Contribute beyond your title

Easier are the decisions where one side is right and the other is wrong however in many situations, leaders have to choose one from the two rights.

Here is a story about Peter, the project manager, who assumed responsibility, led beyond his title and made a difference by his decision.

Quandary or the Growth Opportunity?

Background
Peter was working as a project manager with a small but growing software service provider company.  For last few months, he was working on a project very critical for the client – Caroline.

Caroline was very happy with the way the project was progressing; especially with the way Peter was managing it. Peter never missed a Status report and always kept Caroline updated with the progress.

In fact, Caroline’s positive feedback was one of the reasons behind Peter’s recent salary rise.

Quandary of Two Rights
On a Thursday morning, Peter got an email from his CEO instructing him to “hide” an important piece of information in the weekly status report which was supposed to be sent on Friday.

Benefit of hiding the information was continuation of the contract with Caroline for at-least next 6 months which meant a lot of money for Peter’s company.

On the other side, Caroline may go bankrupt in next 6 months if she continues funding the project which had no future – at least it was apparent with the information which was to be hidden.

Peter, the project management professional, was well aware that as a project in-charge he has to do the right thing for the project. He wanted to inform Caroline about the fact but he was asked by his superior NOT to do that.

Now, he has to make a choice between two rights. Between integrity (with the client) versus commitment (towards his own company).

Now what would he do? Would he send the status report and pretend that he doesn’t know about the “hidden” fact or update the client about the situation which will lead his company to lose the contract?

The Decision
Peter decided to Eat That Frog andchose a road less traveled.

He decided to meet his CEO to tell that he won’t hide that information in the status report and still do well for the company.

Peter quickly developed a plan which would enable his organization to earn the money they were losing if they unhide the truth to Caroline and presented to his CEO.

“This plan is not bullet-proof and there is no guarantee we will gain the money we are going to lose,” said the CEO.

“But, it’s definitely a way to go!  Peter. You, the leader beyond your title – Project Manager – have made me realize that the path I was heading was faulty and was not in the favor of our company’s long term sustainable success,” CEO said slowly.

“Go ahead and update Caroline with the facts. Even if we lose the contract we will at-least win a friend who will be ready to stand by our company for the rest of her life,” added the CEO.

Conclusion
Peter sent the status report without hiding the fact. Caroline took the decision to stop further development on this project. Actually, stopping this project saved Caroline from going bankrupt also.

On the other side, CEO worked with Peter on the business plan he developed, made it bullet-proof and stared executing it.

6 Months Later: Peter, who is now leading the SBU as per the revised business plan, got a call from Caroline who wanted to start a new project which was three times bigger in size, of course with Peter’s company.

This was the story about 3 such quandaries which stand as fundamental models or paradigms while deciding from two-rights quandaries.

1. Honesty Vs. Commitment – Honesty towards his profession and commitment towards his company.
2. Personal interests Vs. Organization’s – Hiding the fact was easy for Peter but was going to be bad for the company over the long run.
3. Quick-fix Vs. Long-standing – Again, the quick-fix,  hiding the fact, would have affected the company adversely over the long term.

In such situations, the first thing you need to do is to what’s right for the greater good of everyone involved, as Peter did.  The people around you will know it nevertheless.

Everyone will learn it the harder way if you don’t shout it out.

Pause. Take a deep breath. Decide how you are going to work out the problem. Make an alternative plan and execute it with a specific purpose.

Power Question: In quandaries, do you assume responsibility and take the tough but the right decision?