Much Ado About a Vacuum Hose

As a teenager, two people generally worked on my car. When I could afford it, I would pay Tupper at the local garage. When I couldn't afford it, my Uncle Mel usually pitched in. Each had a different idea of how a vacuum line should be routed to the carburetor. Whenever one opened the hood to do anything, if that line wasn't routed the way they did it last time, they would complain and re-route it with a pointed comment such as "who the hell moved that line?" I kept my mouth closed while I rolled my eyes.

Later, when I was in college and really had no money, Mike would also work on the car from time to time, along with Mel and occasionally Tupper. Wouldn't you know it? Mike had a third way of routing that vacuum line. Now I had three complainers to ignore.

The silly thing was that it didn't matter how the vacuum line was routed. It only mattered that it was connected at both ends and wasn't kinked, pinched or perforated. The actual routing was simply mechanic's preference.

Here we have a lesson in style vs substance. Style is how someone goes about doing the work. Substance is the end result of that work effort. As managers we often don't like it when an employee does a job differently than the way we would do it. So we counsel and discipline the employee to do it our way. After all, we understand our way and we know it works. Yet if the employee's style (approach to the work) gets the same substance (in terms of end result or performance) then perhaps we should reconsider forcing them to do it our way. If forced to do it our way, the employee may become resentful, rebellious, uncooperative or less productive. After all, if their style produces the same result, what's the problem? Just imagine what would happen if one of the three mechanics was the boss of the other two, and constantly got on their case to route the vacuum line the boss's way even if that meant having to re-do the routing job.

About me: Dan Pelley examines the question of style versus substance as it applies to both making work assignments and effective discipline as part of his "Leadership Skills" program, one of five programs leading to a Certificate in Supervisory Management. 137 companies in Connecticut (CT), Rhode Island (RI), Massachusetts (MA) and New York (NY) have one or more people who earned this certificate.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.