Push the ball away

I wanted so much to write about this topic earlier but just did not know which subject title it should come under.

In a nutshell, the matter at hand is about a defective plan got into trouble but having to 'save face' in public.

The technique to do just that is "push the ball away".

In order to divert attention, let say you are faced with a tough question in the open, and you cannot give a convincing answer, push the ball away!

A scenario about Saturday Replacement Holiday is illustrated here. It is common for companies to grant replacement holiday on the Friday before or Monday after the Saturday which falls on a public holiday. This to compensate employees who would otherwise work longer hours everyday to get off on Saturday as compared to the 6 days work system in the old days.

So, when a Saturday happens to be a Public Holiday, a replacement day off is automatically granted. A case in real life occurred like below:

The presenter asked: "With regards to the new IT system on leave application for the Saturday Replacement Holiday, is there any question?"

The crowd, in the mid of confusion, suddenly went silent. As normally the case, in a Asian culture nobody dare to ask in public.

Then, over silence a middle age, notoriously recalcitrant employee stood up and asked:

"The old system for leave application was automatic, Saturday Public Holiday is automatically set as Friday holiday"

The presenter said: "That's right! And we now allow the flexibility to reserve that leave for future use base on your choice! Isn't that a great step forward?"

The recalcitrant employee however continued, rephrasing his question with a statement: "The new system only allows Saturday holiday to be claimed upon application. That's no more automatic and application can only be submitted for approval after the Saturday has passed, which means it cannot be utilized on the Friday before or Monday after. This means we are going backwards!"

"But, we have to ensure no abuse!" The resistance started to build up, with possible abuse of the flexibility as if Saturday Replacement can be used to off set working days for employees leaving the company. This could be true as there were people taking the whole years' leaves in early part of the year and terminating employment soon after that! In this situation, the company was especially lenient, without much scrutiny.

Hence, this concern was unfounded because nobody can claim the Saturday replacement leave unless the employee is still working during that time (after the actual day). And there is no need to restrict when to submit leave application as it is not material in this context.

To emphasize time restriction, the recalcitrant employee explained: "Furthermore, if the submission of leave application needs time for approval, why can't submission be done ahead?"

That means submission of leave application for replacement Saturday Public Holiday be ahead of the Saturday.

"Why can't approval be given for example to utilize the Saturday Public Holiday as replacement on the following Monday?" That means it could still be possible to fall back to the old system.

To prove his point, the recalcitrant employee continued: "...by doing so, it expands the allowance of the new system accommodating the flexibility of both the old and new system."

However, the presenter did not want to back down. Probably in retaliation and to keep her superior executive position. As a gesture of generosity, she offered further explanation that employees can
make use of annual leaves to take off on the following Monday or Friday ahead of the Saturday Public Holiday. And hurray! A huge contribution and credit to her innovation!

But, despite the new system having the flexibility of utilizing Saturday Replacement in the future as equivalent to "annual leave", it does not need to be restrictive in the approval process. What damage can it be if approval be given ahead of the holiday? There cannot be an abuse in the system as replacement date has to be after the Saturday which falls on a Public Holiday!

However, in order not to be seen as agreeing with the recalcitrant employee, the presenter asked the audience:

"Anyone else has the same issue?"

And, as you all know, half of the crowd was not sure how to ask, and a third did not really see the restriction being unnecessary - as always, employees just accept what is dictated upon them - and the rest were just not listening, there was no more question.

"So be it, this is an isolated issue only to you and if there is no further question we move on."

It sounded so diplomatic and understanding. This is the "pushed the ball away" tactic!

So, do you think it ever get discussed again?

No way!

As this was an "isolated issue" (because generally the smart ones are only a few and far in between)  so there was no need to dwell in further and reveal the defective nature in the system.

After all, do you think anyone in the audience really care? Probably less than 10%!

As long as it does not affect you, you would not care, right? If the system is defective, let those affected sort it out themselves...

Reflection

A new system should ideally be better than the old system. The relative 'better of' does not mean it must improve economic returns, like in the above case, it results in lesser working hours and may be worse productivity. However, the operative part of the new system, be it manual or computerized has to be better of, more effective or efficient. And, all that is reference to the old system. So, for example, a new parking system with automated fee collecting machine, has to be better than a manual collection by a parking attendant. This is logically the reason why a new system has to be better and thus able to sustain that advantage over the previous system for a long time.

The above scenario has defect in the operative part of the system, although the objective in flexibility of converting replacement Saturday Holiday to Annual Leave is achieved.

Therefore, this is an issue of efficiency, and not effectiveness. The end result can be achieved, with or without a computer IT system to register the leaves/replacement holidays, but the purpose of having the new IT system to facilitate better organization efficiency is not fully utilized.

An advance application of Saturday Replacement leave can be easily done over the IT system, and it does not need to be restrictive as such.