Without force and direction, no object can move in space. However, many teams have an incredible amount of force and energy, but lack direction. Wild actionism, tons of reports, and Steer-Cos are rampant. To achieve success, teams need a shared understanding and support for direction, consisting of a shared vision, strategy, and breakthrough targets. Additionally, teams should understand the organizational capabilities required to achieve these goals, along with the methods and measurements necessary for success.
The Example of Jack Welch: Creating Shared Responsibility
One day Jack Welch realised that he always ended up in the “pit”, with his managers around him, having to give all the answers, make most of the decisions, etc. The pit is the well at the bottom of an amphitheatre-style room that seats about a hundred people at GE’s legendary Crotonville leadership development campus in the Hudson River Valley. That was the day he realised he had to start changing the game, and his managers had to be in the Pit. From that day on, Jack Welch would spend three or four hours at a time in the pit, leading a spirited back-and-forth with the high-potential leaders in the company’s flagship Management Development Course.
This highlights the importance of creating a shared understanding and ownership of the important issues of vision, strategy and goals within the team. A common understanding and talking about needed organizational capabilities required. You and your team need to have clarity about the specific system behind all aspects of the company’s culture and performance (the so-called operating system) and the team goals and measurements behind it.
Without direction, all the positive energy in a team is often of little help.
Putting Direction into Practice
To put direction into practice, teams should work together on future scenarios, define the “reason for existing” and a value proposition of the organization, and create a mission statement that includes future competencies, behaviors, culture, and values. They should also derive short- to mid-term must-win battles, breakthrough targets, and OKRs (Objective Key Results).
Finally, teams should break down these goals for their area of responsibility and practice “telling the story.”
Without direction, all the positive energy in a team is often of little help.
In short, to achieve success teams need:
- A shared understanding and support for direction, consisting of a shared vision, strategy, and breakthrough targets.
- A common understanding of the organizational capabilities required to achieve these goals.
- Common methods, also known as the operating system, that detail how to efficiently achieve these goals.
- A measurement system to track progress and ensure that the team is on the right
