Reset or Rewire?

In a 2009 speech about relations with Russia, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said, “It’s time to press the reset button.”  The phrase, adapted from the common instruction for personal electronics devices, aptly describes what we to do in situations when things simply don’t work properly.

When a pitcher’s throwing mechanics are off, the soufflé doesn’t rise, a process runs afoul, or a tried-and-true sales promotion is getting lackluster results, then pressing the reset button is often the fix.  Especially when a mistake or miscue has been made.  Some minor or unwitting change in how something is performed or executed can lie at the root of the mishap. 

 

Yet, if a pitcher’s mechanics are corrected, the oven temperature for the soufflé is raised, and the miscues in the process and sales promotion are detected and remedied, and the desired result still does not come about, then something else is going on.

 

Doing the Right Things, in the Right Way

Management is concerned with choosing the right things to do, and then ensuring that they are done the right way.  “Don’t fix what’s not broken” is a well-known cliché.  Managers learn to resist go back to the drawing board at the first sign that something isn’t working the way it should. 

 

Rule of Thumb #1: when results fall short, the default course of action should be to first examine implementation.  More times than not, the issue can be found there.  “Pressing the reset button” restores everything to its initial working order.

 

Sometimes, though, the problem lies not in how something is done, but what is being done.

 

What Worked Yesterday May not Work Today

If a policy, strategy, program or activity stops performing well, and no fault can be found in its implementation, then it is no longer serving its intended purpose.  Repeatedly pressing the reset button won’t make it work better.

 

The problem lies not in a reset or restore, but in the wiring.  Things need to be changed.

 

Rule of Thumb #2: when a reset doesn’t fix the problem, then rewire.

Good management is about knowing the difference, and knowing the order in which to proceed with a fix.