The “clock problem” bias…
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I spoke to a leader this week, who was massively frustrated.
“My leadership team needs to work better together.”
The torment was all over his face. He went on to say, “How can I ever leverage my time, if I have to be in the room with them to make things happen?”
Oh, how this resonated for me! I remember feeling this way in all four of my CIO jobs.
Desperate, the leader asked, “How can I fix this?”
Here’s the thing: team problems are rarely single-threaded.
In 1965, Karl Popper did a lecture where he described problems metaphorically. He introduced the concept of “clock problems” vs. “cloud problems.”
Clock problems are mechanical and typically have one root cause. If a clock isn’t working, you can disassemble it, analyze the parts, and fix what is broken.
Cloud problems are complex and don’t have a single root cause. As an example, hurricanes don’t happen for one reason alone—it’s the confluence of many conditions that cause a nasty storm.
So back to teams and them not working well together: this is usually a cloud problem. And to fix it means you can’t oversimplify it and treat it like a clock problem.
Given that, I’m using my normal “5 Things” format to uncover the most likely conditions causing team dysfunctions.
And to make it simpler, I’m sharing those 5 conditions by using the acronym CLOUD.
Look, this isn’t scientific. But based on my intensive team intervention work, these are the 5 most common conditions I observe when I’m helping a team overcome the bullshit.
CLOUD
Current Events
Leaders commonly underestimate the impact of news headlines on a team’s performance and their willingness to work together. The election, COVID, global wars, and even something as silly as the Mike Tyson & Jake Paul fight can create disruption and division.
Start here:
Acknowledge the elephant in the room. “I know the latest news has caused anxiety & stress for some of you. For me, it’s the same.” Remind the team of their shared goals and the importance of supporting one another, even amid differences.
CLOUD
Lousy Bosses
The age-old adage is true, people don’t quit companies … they quit bosses. One lousy boss in your organization can disrupt all the other teams. It’s important to suss out managers who aren’t demonstrating your values and to provide coaching and performance management. Oh, and be open to the fact that YOU might be the lousy boss, who needs to make some changes.
Start here: I’ve designed a free Org Health Quiz that helps you understand if you have an under-performing manager on your team. Step 1 is for you to take it on your own. Step 2 is we administer a shorter version to your team. (Still free.) It’ll take you 3 minutes to get started.
CLOUD
Overcommitment
I see this as the #1 disease in organizations today. They are overcommitted and cannot balance all the priorities expected of them. Instead, they multi-task their way through the day and important things get done half-assed or not at all.
Start here: Create a single priority list of your projects with your managers. Ensure they’re working on the things that are most important … right now. Last step, with all of the priorities, attach a rank order to every single one of them. Then, when you’re team experiences collisions, they know exactly what project they should be focused on.
CLOUD
Unignorable Jerks
Just like lousy bosses, don’t underestimate the impact of a single, contributor-level employee who is distracting the team around them. An organization is only as good as the worst behavior it tolerates. Read that again.
Start here: If you think there’s a jerk on your team, have a one-to-one huddle with them (skip levels are 100% okay and very effective). Have a “more of—less of” conversation. Example: “Chris, I’d like to see less interrupting on your part when you’re in team meetings. I’d like you to pause more before responding to others.”
CLOUD
Disappointing (Internal) Events
Your team could be crushing it, but if something happens at the macro level of your org, it’ll quickly deflate and distract them. Poor earnings reports, a town hall meeting where the CEO says something stupid, layoffs in another department, etc.
Start here: Again, don’t ignore the elephant in the room. Call a team meeting. Ask, “After the layoffs in the marketing department, how are you all feeling?” At that point: STOP TALKING. Let people air their feelings. Allow space. Do not respond to how they feel. Simply acknowledge it, “Thank you for sharing your feelings. I appreciate you.”
Be prepared that many of these CLOUD problems could co-exist and cause a perfect storm. But even within a single condition, there could be a complex cloud problem in play.
Therefore, the “start here” sections above are really designed as step 1 in the process—they aren’t the magic bullet.
Stay open-minded. Don’t oversimplify and have a clock problem bias. Invite your leaders to solve these cloud problems with you.
And remember: just because the problem is complex doesn’t mean the solution needs to be.
Your coach,
Chris
P.S. ⭐ If you need help diagnosing & solving cloud problems with your team, I’m only a Google Meet away. You can schedule a free 45-minute brainstorming session here.
