When things are busy, it is always so much easier to simply answer a question rather than stop to reason through the solution with the questioner. The problem this creates is a learned dependence on you, as a manager, for all decisions. When there is uncertainty involved and you aren’t immediately available, some people will retreat to hiding behind the rules even if those rules don’t make sense.
Have you ever heard someone in a customer service role say, "I know it doesn’t make sense, but that’s the policy?" One one hand, we want to say, "Use your head!" On the other hand, we must accept that we have conditioned them to do this. When this happens, we end up with a unhappy customer and some sort of time-consuming snafu that requires our attention anyway.
If we want those we supervise to develop and use their own problem solving skills in ambiguous situations,
we must draw a line in the sand and encourage (or maybe force) them to take ownership for decisions that lay squarely within their job responsibilities. They need to exert reason and not just hide behind the rules. How? Try these suggestions:
Simply begin — The next time someone approaches you with one of these ambiguous situations, relflect it back to them and say, "Okay, how do you think you should handle it?" Then get quiet, real quiet, and force them to think it through. Resist the temptation to lead their thinking. Ask them to think out loud which will give you a chance to observe their reasoning. Patience is the key for both of you. The short-term discomfort they feel in working through the situation will be more than rewarded with confidence in their own skills long-term.
Give them a strategy — You might show them how you approach situations such as theirs. Resist giving them specific steps to follow. Just explain the reasoning you use and then discuss with them how they might develop their own approach. After all, if you see enough situations in any environment, you’ll begin to see patterns. Once the patterns have been identified, the reasoning becomes easier and more confident.
Show them what reason looks like — When you are faced with an ambiguous situation, take a second to draw your young proteges over so they can observe. If this is not possible, process it with them later. There is not only information, but comfort in watching the "master" work.
Praise their progress — Keep your eyes open for opportunities to praise those who use their reasoning rather than blindly following rules. There is nothing like getting a pat on the back in the moment. Over time, confidence in their own reasoning will grow and that’s all you can ask. You may accuse me of spouting off common sense and that may be true. But my question to you is, "how often do you practice this common sense?" Go ahead, begin today.