The e-newsletter from Forrest Workshops
From the pine...
Really like that quote attributed to Warren Buffet;
"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree long ago."
Someone showed initiative. Someone did something, worked on something, nurtured something, at very least enabled conditions to allow its growth (and, as a result, here, way down the track, the world is a little better). More than likely, it involved work. Day-in, day-out, repetitious, disciplined, "Groundhog Day"-type work.
If grit and persistence for the long haul is one of the more consistent, actionable predicators of success, then understanding and accepting your version of Groundhog Day seems to be a smart play. The stuff that, if stuck with, will grow like a super fund. Not quickly, but with an eye on an endgame many years, even decades from now.
Accepting that isn't easy. We have shiny eyes for shiny new things. Variety and diversity is interesting and (to trailblazers at least) appealing in vanilla surrounds. The paradox: "new" likely provides more efficient, economical mechanisms to producing "better", but "old" stuck with for yonks has the runs on the board for legacy-level results. Which path? Reinvent and redirect? Or stick to knitting long term?
Guess it depends.
Do you want to go out as a shade maker? A statue-worthy figure in the eyes of your Groundhog Day beneficiaries?
Or is a shed full of mini-projects you had a hoot working on (but make not a smidge of difference in the scheme of the planet) likely going to do it for you on your death bed?
If you're going "long game legacy", maybe thinking long and hard about what your Groundhog Days entail is smart. The skills you get to flex and develop, the beneficiaries you get to focus on, the aspects of the grind work you derive joy from just because you find the work fun. Again and again and again and again. Because, on a cold, wet, grey, unappreciated Monday morning, when that work still needs doing and you're not feeling the love, it might just be easier to stick with if you've chosen a recurring Groundhog Day agenda where even at its worst, the faintest glimpse of smile-making shine still penetrates the mud.
(Trees love mud).
Troy Forrest, Forrest Workshops & Strategy Road.
Strategic play – Decision models
Strategy development and strategic planning is about decision making. What we'll do, and what we won't do. Biggest and hardest part of the gig. So how to decide?
There are a number of textbook "models" of decision making you can employ;
- Rational decision making - set a goal, assess your alternatives, consider the consequences of a given decision path, then make a call based on some form of cost:benefit ratio. Implement, track, assess. Sounds clean and clear, right? It's our default model, and pretty useful when the decision is relatively simple, or the influences over time are largely predictable. It does have limits though... human decision-making isn't always "rational".
- Bounded rationality - a model that recognises the limits of the human condition and our restricted ability to hold multiple scenarios without bias in our heads. Asks you to limit the decision criteria and options that are considered before making a weighted call. Within this framework, you might employ a "satisficing" criteria, asking not for the best decision, but the one you can get away with / live with. It's pragmatic and can get you moving, but obviously a system that comes with blinkers.
- Incremental model - recognises that "stuff changes" over time, and adopts a more iterative, even reactive approach to decision making. Particularly useful when political forces are at play, where one parties interests push their way into the conversation. Short-term by nature.
- Mixed scanning model - kind of "a little from column a, a little from column b". Asks you to think short term, long term, consider fixed and variable aspects to decision criteria and forces. Part science with a fair bit of art.
- The Garbage Can model - you see these in War rooms in movies. "Mr President, a situation has come up, and thankfully, we foresaw this 10 years ago, and have been sitting on this strategy which we think fits now." It assumes problems and solutions can live independently of each other. So, develop a smorgasbord of approaches in advance, then keep them up your sleeve (or in the garbage can) for when just such a moment arises.
- Participative decision making model - akin to sitting around the campfire as a collective, more communal decision making. You might want a good facilitator for that one.
Lots of others, like the Vroom-Yetton-Jago model, the OODA loop, Paired comparison and the Ladder of Inference (google them if you're really interested, some good pointers).
The one I like best?
The one where leaders sit around a table, eyeball each other, having done their homework, and address the following 5 questions...
- Why are we here, together, as an entity? What's our CORE PURPOSE?
- In fulfilling that purpose, as a just-visible mountain-top interim weigh-station marker point we'll judge ourselves binarilly at, what's the VISION for our entity... one that's consistent with us fulfilling that purpose (that we really, really, want to achieve?)
- In deciding HOW we'll go about the pursuit of that Vision, what have we determined / agreed to accept as our fundamental beliefs and behavioural standards... our VALUES?
