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- Do Your Decisions Consider This?(12/2/2025)
Do Your Decisions Consider This?(12/2/2025)
Happy December!
The subject matter in this issue, while some less obvious than the rest, is tied to experiences I had since last week. The good news is, I’m not going to talk as much about my experiences as the lessons I learned from the experiences.
Taking the time to reflect on your experiences and activities gives you the chance to create learning like this. You don’t have to share it like I do here for it to be valuable, but when you have learning moments, sharing it does help lock those lessons into your subconscious a bit better.
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Make it a great Tuesday, and remember …
You are Remarkable!
Kevin 😊
Are They Ready?
“Are they ready?” is a question often asked (and sometimes needs to be asked but isn’t) in business settings.
The two most common times I hear this question asked are these:
Are they ready to be promoted?
Are they ready for the change?
The question is important, but determining the answer isn’t always easy.
I thought about that question a lot over the last three days. Not because I was talking with clients, but because I was cooking. This was an equally relevant question as I smoked turkey breasts, made cookies, and made candy. In each case, I wanted the end product to be of high quality.
Which is what you want when you are promoting someone or implementing a change. You want it to go well.
How I checked for readiness across my three experiences are a bit different, and all help us see some interesting perspectives on our business readiness questions.
I was smoking two turkey breasts at once, so I had a temperature probe in each one. The breasts were nearly the same size, but I didn’t assume they’d be ready at the same time. One came off (quite a few) minutes before the other, even though they looked the same and were treated (prepped and cooked) the same. I also found myself checking on the temperature more than I probably needed to, after all, it these weren’t the first turkey breasts I’ve smoked…
When you bake cookies, you have an oven temperature and a time recommended on the recipe. But when you have two ovens, you quickly learn they don’t cook the same, and that the times are estimates, not guarantees. If you are baking cookies with an expert, you also learn that “done” is based on look more than time. Since you can’t put a thermometer in the cookie, the measurements are more subjective and do require more frequent looking than with my turkey.
Lastly, the hard candy I made. I put the three ingredients in the pan and brought the mixture to a boil – but it isn’t ready until the temperature reaches 310 degrees F. It takes maybe 6 minutes to move the thermometer from 220 degrees to 280 degrees, and about 1 minute to go from 280 degrees to 310 degrees!
What are the business lessons we can draw from my weekend of cooking, as it relates to the “are they ready?” question?
The question is important. Yes, it is obvious with food – you don’t want burnt cookies or undercooked turkey. But if you don’t ask this question in your business situation, you could have longer lasting and more expensive mistakes.
Have a way to measure. If you want to check readiness, know what your measurements for success will be.
Pay attention but don’t hover. Whether for promotion or change, readiness for your team members is more like smoking the turkey than making candy. If you hover, checking all the time, you will likely slow readiness by micromanagement. Let people do their work! (This is a corollary to the aphorism, “a watched pot never boils.”)
Not every situation follows the recipe or the clock. Not every team member or team will progress at the same rate. People and organizations are complex systems and while guidelines may be helpful, real success comes from experience, observation and discernment.
Science and art. Have your measurements but observe carefully too. Because there is art to developing people and teams, just like there is for food preparation.
Use these insights when you ask the question … “are they ready?”
Do Your Decisions Consider This?
Leaders make decisions of all shapes and sizes. They make them individually and in groups with other leaders. Whether formally or subconsciously, they often consider a variety of criteria when making them. In my work with leaders and organizations, there is often one criterion that I find is missing or not considered often enough.
Typically, leaders look at factors like cost, viability, and time. They consider the amount of change involved and alignment with strategies. But how often do they consider how the decision aligns with or impacts the culture of the organization?
Thanks for reading. Please reply at any time with questions or feedback for our team.
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