The Connection Between Strategic Direction and Day to Day Operations

These days some people in leadership and management positions are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They have not a clue of where they are going and what they should be focused on. Still, they are very busy and very intense.

The best middle managers I have meet are the exact opposite. They are grounded and they are clear. They know where they are going and they know what are their priorities. This happens because they are clear about the connection between strategic direction and day to day operations.

In the world of operations, good managers are focused on their existing customer base and they communicate clearly to their front line service supervisors and employees about what needs to be done when it comes to product delivery and service support. They also make sure the supply chain is focused on supporting the sales force and the on-time delivery of products. They know they need to consistently improve what already exists as this is the cash generating part of the business. 

Between managing the current budget and resources, these managers improve behaviors related to production and service delivery. This may involve the development of better skills, structure, goals, and systems in order to improve the ways we serve existing customers. This is the sole focus of day to day work.

On the other hand, they can also help prepare the organization for the market of tomorrow, i.e. the strategic direction. Here, as much as possible, they assist in on-boarding the next generation of high growth opportunities that are already in the R&D pipeline. They also focus on closing the gaps between current competitive strengths and tomorrow’s competitive requirements. Building new core competencies in alignment with the strategic direction is important work.

One way they manage the challenge of day to day operations vs. strategic level work is their ability to clarify priorities. Many years ago, the late Stephen Covey wrote a book called First Things First. In it, he offered a successful approach to time management which described a framework for prioritizing work that is aimed at long-term goals, at the expense of tasks that appear to be urgent, but are in fact less important. In his four square model, classifying tasks as urgent and non-urgent is on one axis, and important or non-important is on the other axis. His quadrant 2 has the items that are non-urgent but important. These are the ones he believes we are likely to neglect; but, should focus on to achieve effectiveness. Here is a link for more details about this approach: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Things_First_(book)

When we as managers are clear about the connection between day to day operations and strategic direction, then we can be more effective and efficient in all we do.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

The Tarzan Swing

Tarzan, a heroic adventurer who is loyal and generous, is a fictional character raised by wild apes. He may be best know for his ability to use branches and hanging vines to swing at great speed through the jungle as he seeks to solve a life threatening problem for some one or some animal. Be it in comic books, movies, video or computer games, Tarzan supposedly represents the best of noble leadership, especially as someone devoted to helping those less fortunate. But in the work place today, we may not see many Tarzans but we sure do see a lot of Tarzan swings.

As I continually remind clients and students of mine, there is a point in the journey of strategic change that I like to call “The Trough of Chaos.” While more recently it has felt like the Grand Canyon of Chaos, there is a time and a place in change when motivation drops, resistance surfaces and people feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of what is happening. As they slowly move through their shock, grief and anger, employees arrive at a place where they are not as afraid as before but also where they are not completely hopeful, committed and focused. In this fragile situation, people tend to do what I call the Tarzan Swing. At one point, they are caught in the moment of OMG or WTF and within minutes they can pendulum swing to the place of “ It’s too late to panic, so what do we do? Let’s work together and get this over with.” This swinging back and forth from shock, dissatisfaction and resistance to the desire to explore new ideas, resolve problems and collaborate well with others is normal.

The hardest part is that this emotional swinging back and forth can drive some leaders bonkers. While they are wanting their employees to continue forward progress, many leaders do not understand that most employees can only take so much change and process so much change before they are overwhelmed, or as I some times like to say “their circuits are overwhelmed.” As someone from the power industry once reminded me, you can not push 220 volts through a 120 volt system without something getting burned up.

For some leaders, the solution to this problem is to get angry and stomp around like they are having a temper tantrum. Other leaders think doing the work themselves will solve the problem and they often burn-out or become very cynical over time. And finally some leaders just want to start whistling the theme song from the 1960’s cartoon show, “George of the Jungle,” a parody of the popular Tarzan story where George is depicted swinging on vines and repeatedly slamming face-first into trees and other objects even as the theme-song warns him to “watch out for that tree!”

