“Hot Potato,” or “Pass the Potato,” is, ostensibly, a party game for children.  Players sit in a circle and pass the ‘potato’ to each other while music plays, and when it stops the potato holder is out.  The last player left is the winner and those who have been caught with the spud have lost.

We all know though that ‘hot potato’ is not confined to children’s parties and doesn’t come with music.  In real life the ‘game’ is also played and for those who lose, they face the metaphorical music, but they will have heard the gasps of frustration, raised voices of objection, whisperings of denial, and for those who aren’t left with the ‘potato’, sighs of relief.

In businesses, workplaces, and projects ‘hot potato’ results in the identification of a loser rather than a sole winner.  It’s the last man, or woman found holding the potato who loses.  For those who have passed it on they may not have ‘won’ but more importantly have avoided blame, chastisement, ridicule and being branded the scapegoat.  The consequences of playing ‘hot potato’ in real life can be more far reaching than just losing a party game.

Potatoes

There are over 5,000 varieties of potato around the globe and our proverbial ‘hot potatoes’ also come in many varieties.  Typically, they are related to thankless tasks or problems that are considered to be too difficult to handle by the finder or, more likely, by the party best suited to deal with them.  These potatoes can also be potentially reputation-damaging or require demanding work, but in any event, they are oftentimes deemed “too hot to handle”.

These problems possibly have innocuous beginnings and are usually identified at lower levels in any organisational hierarchy.  They are stumbled across by somebody or other who may or may not even recognize that they have encountered a real problem.

The naive employee may well, innocently, escalate the problem to their manager but for conniving or disenchanted employees there may well be an ulterior motive.

Passing

When the potato ends up, for whatever reason, in the hands of an unwitting but willing employee or manager the sensitivity of the issue is either quickly or eventually recognised as a problem.  The problem is then, and hastily, passed on to somebody else.  If it’s not addressed there will be accusations of procrastination, mismanagement and the like as people collect evidence of incompetence for any future witch-hunt.

Our hot potatoes are then passed up, down or sideways and for a variety of reasons.  Typically, it’s because they are above somebody’s pay grade, not their job, or they can see it’s going to be difficult, or it’s outside of their direct experience.  The excuses can be many and varied.

The potato-passer does not really care who the receiver is as long as the issue is off their plate and in somebody else’s hands.  A problem shared is said to be a problem halved but by passing it on the passer can wash their hands of the issue and believe that their hands are clean.

Receiving

Recipients, or possible recipients of hot potatoes can deal with them in a variety of ways.  However, as problems are always interesting and can be the source of many a rumour in organizations, the heat may well be exaggerated, and people will be dissuaded from dealing with them.  Organizational politics can sometimes do little to promote volunteers or resolve problems.

We have various kinds of people when it comes to dealing with such difficulties.  There are those who will dodge or evade any ownership as to touch something is to own it.  Possession leads to responsibility which, for some, must be shirked but without being seen to do so.  Some people will seem to tacitly accept problems but will quickly pass the buck on to an expendable colleague or party.  And then there are the deniers who proclaim that it’s above or below their pay-scale or not part of their job description.

We also have heroes who love a challenge and will wade in despite not knowing how deep the water is and try to handle the problem.  There are also some heroes who are merely appointed on the basis of availability.

Handlers

For those who eventually handle the hot potato it can sometimes be only a matter of time before their fingers are burnt.  While they struggle with the heat of the potato they are often cheered on by spectators.  These spectators are not supporters, they merely watch on.  They seem to create a cadence of involvement but in reality, few (if any) will be willing to help.  After all the hero touched “it,” therefore they own “it”!

Our would-be problem solver tries to resolve things and ‘things’ can go one of two ways; either a solution is found, or it isn’t.  Solutions are good and for those that passed on the potato they quickly take credit for finding the right party to handle it.  It’s an example of the 1:9:90 rule where one party resolves things, 9 will take credit and 90 will accept matters.

But if a solution is not found, and even though the problem is not their responsibility, the absence of a solution exacerbates the problem.  If the original problem is then escalated without a solution, then the hot potato becomes even hotter, and bigger.  Rather than dealing with the original problem we now have the absence of a solution.  We also have a scapegoat and somebody to blame for stepping in and trying to resolve matters and failing!

Conclusions

Hot potatoes can abound in organizations as people pass the buck and avoid or evade responsibility for addressing problems as they arise.  Sometimes it’s easier to skirt around issues, delegate to others and hope that some heroic party will step in and resolve matters.  Of course, in avoiding any responsibility all evidence of not owning the problem is amassed so that others may be blamed.

As they say, “fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”  For those who step in and succeed everybody can take some credit for eventually finding a hero to solve the problem and giving them support, even if it was from the sidelines. However, if a problem remains unresolved the unfortunate party, who were the last to hold onto the potato, are guilty of not only being the last recipient but also failing to provide a solution.

Hot potatoes need to be handled quickly and effectively or the efficiency of an organization will be undermined…our hot potatoes, rather than cooling down with time, can easily become hotter.

Bio:

Malcolm Peart is an UK Chartered Engineer & Chartered Geologist with over thirty-five years’ international experience in multicultural environments on large multidisciplinary infrastructure projects including rail, metro, hydro, airports, tunnels, roads and bridges. Skills include project management, contract administration & procurement, and design & construction management skills as Client, Consultant, and Contractor.