"Tell me more, Joe. When you are given conflicting direction from Russ and Corey, how does that impact your driver crew?" I asked.

"First of all, I have a great crew, dedicated and very serious when the going gets tough. They know, at the end of this project, based on delays, there is going to be hell to pay. They know the excuses will fly and part of the blame will land on logistics.

"They also know," Joe continued, "that, during the project, they have no control over priorities and sequence. They make recommendations, but they are not in a position to know the overall impact or changes in scope or changes in schedule. They are only in a position to move our heavy equipment as instructed.

"I keep it pretty simple. My only contract with them is that they do their best. And if, at the end of the day, the goals aren't met, then the accountability for the shortfall must be with the leadership. It is leadership that determines the schedule, sets the pace, allocates the resources and makes the decisions that determine the outcome."

I surveyed the room. No one on the team, not Alicia, the Division Manager, nor Russ or Corey, her project leaders, was making eye contact.

"The purpose of the meeting today, is to discuss the conflict between Russ and Corey and determine what is going to change to get the project back on track," I continued. Alicia finally looked over. The blood was draining from her face.

"One ground rule in this discussion," I continued. "I am going to ask some questions. When you respond, you may only speak for yourself."

There were a couple of blank looks as I focused my attention, now, on the team members. I started with Joe, who was in charge of heavy equipment scheduling and logistics. "Joe, do you ever observe conflicting directions from Russ and Corey?"

Joe hesitated, but nodded his head affirmative.

"Speak only for yourself, Joe. What impact does it have on your work, when you observe these conflicts?"

Joe was a bit relieved at the question. He was afraid I was going to ask him to take sides. "Sometimes, it's confusing," he began. "I get started on one thing and I have to stop. I supervise a crew of drivers who move the heavy stuff in place. When I have them start and stop, I immediately know there is a problem with the leadership." -TF

"I want to start the meeting by asking some questions about the project," I continued. All eyes turned toward the two project leaders, but I started with Alicia, the Division Manager. "Alicia, what is your role, as Division Manager, related to the Phoenix Project?"

Alicia was a bit startled. She had expected the hot seats to be occupied by her two project leaders. "Well," she took a deep breath. "My role is to put the team together, assign the leadership, make sure there is consensus and that the project stays on track." Alicia stopped, hoping that was enough. She clearly wanted to shift the project delays to her project leaders.

"Okay," I nodded. "Let's hear from the two project leaders. Russ, you are from the engineering department, how do you understand your role?"

Russ was quick, prepared and in less than a minute outlined his role to make sure the customer's technical requirements were followed. There were close to 150 design specifications that would be evaluated at the end of the project.

"And Corey, you represent the production department. How do you understand your role?"

Corey gave a brief overview of the strict time deadlines, including an example of how production decisions sometimes required substitution of materials or a change in sequence.

"And sometimes, there is a conflict in Russ's Quality agenda and Corey's Production agenda," I stated flatly. "And that is what we are here to resolve, today, the conflict between Russ and Corey."

And that is when the silence began. –TF

Eleven people sat around the table. Alicia, in her role as Division Manager, the two Project Leaders and the rest of the team. It was a big project.

"I want to thank you for inviting me to this team meeting," I began. "I know most of you from other projects over the past few years. It's good to see familiar faces.

"And I also want to thank each of you for your participation today. The Phoenix Project is important to this company and you are all well aware of its delays.

"The purpose of the meeting today is to resolve those delays caused by the project's leadership." I stopped to gauge the response. There was predictable shifting in the chairs. Everyone was very uncomfortable.

Whenever I see that much discomfort, I know we are dealing with a real issue. –TF

"You have two out of five manager positions in place on a daily basis, so when you have a problem, you think you are fixing it when you are NOT fixing it," I offered.

"What do you mean?" Derrick asked.

"When you have a problem, you think you are fixing it. In fact, you have a supervisor in play to make sure the problem gets fixed."

"So, the problem is fixed," Derrick insisted.

"No, the problem is fixed, but the system is still broken. You are missing three of five Managers, so you are not paying proper attention to your systems.

"You see, Derrick, when you have a problem, everyone scrambles to fix the problem. Even experienced Managers put on their superhero cape and leap in front of their biggest customer to save the day.

"What they need to focus on," I continued, "is not the problem. They need to focus on the system. Why didn't the system prevent that problem? Or at least mitigate the damage from the problem? Their role is NOT to fix the problem, but to fix the system." -TF