every player wants organization and discipline

Jim O’Brien said the Suns will warm up quickly to Vogel. They will appreciate his basketball knowledge and preparation, whether it be for a game, practice or drill. They also will be drawn to his personality and see that his positivity is genuine. He will hold everyone accountable and he will expect to win.

“Jack Ramsay said once that every player he had ever come into contact with wants organization and discipline,” said O’Brien, referring to the Hall of Fame basketball coach. “And I think they do. But when that organization and discipline and plan comes from a guy that really is ultra-respectful to other human beings, it’s a great combination.”

Doug Haller

"What does Frank Vogel bring to the Suns? His former Pacers give a glimpse," The Athletic. June 21, 2023

two preferred senders of change messages

Based on Prosci's change management research report with 650 participants, employees prefer two primary senders of change messages. Not surprisingly, they also prefer specific message content from each of these senders. Immediate supervisors are the preferred senders of messages related to personal impact including:

• How does this impact me? 
• How does this impact our group?
• How will this change my day-to-day responsibilities?

When it comes to personal issues, receivers want to hear from someone they know and work with regularly, namely their supervisor. 

CROs or executive leaders are the preferred senders of messages related to business issues and opportunities including: 

• What are the business reasons for this change?
• How does this change align with our vision and strategy? 
• What are the risks if we do not change?

When it comes to business issues and why the change is needed, receivers want to hear from the person in charge. 

Jeffrey M. Hiatt & Timothy J. Creasey

Change Management: The People Side of Change, by Jeffrey M. Hiatt & Timothy J. Creasey Prosci Inc. 2012. P.18, 19

balanced scorecard

Developing a compelling vision is a key activity of developing and setting strategy. A vision is a clear and powerful statement about what a company can and should be (Wilson, 1992). The balanced scorecard provided the framework to translate the vision from a statement or series of statements to metrics that operationalized the overarching vision and strategic objectives for the company (Kaplan & Norton, 2007). 

Jody Hilderman

Hilderman, J. (2022). Strategy Execution Using the Balanced Scorecard (thesis). Levene Graduate School of Business, University of Regina (Canada). 

塞翁失馬 or Sāi Wēng lost his horse

Sāi Wēng lived on the border and he raised horses for a living. One day, he lost one of his prized horses. After hearing of the misfortune, his neighbor felt sorry for him and came to comfort him. But Sāi Wēng simply asked, “How could we know it is not a good thing for me?”

After a while, the lost horse returned and with another beautiful horse. The neighbor came over again and congratulated Sāi Wēng on his good fortune. But Sāi Wēng simply asked, “How could we know it is not a bad thing for me?”

One day, his son went out for a ride with the new horse. He was violently thrown from the horse and broke his leg. The neighbors once again expressed their condolences to Sāi Wēng, but Sāi Wēng simply said, “How could we know it is not a good thing for me?” 

One year later, the Emperor’s army arrived at the village to recruit all able-bodied men to fight in the war. Because of his injury, Sāi Wēng’s son could not go off to war, and was spared from certain death.

Qiu Gui Su

The Chinese Proverb of 'Sai Weng Lost His Horse': The Changing Winds of Luck and Good Fortune. ThoughtCo. February 10, 2019

slow is smooth and smooth is fast

SEALs train with the philosophy slow is smooth and smooth is fast. That’s how movements and behaviors become muscle memory – something imperative in high-speed combat situations. When we are on an enemy target, we move smoothly and dynamically assessing risk and using speed and violence of action only when necessary.

Organizational change fails when companies move too quickly...  skipping fundamental elements such as aligned vision and culture. They run to their death and the change process eventually stalls.

Brent Gleeson

"9 Navy SEAL Sayings That Will Improve Your Organization's Ability To Lead Change," Forbes. July 23, 2018

the leader must become a servant

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant.

