Alternate Pathways

One recent evening, I rounded a corner at home to find my 10-year-old sighing and rolling his eyes. A fourth grade mathematics worksheet lay on the table. "Why," he huffed, "do I have to show my work?"

His protest led me to a movie-like flashback (sans the blurred, wavy visual transition). How many times had I heard those same words from teachers while growing up, or found them scrawled on a returned page (even with the right answer in place)? Like father, like son.

Now Kyle is a kid who doesn't need to work through math problems on the paper in front of him. He's blessed with an analytical mind, and grows frustrated when he has to take extra time to document what he feels should be obvious. He proffers that as long as his outcome is correct -- the goal, after all -- why should the pathway be scrutinized?

His experience mirrors what many of us will face in our professional lives -- managers or peers so focused on specific mechanics that they lose sight of the end game. The reasons are many: they can more easily measure the tactics vs. outcomes, they only know one way of accomplishing the goal, or they're scared of innovative (and possibly better) approaches.

So what can you do? As someone facing a "show your work" manager, build up trust gradually, laying out your paths multiple times over various projects until you've proven yourself. Then again, with some superiors who love to micro-manage, you may have to adapt your own style (or seek an alternative role).

More importantly, as leaders, we can build organization and teams where the outcome is more important than a rigidly defined pathway. In these instances, the ideal is not simply showing the work, but discussing and debating techniques (both applied and discarded) in search of more efficient and more effective methodologies.

I was fortunate early in my career to have been taught this lesson. Ever since, the degree to which my teams have consistently amazed me and delighted clients and colleagues with innovative, unconventional approaches has been significant.

So the next time you're ready to be directive, pause for a moment. Instead of "show your work," try "explore your work." What transpires – the outcome and route taken – might surprise you.