⛰ Imagine for a minute that you decided to climb Everest, yet you had no experience of mountain climbing. How would you get on? How far would your existing knowledge and skills take you before you got into trouble?

A better known translation of this proverb ends “..... the people perish!” but I think this one gives a better sense of the meaning and value.

Without a clear understanding of where the organisation is trying to get to, people will either do their best to work it out and act in accordance with that or work on the things they think are important.

How clear is your sense of where your organisation is heading?

I don’t mean how clear are your goals, rather how clearly can you imagine what it will be like when you get there?

I often find that individuals and teams only have the vaguest sense of how things will be different if they achieve the Operational Excellence goals – how is “Better, Faster, Lower Cost” experienced in reality?