Trapped in each of us is an emotional accountant keenly observing the people in our lives for tremblings of inequity. This mean spirited little troll evaluates each of our relationships, whether they be personal or professional, for a sense of balance and fairness.
The math is actually very simple: it’s about input to output. However, the numerator and denominator are not numerical, but rather the whole messy emotional, physical, monetary, spirtual, and cultural gloop of human existence. The balance our inner accountant seeks is that our gloop to goop ratio is equal to all those around us.
There is actually some real theory about this topic. It is called the Equity Theory of Motivation, first developed by John Stacey Adams in 1963, and it is behind the fourth dimension of Workability that I refer to as…wait for it…Investment.
Adams proposes that efforts and rewards, or inputs and outputs, are finely monitored by each of us in the workplace. Fairness is obtained when your perceived ratio of inputs to outputs is equal to others. When it is in balance we achieve Workability. When it is off, the system breaks down, resentment surfaces, motivation wanes, and we begin to suspect our coworkers of hiding automatic weapons under trench coats. We’re talkin’ ugly time. (See Dane Cook’s Creepy Guy at Work on how to handle this.)
When this universal human ratio is out of whack the reason can be as simple as time investments from different parties being off, or as gargantuan as getting stuck with a junior team when the agency sold you on a senior team. (I know you’re thinking who would ever do that.)
Keeping the balance is easier using the language of Workability. In my experience, projects fail because difficult conversations are avoided for too long. Shifting the conversation to maintaining Workability through equal and appropriate investment by all is more likely to generate positive outcomes than slow burning anger. Granted, I enjoy as much as the next guy the high of self-righteousness that comes from feeling I’m putting more in than anyone else, but when you start looking for bulky coats in your closet as a way to hide an RPG it’s time to address Workability head on.
There’s something about Abilene that makes everyone wanna pack heat.
The Road to Abilene 