Don’t be an Answer-Man Super Hero

If you are a young, zealous technical person and you think the boss wants you to personally come up with the answers, you might want to know how my first manager set me straight:

1. I wasn’t supposed to come up with the answer; I was supposed to orchestrate the development of an answer using the best expertise I could find for every aspect of the problem.
2. Any answer not developed in partnership with the people who do the work was unworthy of his time or attention and would not be adopted. 
3. Start small, with a trial or prototype, to check things out more thoroughly before spreading any changes throughout the operation.
4. Keep everyone informed and take their input and concerns seriously, no matter what their position, expertise or title. Find a way to show them you have put their best ideas into your plans and actions.
5. Don’t make changes without the support of the people who will be impacted by them.
6. Be very thorough in the last phases of implementation to make sure the changes implemented will last. Expand your communications and solicit input from the larger group to make sure you have done everything required to ensure you’ll get the best performance around the improvement you’ve made after the fact.

If you put your mind to it, you can quickly start working this way and begin picking up on the behaviors you will need to be successful. However, for many people, it takes patience and persistence to gain a complete understanding of why it is so important to do technical work in this way. Take the time to develop your skills in this regard and you’ll always be appreciated as a thoughtful, careful, and thorough problem solver.