Max De Pree

Leadership Is an Art by Max De Pree. Crown Publisher. June 22, 2011. As quoted in "The Neuroscience of Trust: Management behaviors that foster employee engagement," by Paul J. Zak. Harvard Business Review. January-February 2017. 

communicate the benefits of change

Executive sponsors must communicate effectively with employees throughout the project. The sponsor plays a critical role in communicating those messages that employees want to hear from the person in charge:

• A vision of where the organization is going
• A road-map that outlines how the vision will be achieved
• Clear alignment of the current change with this vision
• Specific goals or objectives that define success
• His or her personal commitment and passion for the change

...In addition to sharing their personal commitment to change, executive sponsors should directly communicate the benefits of the change to employees. They should make clear connections between the objectives of the change and the overall direction of the business. Executive sponsors may want to share success stories or struggles from other departments or from early trials with the change. Employees want to hear about the challenges endured during the transition and how they were handled. They want to hear the good and the bad, the suffering and the rewards. They want to hear that success is possible and they want to learn from the mistakes of others. Most importantly, they want to hear the primary sponsor speak about the opportunities and benefits for the business as a whole. 

Jeffrey M. Hiatt

ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government and our Community. 2006. Prosci Research. p.84,85

establish a clear starting point

A vision is a statement about what the leadership agrees a company could reasonably stretch to be in a generation--a 30-year aspiration... if the statement doesn't contain "to be," it's not a vision statement. For example: "We wish to be the largest bicycle manufacturer in the United States as measured by sales within 30 years..."

"A mission is what you wish the company to be over the next three-to-five years." Again, it should contain "to be." Your mission sets a shorter-term agenda for steps that will allow you to someday achieve your vision...

"Objectives (interchangeable with 'goals') are what you want to have."

Not "be." "Have."

The key is to sift through all the possible metrics and KPIs to determine the goals that most define success. Dunkin's mission was to be "the dominant doughnut and coffee provider in each and every market" in which it competed. Its early objectives?

• To have earnings per share grow at 15-to-20 percent per year.
• To have store-level economics achieve at least a 15-percent return on investment on average.
• To have debt never total more than three times EBITDA...

Strategic initiatives are, "the four-to-six most important tasks an organization must execute in order to bridge ever-scarce resources to achieve stated objectives..."

Tactics are, "the four-to-six action steps needed to support the achievement of each department's strategic initiatives..."

Jeff Haden, quoting Robert Rosenberg - CEO of Dunkin' Donuts'

"Think Company Vision Statements Are a Waste of Time? How Dunkin' Donuts' CEO Created a Plan to Recover From Disaster," by Jeff Haden. Inc. Nov. 17, 2020

I teach them correct principles

John Taylor, the third President of the Church, reported: “Some years ago, in Nauvoo, a gentleman in my hearing, a member of the Legislature, asked Joseph Smith how it was that he was enabled to govern so many people, and to preserve such perfect order; remarking at the same time that it was impossible for them to do it anywhere else. Mr. Smith remarked that it was very easy to do that. ‘How?’ responded the gentleman; ‘to us it is very difficult.’ Mr. Smith replied, ‘I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.’”

John Taylor, “The Organization of the Church,” Millennial Star, Nov. 15, 1851, p. 339. As quoted in Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2007. Chapter 24: Leading in the Lord’s Way. 

commander's intent

From a leader’s perspective, intent is the starting point. “Commander’s intent” has a special meaning in the military that requires time and thought. A commander must state his relevant aim. Intent is a formal statement in which the commander puts himself or herself on the line. Intent must accomplish the mission, it has to be achievable, it must be clearly understood, and at the end of the day, it has to deliver what the unit was tasked with achieving. Your moral authority as a commander is heavily dependent on the quality of this guidance and your troops’ sense of confidence in it: the expectation that they will use their initiative, aligning subordinate actions. You must unleash initiative rather than suffocate it…

By conveying my intent in writing and in person, I was out to win their coequal “ownership” of the mission: it wasn’t my mission; rather from private through general, it was our mission. I stressed to my staff that we had to win only one battle: for the hearts and minds of our subordinates. They will win all the rest…

Jim Mattis

MATTIS, J. (2019). CALL SIGN CHAOS: Learning to lead. S.l.: RANDOM HOUSE. 238, 239

we don’t eat it all; we don’t plant it all

“We don’t eat it all; we don’t plant it all.”

