Interlude - Index of

108 | Turbulent Adolescence
Tom thought very differently from me. I would dig into
the problem itself: I’d learn about the details, explore the
options, and worry about the right answer. Tom didn’t focus
on the problem: he focused on the people whose job was to
solve the problem. After talking with Tom, I seldom understood
the problem any better, but he gave me lots of ideas
about how to move forward in solving it. Occasionally I was
the right person to come up with a solution, but as the organization
grew, it became obvious to me that Tom’s approach was
much more powerful and scalable. Watching Tom manage, it
seemed to me that he applied a simple three-step algorithm to
every problem:
1.
2.
3.
Who owns the problem?
Do I trust them?
How do I find an owner I trust?
If you can’t find an owner, that’s the problem right there.
Skip to step 3. Sometimes it’s obvious what person or group
owns the problem, but they need to be reminded that it’s theirs
and that you are watching.
When you find the owner, the next step is to figure out
whether you trust them. I don’t mean trust in some abstract
sense—I mean trust them to fix this particular problem. In
the abstract, I trust Tom Mendoza completely. For a problem
involving spreadsheets or programming languages, not at all.
Even if you trust someone’s skills, that person may be too busy
to do more. You’re looking for someone with the skills, the
time, and the passion to solve this problem.
If steps 1 and 2 fail, then step 3 is to find an owner you
trust. Sometimes there’s someone nearby who can take it on.