Leader as a Thermostat

I was thinking the other day how the thermostat is a great metaphor for effective leadership. This device in every household is a relatively simple mechanism that reads temperature and initiates action to maintain temperature within a desired range. By constantly checking the temperature and triggering a heater or air conditioner to kick on for a specific time, the thermostat keeps your home’s temperature where you want it.

Effective leaders act like thermostats in their organization by doing three things: setting the range, developing a feedback system, and using action to either increase or decrease performance pressure.

The first step of setting a desired performance range is usually done by selecting goals and objectives that you want the organization to achieve. The challenge is to select stretch goals that are within the capability or potential of your organization. It is also important to take into consideration the environment (i.e., business, competitors, and the economy) that your organization is operating in because these outside forces can add additional stress. These variables make up your desired “temperature range”.

The second step is to develop an accurate feedback system that informs you about the real-time performance level and amount of stress the organization is experiencing. An objective feedback system is critical because our reactions to stress and tension can contaminate how we see things; we let our anxiety or uncertainty drive our behavior. This feedback system can involve metrics, observation, and feedback from other individuals. The most effective systems identify trends and spot leading indicators so that you can act in time. The primary purpose of the feedback system is to trigger corrective action. The key is to put in place a system that has high accuracy and minimal time delay.

The third step is to develop and use a set of actions that either increase or decrease the performance pressure or demand in small increments. Rather than responding reactively, the actions should be organized and ready when you need them so you can be proactive. For example, when an organization is experiencing high stress, the effective leader will decrease demand by organizing activities that allow people to blow off steam and relax a bit. It is important to be able to move the performance dial both ways (higher and lower) because over stressing the system causes performance to rapidly deteriorate while not enough pressure leads to lack of urgency and distraction. It is important to constantly make small corrections and changes to avoid falling into a cycle of overcorrection or oscillation.

While I have been mainly focusing on organizations, the thermostat model can be equally applied to individuals by using the same three steps. By taking the example of the thermostat to heart, leaders can improve their effectiveness and keep their organizations performing at a high level.