.

I suggest you vent a little, then hire a replacement and move on. On the bright side, you may have some extra time with your family this summer (depending on your relationship with your MIL).

If I were your CEO, I would have insisted on seeing the police report documenting the theft of the laptop; otherwise, your report is liable for the cost. I'd also look carefully at his $10K of "business expenses". Something isn't right.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by thinman

Bad news and a lousy way for him to quit, but in the long run, you're better off without him. It's good for you that your boss seems to know that the reality of the situation was not exactly as your report painted it.

I suggest you vent a little, then hire a replacement and move on. On the bright side, you may have some extra time with your family this summer (depending on your relationship with your MIL).

If I were your CEO, I would have insisted on seeing the police report documenting the theft of the laptop; otherwise, your report is liable for the cost. I'd also look carefully at his $10K of "business expenses". Something isn't right.

yeah, thanks, I'm actually happy to have the ***** gone, but I am pissed at how he did it.

and I had the company freeze all payments to him and asked for the police report and to clarify his expenses.

I am thinking of getting T-shirts made for my team

"the international team - culling the weak and the lazy from the heard, since 2006"

 

[yerfdog]

Glad to hear your nonperformer problem solved itself, but if you're going to immortalize the event on a shirt, spell it "herd" for nitpicky correctness.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by yerfdog

Glad to hear your nonperformer problem solved itself, but if you're going to immortalize the event on a shirt, spell it "herd" for nitpicky correctness.

good point

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

...

I am thinking of getting T-shirts made for my team

"the international team - culling the weak and the lazy from the heard, since 2006"

LOL.

Glad you can now look on the bright side. In the long term, it's good to cut your losses and have him gone.