I Am the Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People by Stephen Hirst. Grand Canyon Association. 2007. p. 50

Note: In the past, the Havasupai grew their corn in the canyon and then, in the winter, moved up to the plateau to live and ranch. Corn is carried with them for food. The corn may be stored in three chambers: that in the first is eaten during the winter, that of the second during the spring planting period, and of the third, only a little may be eaten, not all. This remainder is saved against the contingency of flood, etc.

seeing only part of the picture

The most enduring change initiatives — those that drive real results — are based on leaders’ assumption that they are seeing only part of the picture and thus need to learn more. These leaders ask hard questions and engage in trade-offs as early as possible, talking with those who raise concerns not to gain their compliance, but to improve, refine, and pressure test the proposed change.

Maya Townsend and Elizabeth Doty

"The road to successful change is lined with trade-offs," strategy+business. November 2, 2020.

what is strategy?

"Strategy is a framework to guide critical choices to achieve a desired future,” said MIT Sloan senior lecturer Donald Sull in a new MIT Sloan Management Review webinar....

[A] strategic vision must be detailed enough to lay out a clear vision while being broad enough to allow for flexibility and adjustment....

An ideal strategy provides enough guidance to empower workers to make trade-offs, formulate goals, allocate resources, prioritize activities, and clarify what people are committing to do. At the same time, it offers enough flexibility to allow people to seize opportunities and adapt as needed....

Take American Airlines versus Southwest Airlines. American has goals like “be an industry leader” and “look to the future.” Inspiring but vague. Southwest, on the other hand, has initiatives like “fleet modernization” and “growth of Rapid Rewards program.” Precise and defined.

Kara Baskin

"How to turn a strategic vision into reality," Ideas Made to Matter: MIT. Mar 28, 2018

creating a vision

In our experience, the hardest part of creating a vision is finding the balance between what is bold and transformational and what is realistic and achievable. The phrase many use for this is landing on a vision that is “tough but doable.” If the vision feels too incremental, cautious, or overly tailored to existing capabilities, it will fail to create momentum or pressure for an organization to push the limits of what is possible and therefore won’t lead to breakthroughs. At the same time, if people see goals as simply “pie in the sky” and beyond reach, they will become disillusioned and give up. 

Often, examining the “art of the possible” can help find the sweet spot. For example, ask what performance would look like if every area operated at the level of the current best practice within the company? What if all of our processes and systems were operating at the top of their technical limits? What if we achieved best practice in the industry on not one, but all key measures?... By considering the art of the possible in this way, leaders can aim high without the goal feeling untethered to reality. 

When managers are planning two or three years ahead, that period is close enough in time to allow them to choose relevant goals and identify specific initiatives to reach them. 

There are advantages in having objectives distant enough to reduce any temptation to rob tomorrow to pay for today – a constant battle for public companies under pressure to achieve quarterly results. 

Scott Keller and Bill Schaninger

Beyond Performance 2.0: A Proven Approach to Leading Large-Scale Change. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2019

when we have a vision of what we can become

How do we develop desires? Few will have the kind of crisis that motivated Aron Ralston, but his experience provides a valuable lesson about developing desires. While Ralston was hiking in a remote canyon in southern Utah, an 800-pound (360 kg) rock shifted suddenly and trapped his right arm. For five lonely days he struggled to free himself. When he was about to give up and accept death, he had a vision of a three-year-old boy running toward him and being scooped up with his left arm. Understanding this as a vision of his future son and an assurance that he could still live, Ralston summoned the courage and took drastic action to save his life before his strength ran out. He broke the two bones in his trapped right arm and then used the knife in his multitool to cut off that arm. He then summoned the strength to hike five miles (8 km) for help. What an example of the power of an overwhelming desire! When we have a vision of what we can become, our desire and our power to act increase enormously.

