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DIRECTION:
Which
Way Do We Go?
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Visit
your Opthamologist
Have
you checked your vision lately? You need to. Most of
your folks have no idea what or where it is.
"Where
there is no vision, there is no hope." ~ George
Washington Carver
One
of the single most important
jobs senior management has is to communicate "the
vision." What are we trying to accomplish? Where
do we want to be in 5 years? What do we need our company
to look like in those 5 years?
What's the plan, man?
"The
very essence of leadership is [that] you have a vision.
It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully
on every occasion. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet."
~ Theodore Hesburgh
I
once
attended a 3-day business requirements gathering session.
The reason for the session was that it was discovered
that some groups were going off and building systems
without having gathered requirements for what these
systems needed to accomplish. The problem was, while
the session included a previously-ignored stakeholder
sector, there was a failure to take into account the
fact that no one in that room had any idea what the
strategic plan was for the organization.
Now, let's think about this. Anything we build will
take months, even years, to put into place. There are
impacts to be assessed, development that needs to occur,
testing, testing, testing, and preparing for the business
and systems integration.
Organizations often find themselves behind the eight
ball when it comes to having their infrastructure in
place to deploy radically new initiatives, or to reinvent
their business presence, primarily because of the tangled
nature of the systems and processes that we build.
Words you will often hear around this are: "short-term,"
"low hanging fruit," or my personal favorite,
"let's not try to boil the ocean here …"
Now, don't get me wrong, there are always opportunities
to make simple, significant fixes. However, we fail
miserably if we don't have the context of a master plan
to work within. It's okay to break off "bite-sized"
pieces as long as those pieces are a part of one whole
that we are all working towards.
The biggest mistake I see with folks trying to "not
boil the ocean" is that they deliberately blind
themselves to peripheral impacts that their project
can create. Sometimes the impacts can be life-threatening
to the organization, such as jeopardizing the company's
ability to do business with government sectors, or leaving
the organization vulnerable to lawsuits.
We think that if we "just" get through this
tight squeeze, we'll be fine for next time. Wrong. How
many times have these efforts led to even greater long-term
problems, bringing us only deeper into the bog?
Corporate workgroups and divisions are like children.
The problem is, we've given our children long pieces
of rope, and while we hope they coil them up neatly
into piles that can be tied together if needed, they
have instead taken off at a run with one end, chasing
the dog, cat, and neighbor's rabbit all around the yard
and all around you as you stand there in shock and dismay.
Before you know it, you are wrapped in knots that will
take years to untangle. Perhaps you'll still be around
by the time you can get the last one off.
The missing piece here is the plan, of course. What
are we trying … no, what do we NEED to do as a
company? Where do we need to be in 5 years?
Newsflash! We must start right now if we hope to get
there in 5 years. So, what's the plan?
Everyone has one, and no one has one, and that's a true
statement.
"Leadership is the
capacity to translate vision into reality." ~ Warren
Bennis
Your
child needs structure and yes, some discipline.
Think about your average college freshman. Their objective
is to get a degree. In order to graduate, they need
to visit their guidance counselor and put together a
class list and schedule. A plan based on a vision of
what I want to be in 4-5 years.
It cannot be said enough: the child needs structure.
They cannot take whatever blend of courses they find
appealing; these courses must fit within the parameters
of the requirements for that degree. Some of the courses
may well be elimination courses — do you really
have what it takes for this degree or are you a casual
student?
It doesn't matter. The point here is that the child
knows the path he must follow. He has been given the
plan and enforcement is without question. Degree requirements
are predefined and no diploma is awarded unless these
are met.
Management must determine the plan and ensure that it
is communicated and institutionalized. For example,
make sure your organization can answer the question:
How does this project map to the objectives of our
master plan?
This gives everyone direction and purpose. This also
provides a means to evaluate projects.
One
area of significant waste in corporations is the proliferation
of projects that do not tie-in with a long-term organizational
strategy. Think how much money would be saved on projects
that end up aborting, or worse yet, continuing to the
bitter end only to be "end of life" as soon
as it goes live. Or projects that stay around painfully
and become obstacles to other projects. You get the
picture.
So remember, in order to get to where you need to go,
you need to know what that destination looks like. You
also need to reinforce that throughout your organization.
Make sure you paint the picture over and over again
for your staff. They need to know that you can see that
goal off in the distance. It's the only thing that will
keep everyone rowing the boat in the same direction.
"Don't
underestimate the power of a vision. McDonald's founder,
Ray Kroc, pictured his empire long before it existed,
and he saw how to get there. He invented the company
motto — 'Quality, service, cleanliness and value'
— and kept repeating it to his employees for the
rest of his life." ~ Kenneth Labich
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