If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else!
How often do you set off on a journey without a sense of where you’re going?
Of course, apart from those occasions where you simply go out to enjoy a drive and see where that takes you, we pretty much always have an idea of where we are heading and what we expect to find when we get there.
Now think about your organisation.
If you have set off on a “journey” to Operational Excellence through Continuous Improvement, how clearly have you defined your “destination” – what it will be like when you have achieved your end goal?
All too often I find organisations only express this in relatively vague terms. Or perhaps only define the results that they plan to achieve without considering how the organisation might have changed to accomplish that. Or maybe they don’t even have a clear sense of “what good looks like” – only a sense it’s a direction they need to go.
How much more powerful could it be if you had a clear picture in your mind of what life would be like in your organisation once you had achieved these goals – a “compelling vision of the desired future”?
And how motivating could it be for everyone in the organisation if they shared that vision?
The Power of Vision
A clear vision has two powerful effects on an organisation.
It provides motivation
In his book “Drive” author Dan Pink describes the importance of a sense of Purpose as one of the three key factors for motivation of individuals (the other two being Autonomy and Mastery, if you’re interested).
A well-defined vision provides that. It not only answers the question “why do we exist” for the organisation, but also sets out what the organisation needs to be like to achieve that purpose.
Done well, it also translates the organisational vision into a clear sense for every employee of how their role supports the vision and therefore why it matters to the achievement of the organisation’s goals.
It sets direction
In addition to motivation, the vision also sets a consistent “aiming point” to guide all improvement activities. Any planned action or decision can be set in the frame of “does this move us in that direction?”
Toyota, one if the most successful organisations in the world, refer to this as their “True North” that provides consistent direction and guidance to everything they do.
“Without a vision, the people cast off restraint!”
THE BIBLE - PROVERBS 29:18 (NIV)
Without such clarity around the long-term, then organisation can set short-term improvement goals that, to others in the organisation, can seem like a change of direction or, worse, contradictory to what has gone before rather than “steady progress in a consistent direction.”
At the lower levels, without the guiding context of the vision, individuals will make their own decisions based on local needs or individual preferences. This can lead to tension between teams or departments as a result of conflicting priorities, which in turns leads to reduced performance.
Creating the Vision
Of course, one of the reasons for lack of clarity of vision may be that the leaders themselves don’t have a clear idea about “what good looks like”. They know they need to improve and have heard of operational excellence, lean, continuous improvement or some such and set off on a journey.
Maybe they’ll hire some consultants who will introduce some changes that produce some good results in various parts of the organisation. Yet the results don’t seem to translate to bottom line performance and enthusiasm soon declines.
If that’s you, let me invite you on a short journey into the future.
Imagine a world where:
Everyone at every level is highly motivated
Focussed on the things that matter to deliver exceptional performance
Confident and capable to execute it
Able to raise concerns and try things out without fear
Proactively identifying and taking action on problems and improvement ideas using a robust, structured approach to produce lasting results
Actively engaged in their own personal development
Feeling fulfilled in their role
Customer delivery performance is consistently close to 100% On Time, In Full with No Errors
Everything happens to plan without your intervention
Achieved with ease and no ‘exceptional effort’
There is a sense of rhythm, pace and routine
Works ‘flows’ smoothly through the organisation without hold-ups
Lead times are significantly reduced, both for day-to-day production and the development of new products and services
Customer complaints are almost non-existent; compliments are routine
Equipment hardly ever breaks down
Costs are significantly lower
Leaders are free to spend time on developments to make your organisation even more successful rather than being consumed by dealing with today’s problems
This may seem like an unrealistic utopia. However, my experience of working in and studying high performing organisations such as BMW and Toyota convinces me that it’s possible for almost any organisation and what the necessary conditions are to achieve it.
Of course, what I’ve shared above is remarkably general and will need to be adapted to be more specific for your organisation. You need to create a clear vision of “what good looks like” that fits your organisation.
The boxer Muhammad Ali attributed his tremendous success to his ability to visualise his fights long before he got in the ring – what he referred to as “future history”. In effect, he created a “mini movie” in his mind with all the detail of what would happen, not just in the fight itself but in the hours leading up to it. He would imagine the sights and sounds, maybe even tastes and smells, of every moment. Just consider all the detail that would need. However, once fight day came, everything was familiar and he always had a sense of “I know what to do next.”
This level of preparation dramatically improved his chances of achieving the desired outcome as he worked to create the right conditions to achieve it. Out of the 19 fights in which he predicted the outcome, 17 happened pretty much the way Ali said they would with him winning. And even when he lost, his belief in the approach was so strong he’d simply say; “the other guy made a better movie than me!”
Sharing the Vision
For the vision to have its true power it must be shared by everyone in the organisation.
One way to do this is simply for the CEO to “cast the vision” – share the compelling picture of the future in a way that inspires and encourages everyone else.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders.
Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea!”
ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY, WRITER, POET, AND PIONEERING AVIATOR
A couple of words of caution here.
Firstly, make sure you really are sharing the power of the “why.” All too often I’ve been part of or seen leadership teams spend hours or days defining purpose, laying out their vision and then working on how they will work to achieve this.
Yet, when they get back to the workplace, all they share with others is the latter part. Think about it, that’s little more than a glorified To Do list – and how motivating is that! They forget that what really got them so excited was their sense of how much better things would be when they got it done.
Second, in the words of a well-know leader I admire “vision leaks!” In other words, it’s easy to forget it under the pressure of everyday work.
So the vision must be repeated frequently. Discussed with teams. Maybe even a part of every personal development review.
Much more powerful than simply sharing the “vision from the top” is to invite everyone in the organisation to play a part in its creation. This is not to create a “free-for-all” with everyone sharing their wishlist. More a sharing of the sense of purpose and a high level sense of the vision and then inviting others to add the detail.
Perhaps asking questions like “what really matters to you about this?” - “what conditions do we need to create to achieve this?” - “what challenges will we need to address?”
People are far more willing to contribute to a “work-in-progress” than they are to seem to criticise what appears to be a finished plan. If they’ve had a part in creation they’ll naturally be more committed to it too, so you’ll get much higher levels of engagement and ownership.
And not only that, but you’ll have a better defined vision too!