Undergrounditis
by Janet E. Lapp, Ph.D.
One Time Rights Only - 1220 words

DEFINITION: The subjective, subtle, underground and unwritten rules clash with the written. For the sales professional, this virus operates at two levels, within the person as old rules clash with new requirements, and within the sales team, as hidden values actually block productivity. Does your team suffer?

Level 1

Within the person as old rules clash with new requirements.

For example, a new member of a computer server manufacturer team was knowledgeable, talented and driven, but his sales in the second quarter with the company were disappointing. After inquiry, it was discovered that there were two old rules blocking his productivity:

a) Our sales person grew up on a small farm in Canada, where it was enough to "get by." His parents made negative comments about the "rich" people down the road. Undergrounditis, or an old rule that "rich is bad," was working here to block his productivity --- until this old belief was exposed - that being "rich" was not negative. His productivity soared as he gave himself permission to be "rich."

b) In his early years, his family shared a telephone party line with others in his rural community, and he was always rushed to "get off the phone" and not "tie up the line." Before exposing this old rule, he would avoid using the phone, and would always rush to get off. His clients perceived him as abrupt and not interested -- if in fact he would ever make the call in the first place! After exposing the old rule as just that - old - he was able to overcome his fears in small steps, contact his clients more often and feel more relaxed about completing the call.

Level 2

Within the sales team, as hidden values actually block productivity.

'Who to get close to, who to avoid, who to blame, and who to fear' paralyze behavior. People who 'can't play the game' are shunted aside.

For example, the career of a promising pharmaceutical rep was cut short when she either refused or didn't know how to 'play the game.' A charming but manipulative senior VP of Marketing was the "one to get close to" because whoever exposed him as lacking in knowledge was fired from the company. Because it was forbidden to confront his inadequacies, honest and forthright reps were fired, and weaker reps were kept, exactly the opposite of what you want to happen in a sales force. It was only when a stronger CEO was brought into the company who had the courage and experience to expose the senior VP, that higher quality salespeople were kept, energies were not spent on "playing the game," and sales increased. If on your sales team, you notice these two further symptoms, Undergrounditis might have taken solid root in your group:

1. Blaming. When these symptoms are present, there are clear victims and victimizers, much blame and fault finding, collusion and triangling, and much time wasted managing conflict and disorganization. People are busy finding out who did it instead of solving the problem. They spend time plotting revenge, resenting others, and sabotaging others' efforts.

2. Buffering. Buffering means creating a buffer between the work of an organization and actual productivity. The goal is to express anger toward the company. The strength of the thought disorder is greater than the push for success. Sabotaging, canceling at the last minute, giving insufficient resources for projects, verbal support with no follow through, the formation of more committees, and the ignoring of reports are common symptoms of buffering. For example, a sales manager will insist that all salespeople have their numbers in by Friday afternoon at 3:00 PM. However, she would review these numbers only sometime during the following week. Another sales manager would make phone appointments with his sales force, only to either cancel or forget them.

What To Do

Base decisions on objective and open criteria. Talk openly in groups about unwritten rules.

Expose the Belief. If you expose the belief, you do change it a bit, but at the risk of being ostracized or fired. For example, a teenager diagnosed as a schizophrenic often comes from a 'schizophrenic family,' meaning the whole family has a serious thought disorder. The theory held by many family theorists is that the teenager, by expressing symptoms, is challenging the dysfunction of the family. Thus, the teenager who is diagnosed may be the healthiest part of the system. So too is the sales rep who speaks up and is fired the healthiest and most productive one.

If you work in a dysfunctional sales team, and want to expose the problem and retain your job, gather a critical mass of persons around you who think the same way, gather some higher-up support. It's not the time to play Lone Ranger.

If you are a sales manager, listen well. Encourage people to express themselves clearly, and offer good conflict management skill training.

Here are two other techniques you can use to expose undergrounditis:

1. Use the 6-6 Rule.
Question everything you have been doing for over six months; if you have been doing it for that long, it may be losing money, or may be excess baggage. Make sensible policy change a way of life. Update your own personal blueprints at the same time: how many old rules are you keeping that served you in the past? When elephants calves were tied to chain with a small bell, as adults they couldn't move when the chain was reattached, even if it isn't anchored. Habits stick like plaque unless they're removed regularly. Are you stuck with policies that don't make sense?

2. Make Break-the-Rule thinking part of your culture.
If you find that you are advising your salespeople that they can't make changes because of 'policy,' try what one sales force tried. Because they recognized that true progress would be made only when they were freed of their own bureaucratic build-up, they held a Dumb Rules Contest among their salespeople. They received over 400 suggestions of dumb rules that they were following that either impeded their work, created costs or decreased revenue.

They reviewed all of them and found that even though they could drop less than half of the dumb rules, they still saved a large sum of money. For those rules that they could not change because of regulations of which the salespeople were not aware, the exercise became an opportunity to clear up misperceptions.

One plastics company gave awards for the person or department that demonstrated that they had been able to break with an outdated restrictive rule. It had to be in line with the company's new vision and demonstrate how it saved time or money. They called it the Cow-Tipper Award; every Friday they assembled, wrote down the outdated regulation or rule ('sacred cow') on the side of a cardboard cut-out of a cow. Then the employee or department were recognized, given a Cow Tipper Pin, and either cash or a day off work was awarded. Others have developed similar rule-cutting ceremonies. To demonstrate the important of 'cutting through the red tape,' one company gives away large spray-painted gold scissors in a weekly ceremony. One caution, however: these awards and ceremonies are meant to reflect a deeper change into which all staff buy in. They will be resented if they are substitutes for fundamental change.

Hunt out and track down this virus, before it tracks down and kills your team.

© 2001-2004 Janet E. Lapp, Ph.D. All rights reserved. Dr. Janet Lapp is an expert at guiding organizations through change. She is the author of Plant your Feet Firmly in Mid-Air, publisher of The Change Letter and one of North America's most energizing and insightful professional speakers. For more information please contact your speakers bureau.