Dallin Oaks

"Desire," General Conference. April 2011

vision/action

Workplaces that are characterized by any or all of competing agendas and conflict (no alignment on direction), politics and bureaucracy (low quality of execution), and where work is "just a job" (low sense of renewal), aren't just unhealthy for sustainably delivering bottom-line results - they are unhealthy for the human soul. As the Japanese proverb goes, "Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."

Scott Keller and Bill Schaninger

Beyond Performance 2.0: A Proven Approach to Leading Large-Scale Change. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2019

 

the eight step process of successful change

 Set the Stage

1. Create a Sense of Urgency

Help others see the need for change and the importance of acting immediately.

2. Pull together the Guiding Team

Make sure there is a powerful group guiding the change – one with leadership skills, credibility, communications ability, authority, analytical skills, and a sense of urgency. 

Decide What to Do

3. Develop the Change Vision and Strategy

Clarify how the future will be different from the past, and how you can make that future a reality.

Make It Happen

4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy In.

Make sure as many others as possible understand and accept the vision and the strategy.

5. Empower Others to Act.

Remove as many barriers as possible so that those who want to make the vision a reality can do so.

6. Produce Short-Term Wins.

Create some visible, unambiguous successes as soon as possible.

7. Don’t Let Up.

Press harder and faster after the first successes. Be relentless with initiating change after change until the vision is a reality.

Make It Stick

8. Create a New Culture.

Hold on to the new ways of behaving, and make sure they succeed, until they become strong enough to replace old traditions.

John Kotter

Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions. St. Martin's Press. 2005. p.130, 131

when your people know why

Answering why is an act of empathy and adds a layer of persuasion to your communications. When people know why they’re being asked to do something, they’re much more likely to do it.

Nancy Duarte

"Good Leadership Is About Communicating “Why”" Harvard Business Review. May 6, 2020

sticking to a 'core competency'

In Kyoto, the video game company Nintendo is known across the globe for the way it revolutionised at-home entertainment with its electronic gaming system back in 1985.

But most people don’t know that the company predates its massive global commercial success. Despite being thought of as a tech company, Nintendo was founded back in 1889, as a maker of playing cards for the Japanese game hanafuda. First imported by the Portuguese in the 16th Century, the game involves collecting cards with various flowers printed on them, each worth different points.

Kyoto University’s [Yoshinori] Hara says Nintendo is a great example of a company sticking to what he calls a “core competency”. That’s the basic concept behind what a company makes or does, which helps the company survive – even as the technology or world around it changes. In Nintendo’s case, it’s “how to create fun”, Hara says.

Bryan Lufkin
"Why so many of the world’s oldest companies are in Japan" BBC.com Feb. 12, 2020

practice these essential basics

Our [HBR Leader’s Handbook] research [interviews with over 40 successful leaders of large corporations, startups, and non-profits] pointed to six leadership skills where practice was particularly important. These are not mysterious and certainly aren’t new. However, the leaders we talked with emphasized that these fundamental skills really matter. Aspiring leaders should focus on practicing these essential basics:

1. Shape a vision that is exciting and challenging for your team (or division/unit/organization).
2. Translate that vision into a clear strategy about what actions to take, and what not to do.
3. Recruit, develop, and reward a team of great people to carry out the strategy.
4. Focus on measurable results.
5. Foster innovation and learning to sustain your team (or organization) and grow new leaders.
6. Lead yourself — know yourself, improve yourself, and manage the appropriate balance in your own life.

Ron Ashkenas and Brook Manville

"The 6 Fundamental Skills Every Leader Should Practice" Harvard Business Review. Oct. 24, 2018