Critical Roles: The Star Trek Test is Harsh
by Lois Melbourne
Fill Open Position
A lot of companies struggle with identifying critical positions. They choose to flag these critical roles so succession plans can be created to fill the slots should they become vacant positions. Sometimes, it is a political issue within a company as to which positions are critical. An individual of great value or of sensitive ego may feel threatened if their position is not defined as critical.
There are a lot of definitions for critical roles. One site that includes a few blog entries, and LOTS of great leadership information is Dan McCarthy. I don’t agree with all of his thoughts, and I believe that most companies go deeper to seek their critical roles than his post suggests. But I still like his explanation and several links from this blog post. The Leadership Examiner has another refined article, by Steve Arneson, to help you define critical roles.
Now, Star Trek was a show that could give us lessons in identifying critical roles. When a crew was beamed down to a new planet, you knew who the critical players were – they were the ones with names. The one guy on the landing crew who, typically, didn’t have a real name (you could call him “Lieutenant I’m a Gonner”) always died on the mission. He was not critical.
For a better indicator in today’s corporations about which roles are critical, you could start with a really quick conversation. Begin by asking, when the position came open during the toughest economy we have experienced in many of our lifetimes, was the company required to fill the position in order to service the customer or the corporation properly? Then look at positions that did open up during the last 2 years. If the position HAD opened up, would you be compelled to fill the position, even if you had to fight for the budget money?
This may be an over simplification of the definition for many companies. But sometimes the simple approach can be really helpful. I hope it is this time for somebody.
Cheers,
Lois
Star Trek is a trademark of Paramount Pictures, CBS, and their licensees.
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