Drag, Drain and Drift
When individuals lack capability it invariably gives rise to what we call Drag, Drain and Drift. For instance, research done by Goleman show that symptoms such as the ones listed below are often related to low emotional intelligence (EQ) which is one of the markers of capability:
wasted salary payments resources wasted on performance management, disciplinary processes, CCMA disputes decreased productivity reputational damage decreased teamwork decreased morale increased turnover
Organisations are systems made up of interdependent sub – systems. If a part of one sub – system – say an employee in production, or a pocket of employees in production have capability deficits, then this will have a knock – on effect on other parts of the organisation. Instead of the organisation’s hard assets – finance, resources, plant, systems etc. – and soft assets – its people – being utilised as “ wind in the sails” to take the organisation forward towards its stated objectives, it becomes mired in problems like conflict, under-performance, managers compensating for the lack of capability in the level reporting into them by doing a substantial part of their jobs, or spending inordinate amounts of time coaching subordinates, engaged in disciplinary hearings, performance management. Extreme manifestations of poor capability are narcissistic managers, pilfering, waste, fraud, white collar crime, work to rule, lethargy, group think, sycophancy etc. Capability issues play a significant role in all these types of problems which we will demonstrate in later Modules.
When you go back to the four characteristics of capability, you will realise that there is not much you can do if “you made the wrong pick”.
You cannot train more capability into people – as an organisation you are constrained by the capability constraints of your employees You cannot train people for roles that their capability is ill – suited to. For example, your analytical introverts cannot be changed into becoming dynamic leaders and managers. You cannot train deep seated behavioural problems out of people. For instance, your narcissistic or passive aggressive manager is never going to change.
Realising the profound implications of this, some of the most successful organisations in the world operate by the mantra of:
Select for capability and train for skills. DO NOT select for skills and train for capability.
The Impact of Capability Constraints
The following visuals are useful in thinking about how Capability Constraints can impact on your organisation.
The higher the level at which you have constraints , the more profound the impact of drag, drain and drift...
