This blog is a continuation of my last blog on “My Team Concept” and the three simple principles of What, Why, and How. Now we delve into what is the glue that melds these three principles together.
Performance oriented people like to win. That’s a fairly safe statement and assumption. Most all of us like to win. However, I have learned that the truly high-performance teams usually have a silver bullet the others lack. That silver bullet is Clarity … clarity around “What” they are doing and “Why” they are doing it.
As simple as that statement is, it’s amazing how often in an organization if you ask 15 people “What is the organization doing?” you’ll get 15 different answers. But the key to performing well and being involved in an energetic team oriented company requires addressing the What and Why whether it is stated or not.
Find an organization that is doing extremely well and you’re going to get the same answers from the team members when you ask the “What” question. There will be extraordinary clarity around “What and Why.” Not some long-winded explanation with fancy buzzwords … but a compelling action oriented statement that says what the organization exist to do. What the “Win” is. Performing teams like to win. So you don’t want it to be fuzzy, unclear or complicated. When we set a goal and reach the goal, you’ve “accomplished” a goal. A WIN is something you celebrate. When there is clarity about “what” we have come together to do … what we exist for. We know when we have a WIN … and we celebrate a win.
Easier Decisions
Clarity develops efficiency in decision-making. Clarity around “What” decentralizes the decision making process. When people have clarity around “what,” they are not indecisive or afraid to make decisions. Clarity around “what” provides a filter for making decisions. When there is clarity your team is not wondering what the Boss would want them to do, they know because we have all agreed and communicated on what the WIN is in the organization. Furthermore, clarity allows a team to make quick course corrections or adjustments. When there is clarity around “what,” mistakes are more easily recognized, more quickly corrected, and there’s less of a tendency to blame somebody … and there’s more of an effort to make a quick course correction for the team.
WHY
Why answers What’s at stake. Whether there’s a current answer or the Founder’s answer, there’s a reason we do what we do. If “what” goes undone, we know we’ve failed. On high-performance teams, they will be inspired by “what” has gone undone or “why” we’re doing what we’re doing. High performance teams always have clarity around What and Why which also adds clarity to organizational change. How do we get people to be open to change? With a What and Why you will know. What and Why organizations are nimble, they’re passionate about what it is they want to do … they’re passionate to want to change about anything in order to accomplish the “what” … in light of the “why.”
Clarity around What and Why establishes the groundwork around change and makes it much easier for an organization to change. Moreover, the future of an organization depends on the clarity of What and Why to avoid resistance to addressing important issues.
Get your organization to buy-in to supporting What and Why with Clarity and you will gain synergy and energy of a high performance team. Organize to the What … establish job descriptions to the What. Become structured or designed to the What. Does the reason we exist as a company support the What? If over 50% of each team members’ focus, duties, and incentives are directed at the What, things will be impactful and giant strides will be made. Build synergy around What … which may be difficult but well worth the commitment and efforts.
Within different divisions or departments start with these questions:
- What is the problem your team has come together to solve?
- What is the task your team has come together to accomplish?
- What is the opportunity your team has come together to leverage?
- What is the What that everything should be organized around … the one thing that will drive and focus the energy of the entire organization (Div/Dept).
Note: Pushback will usually come from statements like, “Our organization is too complex.” But you can if you commit and focus. You just haven’t found it or identified it yet … you aren’t committed yet. When you find it, it is going to be so compelling, it is going to generate so much energy you will be excited about how to harness it. Now you have something to generate the synergy and energy you need that is worthwhile to drive the company. May take time. Start with What is What … then Why do we do What. You are on your way to developing a high performance team.
Fact … a leader cannot over emphasize Clarity in an organization.
Your thoughts and comments are always welcome.
© Phil Hoffman 2013. All rights reserved
I Am Phil Hoffman 