The key to solving this normal but at times difficult, employee Tarzan Swing is to become better at three specific leadership actions. First, remember the words of Marcus Buckingham in his book The One Thing You Need to Know ... About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success, Free Press, 2005: “To excel as a leader .... You must become adept at calling upon those needs we all share. Our common needs include the need for security, for community, for authority, and for respect, but for you, the leader, the most powerful universal need is our need for clarity. To transform our fear of the unknown into confidence in the future, you must discipline yourself to describe our joint future vividly and precisely. As your skill at this grows, so will our confidence in you.” The key is to be able to provide a clear sense of strategic direction in combination with a definitive reason why changing is less dangerous than staying the same.

The second key to dealing with the Tarzan Swing is to improve your ability to coach. In the beginning, spend more time discerning whether those who are swinging need help shifting their perspective, i.e. they just don’t have enough understanding about what is going on, and thus need to comprehend the bigger picture or larger context, or whether or not they are swinging because they don’t have the skill set, i.e. the capacity to plan and to execute a plan. From my experience, having superb coaching skills is mission critical when people are doing the Tarzan Swing.

Finally, the third step is to build and maintain exceptional teams. People in the Trough of Chaos swing less when they have the trust, the support and the confidence of a highly functioning team.

Remember: no matter where you are in the journey of strategic change, you may encounter short or long periods where people are pendulum swinging between shock and clarity. In these situations, do not freak out. Just stay calm, continue to explain the strategic direction, continue to coach well, and continue to build and maintain your teams. If you start to do some Tarzan swinging yourself, give me a call and we can line up a couple of executive coaching sessions to help you regain a sense of balance and perspective.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates # 319 - 643 - 2257

Accelerated Convergence

Currently, four organizational trends are moving faster and faster toward the same point. Their convergence will cause strategic problems for years to come.

The first trend deals with strategic direction. More and more organizations lack clarity around their strategic direction. Due to a tremendous amount of under-communication, a tolerance for misalignments, and the absence of an on-going commitment to strategic goals and action plans, these organizations are lost in the strategic wilderness, wandering aimlessly based on the whims of a few or what ever book hits the best seller list.

The second trend deals with resource prioritization. With the current degree of economic uncertainty in the market place at this time period, the tightening of state budgets, and the potential for a federal reorganization looming in the distance, executives, employees, customers and suppliers are starting to question whether or not certain organizations will be able to deliver their core mission with limited or constrained resources. In particular, they wonder if the organization will be successful in this new environment while continuing to adapt to new market changes and expectations. The result of this over time can be brand apathy which is devastating to sustainable strategic action.

The third trend deals with recruitment and retention. As the economy evolves and changes, talented individuals may or may not want to hang in there through the difficulties. Though we do not like to think about it, the truth is that the best employees, the A Players we have, like to work with successful companies more than with struggling companies. This in combination with the on-going demographic changes, e.g. the Silver Tsunami as one example, can result in a real pending talent squeeze in certain organizations.

The fourth trend deals with organizational time. In simple terms, there is not enough time to get done all that needs to get done. People are worn, stressed, and feeling over worked. Furthermore, their commitment to their organization is dropping and/or in question because they are unclear about what to do next, i.e. a lack of strategic direction and even operational direction, in combination with a feeling that there may not be enough resources to do it right the first time. When people have too little information and feel pressured about time, they often default to a scarcity mentality and are not able to prioritize well.

When and if the above four trends converge, we are in for a real mess, an “epic failure” using YouTube terms. And leaders and managers are right in the midst of all of this, attempting to chart a path out of this potential quagmire.

Rather than offer some simplistic solutions, we must acknowledge the complexity before us and not hide from it. These trends are like gravity. We may not like them but in reality, we can not vote to eliminate gravity. It just does not fall into our circle of influence. Still with this in mind, we should not collapse into a puddle of hopeless, anxiety or depression. There are specific actions we can take to manage this emerging reality.

First, during the next 60 - 90 days, do a complete and in-depth strategic review. This should include a market place analysis to make sure you understand what is and what is not happening in your service environment.

Second, once the strategic review has been completed, determine whether or not your current strategic plan is still the right plan for the right time. If you have any doubts, pitch it. With so many strategic variables in play, it is better to have a smaller plan in place than a large and grand one that does not match up with the current and quickly evolving strategic environment in which you offer your goods and/or services.

