Management: Avoid Making Promises You Can't Keep
Whether you are a politician or manager in private enterprise.
When a politician makes a promise, it is often publicized. If it was made by a Republican, some reporter will point out the promise will be difficult to nearly impossible to keep. If it is made by a Democrat, social media will perform the work of the reporter. However, politicians aren’t the only ones who make promises that can’t be kept.
During my brief stay at IBM, I saw an example. I was promoted to systems engineer and my mentor was promoted to a position outside the Topeka Branch. Nearly on his way out the door, he looked in some manuals and told me I might have a problem. Some new equipment that was due to be delivered might not be supported by the customer’s current operating system. Sure enough, we had the problem.
IBM sent multiple people to solve the problem. The customer was justifiably upset. After talking with the data processing manager for over and hour, which felt like verbal arm wrestling, he finally agreed to install the new operating system so we could fix the problem. I left relieved.
The next morning, John, my manager, went to talk to the data processing manager. When John returned, he called me into his office. I asked how it went. He said, “It went fine. I told him we would fix the problem.” I couldn’t believe it. We had already spent a week with the best people we had working on the problem. I looked him in the eyes. “John, we can’t fix it.” “Why not?” I explained that the old operating system was not supported and did not recognize the new equipment. His countenance fell. He made a promise he couldn’t keep.
You can avoid making promises you can’t keep by only making promises that you can personally keep. I will look into it. I will do my best. I will get back to you. Then keep your promise. Talk with your staff. Discover what the problem is. Get back to the customer.
It is a good idea to talk with your staff before going to the customer. Get your staff’s perspective before you go. In John’s case, a quick talk with me before he went would have been helpful. The timing was unfortunate.
It is easier for us to fall into making promises we can’t keep when we manage an area that we don’t know. John was a marketing manager. I was the only systems engineer under him. He did not have a deep technical background. In cases like that, it is even more important to talk to those who know before making promises.
Nobody wants to make promises that can’t be kept. Now you have a few ideas of avoiding the problem.