Getting the Job Done

As an Air Force Academy cadet I was taught a training philosophy for developing subordinates. It used a framework of Expectations - Skills - Feedback - Consequences - Growth. This model appears in documents like the AFOATS Training Guide. In that material, and in my training, I was taught that any problem a team member might encounter could be summarized as a skill problem or a will problem. In the years since I learned those terms, and especially while working in the corporate sector, I've learned those two limitations are definitely not enough to describe challenges to getting the job done. I'd like to flesh out the model here.

The four challenges to getting the job done can be summarized thus:

1. Will problem. The party doesn't want to accomplish the task. This is a motivation problem.


2. Skill problem. The party doesn't know how to accomplish the task. This is a methods problem.


3. Bill problem. The party doesn't have the resources to accomplish the task. This is a money problem.


4. Nil problem. The party doesn't have the authority to accomplish the task. This is a mojo problem.

I have encountered plenty of roles where I am motivated and technically equipped, but without resources and power. I think that is the standard situation for incident responders, i.e., you don't have the evidence needed to determine scope and impact, and you don't have the authority to change the situation in your favor. What do you think?