Circle to Nowhere

In my business there's a technique for "developing" managers called 360 degree or multi-rater feedback. This is where you, your boss, your peers, and your subordinates rate your on different work behaviors (Chat is a good team player; Chat communicates clearly, etc). If you're a middle manager or above in a reasonably sized company you've probably gone through one of these.

There's a tiny little problem with this kind of process--there's no research data that shows that it works. Put another way, people who go through this and get the results don't necessarily improve their performance. In fact, if the data suggests anything it's that people who are already good performers take advantage of the feedback (which is probably how they became good performers in the first place) and the people who have the most to gain from it don't improve, or get worse (they see this as another thing management's doing to make them look bad).

Occasionally I get involved in these projects. Given the above, why is a reasonable question. One answer, quite frankly, is that it's usually easy money. The second is a little more complicated. The best analogy I can think of is think of the kind of guy who goes into a strip club to "save" one of the girls. Yes, he's well intentioned. He thinks that what HE has to offer will take her away from this sordid existence and she'll live a happier, better existence away from the club. I look at this process and think, "Wow, a lot of this is crap. I can make it a better product and process that people will find really valuable." It's only later that I realize that the purchasers aren't really interested in something better and we're back watching single moms with stretch marks shaking their tits.

I again allowed myself to get seduced into one of these projects. The consultant who brought me in is dialed into a lot of good companies and at this point she's more interested in developing and selling product. That works for me in that I do derive a good amount of revenue from products I sell. So, I tell her what I think the product and process should look like, she agrees and we go into together to develop something for this client that we would then market to others.

Well, midway through it became apparent to me that this other consultant is far more interested in selling anything rather than selling anything good. I had to scratch and scream to get at least some creative elements to it. She kept saying, "That stuff is just too far beyond the USA Today crowd." What became apparent is that she's the one who is unwilling to make the intellectual stretch to do something different.

So, I busted my ass on this for a few weeks and we finally delivered today. I'm ambivalent about her going out and selling it. On one hand, I would like to get at least some coin back for my investment (I got paid some, but not nearly enough). Then again, I don't need to be the guy spinning another version of Pour Some Sugar On Me.