Third, if you ditch your current plan, consider building an eighteen month bridge plan to help you and the organization move through this time period of economic uncertainty. Better to have a short term clear sense of strategic direction than a long term plan that is yielding strategic confusion during the interim.

Fourth, re-recruit your best players. When entering a time period of challenge, it is essential that you build and maintain a core team of people who have the capacity to handle what may be coming. Work with this team closely and strengthen their levels of trust.

Fifth, discern the difference between technical problems and adaptive problems. For more on this subject, read my blog entry for Tuesday, February 8, 2011 called “Questioning Fundamental Assumptions.”

Sixth, ask for help. When things get tough, it is vital to not isolate the organization or yourself from assistance. Perspective and experience can make a world of difference when accelerated convergence is taking place. If I can be of assistance, do not hesitate to call or e-mail me. In a time period of challenge, the best way to predict the future is to actively engage with it.

As John W. Gardner noted, "We need to believe in ourselves and our future but not to believe that life is easy. Life is painful and rain falls on the just. Leaders must help us see failure and frustration not as reason to doubt ourselves but as reason to strengthen our resolve.... Don't pray for the day when we finally solve our problems. Pray that we have the freedom to continue working on the problems the future will never cease to throw at us.”

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change, Morning Star Associates # 319 - 643 - 2257

The Importance of Strategic Dialogues - Part #2

THEME: New Year, More Challenges

FOCUS: The Importance of Strategic Dialogues - Part #2

Sunday morning: February 21, 2010

Dear friends,

The purpose of a strategic dialogue is to define and infuse into the organization clarity about three things. As I mentioned last week, the first is strategic context, namely why are we making changes within the organization. While everyone knows that organizations change and change often, these day I continue to discover that many people do not understand why the changes are taking place within their specific organization. The result is limited sustainable movement forward and often the rise of significant turf battles.

The second goal of a strategic dialogue is creating clarity about strategic direction, namely where are we going. Leaders need to connect the aforementioned why element with the where are we going piece of the picture, i.e. the importance of vision which I shared earlier this winter in one of my previous Monday Thoughts Weekly E-mails. When the organization's strategic plan plus the vision and mission are connected to the need for change, there is the opportunity for people to focus and take ownership.

The third part is organizational philosophy, namely how are we going to move in this new direction. For me, exploring organizational philosophy creates clarity about how to apply the vision, mission and core values. It is the taking of the intangible organizational philosophy and turning it into a mental framework that everyone knows, understands and owns in order that they can achieve optimal performance, all day and every day. The problem with many leaders this winter is that they are trying to create clarity about these three parts by the power of their ego or position, rather than through strategic sharing and listening.

Strategic sharing is different than just telling people what to do and why to do it. First, it begins with a foundation of mutual respect. Recognizing that all involved have the potential to discover the answers to challenging strategic questions, leaders who do strategic sharing come as equals to the conversations. As Ken Blanchard wrote years ago: “We all have pieces.... The world and its problems are too complicated to go it alone. Together is better.”

This level of sharing is built upon a foundation of strategic listening. While many leaders get caught up in tactical problem solving mode, those who listen strategically look for the overall flow of the conversation and the organization's understanding of what is happening. It is from a place of listening that something unique happens. As Stephen Covey reminds us: “Real listening shows respect. It creates trust. As we listen, we not only gain understanding; we also create the environment to be understood. And when both people understand, both perspectives, instead of being on opposite sides of the table looking across at each other, we find ourselves on the same side looking at solutions together.” In short, strategic sharing and listening help the organization move past the paradigm of leaders and followers. It generates the opportunity to not get caught in the victim place of us vs. them, and instead generates a collective "we".

This week remember: Leaders must engage the heart and mind as well as the hands when seeking to turn a challenge into an achievement. For those who want to explore strategic dialogues in greater detail, I suggest you check out the From Vision to Action booklet called “Turning Challenges into Achievement”. You can find information about it on our website:

http://www.chartyourpath.com/Challenges-Achievement.html

Have a wonderful week,

Geery

Geery Howe, M.A.
Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in
Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257