Extraordinary organizations have this is as their employee handbook. Resilient ones. Human ones that can thrive in the face of automation and AI. Organizations that are built on customer service, hospitality and flexibility.
Of course, this means you’ll need to treat your team with respect and offer them training and dignity. It means you won’t be able to simply write down every single step in the manual, or work as fast as you can to replace people with uncaring software.
The partner of UYBJ is “why?”
If someone asks a team member why they’re doing something, it’s not useful to train them to repeat the policy. The puppetry of “I’m just doing my job” is the opposite of UYBJ. And that means, “because I said so,” while convenient, might not be the best management style.
When a customer asks, “why is it like this?” the professional can answer honestly and with conviction. That’s what it means to use your best judgment.
If you have a job where UYBJ doesn’t apply, it’s worth recognizing that every day you spend there is one where you’ve wasted a chance to learn something new and to take responsibility for what’s next.
Upskilling is the path forward.