Happy Friday! Here’s your weekly tip on how to be more human at work

Treat human nature as fixed and everything else as variable

I could almost stop the post now but you’re here already so I’ll elaborate.

In my experience, most of the time a leader needs to get something done, there is a financial, strategic, or operational rationale for the initiative.

It starts there.

And then, once they’ve decided why they need to do something and what they need to do, they move into implementation mode. That’s when they start considering how to convey the information, how to inspire people, how to get people to take action.

Most of the time I see leaders considering their rationale — and everything else to do with their plan — as fixed, and the “human thing” as variable.

They believe in the soundness of their thinking, consider it as Truth, and believe their recommendations should be implemented without varying from the analysis. And though they may not admit this out loud, I can see from their approach that they believe the people in their organization — upon whom they depend to make it happen — will simply adapt and conform to whatever the analysis says.

Don’t do this. You will lose every time unless dumb luck is in your favor that day.

Your analysis and plan has been around for a few minutes. Human nature has been around for millennia. It will not change or bend to your will — no matter how brilliant your thinking is.

Every aspect of humanity that you experience in your personal life is present at work. People are sometimes irrational, sometimes forgetful, sometimes rebellious, sometimes a little crazy…

Don’t ignore any of that. Instead, design for it. You don’t really have a choice.

Next time, consider the people at the very start. Make sure every step along the way is taken with actual humans in mind. Think about the following…

• How do people in your organization become convinced of something? Emotional appeals, data, stories, charts…?
• Who do people in your organization need to hear it from? Their peers, their direct reports, their leaders…?
• What is the current mindset in the organization and do they have the time, space, mental and emotional capacity to handle what you’ll throw at them? (Also, don’t throw things at people, it’s really rude.)
• What obstacles will they run into if they try to implement your plan? Do they have the right tools and training? Do you have processes or policies that will get in the way? Will they hear mixed message from other leaders…?

Start there and everything will be easier and more successful. To be clear, I said “easier” not “easy”. Dealing with humans is hard. But it’s a lot easier when you simply accept reality and work with it rather than trying to ignore it or fight it.

This message was brought to you by the humans of Rule No. 1.