“On Board!”

Last week I offered individuals an exercise which would help clarify what it is they may want to strive for in life. Clarifying where you want to go is obviously an important first step when planning a way to get there. The logic magnifies in importance for groups of people in business or organizations.

When I was in a leadership role for a small company, I used the following exercise with our top management team to underscore this fact. The bus metaphor used in this exercise is inspired by Jim Collins the author of Good to Great and Built to Last. I asked the team to imagine they were assigned the task of organizing and staffing a bus trip. The trip had to pay for itself and maybe make a little profit for them. They also were asked to consider the kinds of people who should be on the bus if it was to be a successful trip. Should the driver be aggressive or cautious, do we need a navigator, who’s going to keep track of expenses and pay for gas and maintenance, what about repairs and service, etc. I then sat back and listened to the following conversation.

Sally, our Sales VP, got things started by emphatically stating, “We need to know where we are going.” She was very goal sensitive.

Everyone agreed to that, so we were off to a great start.

Roger, our HR Director, added, “Good idea, that will also help us know who we should invite.”

Sam, the marketing manager, piped up saying, “And knowing who we should invite will help us create a marketing strategy.”

“Knowing where we are going is also going to help us determine the costs,” said Mel our CFO.

So, just as the exercise from last week, “Drawing Forth a Personal Vision” helped individuals clarify where they want to go in life, this exercise immediately led the group into a discussion of where the company wants to go. The team was off and running, quickly jumping from where they think the company should go to who should be on the bus, how do we get the right people on the bus, how do we get the wrong people off the bus, how do we move people on the bus from one seat to another.

I let the discussion go on until they were satisfied they had all the necessary personnel and a loaded bus for their trip.

I imagine you can tell where this is going, but at that point I asked the team to switch gears and think of the bus as our company and themselves as the personnel needed to run the bus. Then repeat the exercise beginning with where they think this bus (our company) is going. Is it where they think it should be going? I asked them to argue who should be the driver and why, who the navigator and why, and more tricky why should they even be on the bus and are they in the right seats (roles) on the bus.

I was asking them to challenge not only their own roles, but their colleague’s roles. I wanted them to question whether they belonged on the bus (in the company) at all.

I am sure you can see how effective this type of exercise is in understanding how important it is to have the “right” people in your company (people who share the vision and values of the company), in the right place (the place that is best for the company). It is also incredibly effective in clarifying who the wrong people would be.

You can imagine how easily this exercise could drift into emotional and possibly explosive debates if the wrong people are part of this team, so think carefully before using this technique.

I have shared this with you knowing most readers would consider this exercise too dangerous. Creating a culture in a company where this kind of dialogue can take place is what I am most passionate about. Please use the comment space below to share your thoughts and I will be happy to begin sharing my experiences with developing the art and practice of a true “Learning Organization,” one capable of developing the skills in their members to tackle an “On Board” exercise.