
A Kemp's Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempi), ashore, probably to lay eggs. Kemp's Ridley sea turtles nest only in two areas of the shores of the Gulf of Mexico: at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas (a human engineered re-colonization), and in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. As late as the 1940s these turtles were abundant, but hunting, habitat destruction and pollution reduced their numbers to about 1,000 by 1970. After listing as being critically endangered, they have begun to recover, and before the BP Oil Disaster, 8,000 adults were believed to be alive.
What happens now is difficult to predict, but it is clear that the BP blowout will kill many Kemp's Ridleys. A return to the population levels of the 1970s is possible, as is total extinction. That human intervention has had both positive and negative effects on the prospects for the species illustrates the dynamics of self-canceling effort and disunity of purpose.
For more on the Kemp's Ridley, see the Google video, "Saving the Kemp's Ridley", or read Leslie Kaufman's May 18, 2010, article in the New York Times, Gulf Oil Again Imperils Sea Turtle". Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Sometimes we work hard to achieve a goal, but measurable progress remains elusive. We sense movement, but we aren't making progress. It can happen in any organizational effort — projects, new product development, research, process improvement, organizational change — anything. And it can happen in Life — career advancement, weight loss, pursuing a dream.
When this happens, what can we do? Here are seven popular ways to get nowhere and what can be done about them.
- Irrelevant effort
- The work itself isn't relevant to progress. Perhaps it's progress-neutral, or it might be progress in a direction unimportant right now (or ever).
- Review what you're doing. Exactly how does it move you towards the goal?
- Self-canceling effort
- The work underway might have both positive and negative effects that cancel each other out. An example: digging a hole but failing to throw the extracted dirt out of the hole.
- Are you doing anything that erodes the value of the overall effort?
- Misleading measurement
- The method of measuring progress might be faulty. It registers no progress, but progress is actually real.
- How do you measure progress? Why do you believe that there's a connection between progress and whatever you measure?
- Running in circles
- Even though each bit of effort moves you forward, you eventually revisit wherever you are. A form even more difficult to detect is like Brownian motion — you rarely (or never) revisit any one spot but the average position doesn't change.
- What's the evidence that the work underway actually produces steady advancement?
- Missing pieces
- The work requires Unity of purpose requires
investment. Announcements,
memos and orations alone
cannot achieve it.infrastructure that you don't yet have in place. Consequently, the progress you do make is periodically erased. Bailing out a leaky rowboat without first addressing the leaks is a good example. - Is there anything you could have done earlier that would have made what you're doing now any easier? Is it too late to go back and do it?
- Saboteurs
- Someone or some people are actively working against progress — political foes, disgruntled team members, or even yourself. Maybe you're aware of this, or perhaps some of it is outside your awareness, becoming visible only episodically.
- Have you talked with those involved in this conflict? If not, what would happen if you brought the issue into the open? Could it possibly be worse than what's happening now?
- Disunity of purpose
- Here the different elements of the group (or the different parts of your Self) are all working steadily and making good progress, but they do so in different directions with different goals in mind. In some situations, this disunity becomes clear only after a revealing incident.
- Unity of purpose requires investment. Announcements, memos, and orations alone cannot achieve it. Unity of purpose follows only from extensive mutual communication.
I'm certain there are many more ways to get nowhere. I'm equally certain that mastering just this much would be progress. Top
Next Issue
Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!
Your comments are welcome
Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrenDJpmhgyaDTwBQXkhner@ChacmGoYuzfZpOvDQdRkoCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.About Point Lookout
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and
found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.
This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.
Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.
Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.
Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.
Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Take Any Seat: II
- In meetings, where you sit in the room influences your effectiveness, both in the formal part of the
meeting and in the milling-abouts that occur around breaks. You can take any seat, but if you make your
choice strategically, you can better maintain your autonomy and power.
Tangled Thread Troubles
- Even when we use a facilitator to manage a discussion, managing a queue for contributors can sometimes
lead to problems. Here's a little catalog of those difficulties.
Risk Management Risk: I
- Risk Management Risk is the risk that a particular risk management plan is deficient. It's often overlooked,
and therefore often unmitigated. We can reduce this risk by applying some simple procedures.
Kerfuffles That Seem Like Something More
- Much of what we regard as political conflict is a series of squabbles commonly called kerfuffles. They
captivate us while they're underway, but after a month or two they're forgotten. Why do they happen?
Why do they persist?
Improvement Bias
- When we set about improving how our organizations do things, we expose ourselves to the risk of finding
opportunities for improvement that offer very little improvement, while we overlook others that could
make a real difference. Cognitive biases play a role.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming May 14: Working with the Overconfident
- A cognitive bias known as the Overconfidence Effect causes us to overestimate the reliability of our judgments. Decisions we make based on those judgments are therefore suspect. But there are steps we can take to make our confidence levels more realistic, and thus make our decisions more reliable. Available here and by RSS on May 14.
And on May 21: Mismanaging Project Managers
- Most organizations hold project managers accountable for project performance. But they don't grant those project managers control of needed resources. Nor do they hold project sponsors or other senior managers accountable for the consequences of their actions when they interfere with project work. Here's a catalog of behaviors worth looking at. Available here and by RSS on May 21.
Coaching services
I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenDJpmhgyaDTwBQXkhner@ChacmGoYuzfZpOvDQdRkoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.
Get the ebook!
Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:
- Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
- Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
- Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
- Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
- Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
- Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )
Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info
Follow Rick
Recommend this issue to a friend
Send an email message to a friend
rbrenDJpmhgyaDTwBQXkhner@ChacmGoYuzfZpOvDQdRkoCanyon.comSend a message to Rick
A Tip A Day feed
Point Lookout weekly feed
