In a world of constant change and now continual transformation, many leadership teams are stuck in analysis paralysis. Often quoting to me the phrase, “we must inspect what we expect,” one major problem is that they inspect too much, and hold unrealistic or unclear expectations. For these leaders, short term wins are not planned but called short term wins only after something has happened. The win is an after thought because people in multiple positions in the organization can not measure their progress. It is just work, work, and more work this spring.
At the exact same time, many leaders and leadership teams are not building horizontal collaboration across their organization. People do not recognize that collaboration is the sum of a multitude of behaviors from working together on a one to one basis to managing teamwork during project implementation. One key to success from my vantage people is that collaboration takes place best after strategic level dialogue.
To help your team not get stuck, I first encourage you to clarify your collective and individual areas of focus. Line of sight is critical.
Second, make sure all bi-directional communication is timely and accurate. This means working less from a place of command and control, and more from a place of clarity, commitment and connection.
Third, recognize that project management must result in system integration and systematic execution. As Ron Adner wrote in his book, The Wide Lens: A New Strategy For Innovation, Portfolio/Penguin, 2012, “The real question is not if it can be done, but when. Not just when will we be able to complete the project, but when will we be able to align the necessary ecosystem for the complete value proposition to become a reality. The question of if speaks to success in the abstract. The question of when speaks to return, to attractiveness, to viability in the concrete.”
This week engage in more strategic level dialogues and focus more on why and when rather than if and maybe.
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