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PRINCIPLE
OF THE SITUATION
To solve a problem, you
must get the facts, face-the-facts,
and have the courage
to take the action that the
facts dictate.
The principle of The Situation is one of
the most difficult to apply in business. That's because man is an emotional
animal. Managers, too, of course.
It is Just natural that emotion is going
to play some part in management decision-making. But the good manager manager
limits his emotional attitudes and actions. He is a business scientist.
Sure he has "hunches" and
"feelings" about what should be done and how. But as a professional in
the science of management, he analyses and tests his feelings against the cold,
logical reality of what must be done.
The warm-hearted manager who never hurts
anyone's feelings, is neither loved nor admired by his employees. When he is
soft on an employee that is not doing a Job right, he just shifts the burden of
getting the job done to the shoulders of others. That's not fair. It
de-motivates the good, hard-working employees.
The manager must also guard against
prejudice in his own favor. There are managers who are quite objective and
rational in examining the ideas of others; but who are totally
subjective in analyzing or evaluating their own recommendations. The good
manager ruthlessly examines his own beliefs, concepts, and actions in light of
the true needs of the business.
The manager will have some assurance that he is making the right decisions in
solving the problems of the business if he follows TEE PROCESS OF LOGICAL
THINKING.
If there is anything to add to this principle it could only be "take
action now". There are some managers quite good at gathering and
evaluating the facts, who even say they have courage to take the action the
facts demand, but who procrastinate, perhaps in the hope that the problem will
go away before they have to take the action required. Quite the contrary, the
problem will get worse; and the delay in remedial action will cause new and
additional problems.
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