- In the context of this decision-making holy trinity, as well as of our backstory, our current position and capabilities, the terrain before us and the well-studied, more predictable happenings on the landscape in the time ahead, what do we MOST need to focus time and energy on, to get "right"?
- Of the alternatives available to us, given what we said was MOST important to us, which one of these paths and vehicles (imperfect as it will be) do we think FITS? That we'll be willing to forgo others for, get behind and push like no-ones business?
You don't have a crystal ball. No-one does. Inform yourself. Know yourselves. Collaborate.
Then pick and crack on.
From "Poke the box", Seth Godin.
The Green Room
Good wood from smart guest contributors. This edition…. Michelle Bakjac from Bakjac Consulting, who, in her 102nd article (onya Michelle!) gives some sage counsel on eliminating excuse-making (what's your excuse for not producing content?)...
The view from the fulcrum
(Opening para's of the white paper...)
Left, or right?
Massive, or boutique?
Build, or rent?
The decisions on the plates of the business leader of 2019 are more multi-dimensional than ever, and less anchored by a history. A point of origin, or a mechanism that progressed your enterprise over decades to its current point, is not the rigid paradigm for tomorrow’s operations it might once have been perceived to be. Today’s organisation, and tomorrow’s, has a plethora of options and enablement mechanisms available to it. The means to completely reinvent and redeploy their energies, to deliver and realise value on paths perhaps never before imagined.
So the leader’s role, while exciting and opportunity-filled, requires a more thoughtful and deliberate circumnavigation of the options landscape, the multi-directional forces, the 360° array of positions their entity might take. The strategic decisions before them are multitude. They simply can’t be sighted, appreciated or contextualized sitting on one comfortable side of the see-saw.
They need a leader to stand on the fulcrum and scan.
(To read the 13 strategy decision making tips for the leader of 2019, simply click here or on the picture below to read the full white paper....)
Workshop observation...
Facilitators love 3M.
a. Sticky notes... terrific tools for mass engagement, synchronised input and pattern crystallising in a workshop...
b. Less fun when you're the muggins that has to interpret & collate them post-session.
Seeds
3 questions to ask yourself Monday morning, staring at that big ass to-do list…
- Why, more than anything else, am I employed / working here / staring at this to-do list (what's its... and my... working Purpose?)
- What's the big one, the non-negotiable, the chunky, chunky air guitar task, that just stands above the crowd like Andre the Giant? Go there. Nail that.
- What's just ludicrous to imagine you'll get to, that won't really matter much if it's not delivered today, that gets the scalpel? Embrace the slice.
The hill is non-negotiable. The question - stare at it? Walk it? Or run it?
The Swarm Guide
Meet Strategy Road Associate Mike York, a specialist advisor and support partner to successful businesses readying to scale up. With more than 10 years experience working with some of Australia's and the world's largest brands to deliver projects with multi-million dollar budgets, as well as supporting start-up founders in scaling up and exiting, Mike can help enterprises of all sizes with people, process and technology matters. Check out his value delivery engine, MikeYork.com.
Blooming
Cut yourself some slack...
Last Sunday, after a hike up the hill, a few mates adjourned to mine. We lit a fire. We ordered dial-a-pizza. We cracked open a flash bottle (or 2). And we spend a couple of hours talking absolute rot about absolutely nothing.
The sun was shining. The lawn was already mowed, so.... The kids were studying or out at friends. The better half had other things on. The narrow window of opportunity was there.
There's always more work to be done. Ambitions to realise, grind to push through, another hill to climb. There are always others that'll benefit from your extra efforts on their behalf, and "generous" means going a little further, for others, at the price of time on you.
But sometimes, sometimes.
Breathe. Get the mates. Light the fire. Open the bottle. Talk the rot.
Memory-make. Open the valve just a little. Makes you more grateful, and you can put that to work tomorrow.
Don't knock the combo 'til you tried it...
Worth a Bo Peep...
Roman Mars is a plant geneticist, and in 2013, was voted by Fast Company Magazine as one of the 100 most creative people alive. A few years back, he started a podcast, 99% invisible, that explores people, places, stories, creations and human constructs that largely go unnoticed (but are fascinating, holding innumerable lessons). Check out the site, the stories (and highly recommend the podcast) - http://99percentinvisible.org.
Luft balloons* (imagine...)
The bad emotions you don't ever want the punters associating with you, your brand, the stuff you put out into the world... how often do you pull the crew together to flesh them out? A dozen to discuss, decide & deploy against...
- Disappointment - that sense of feeling let down; oversold & underdelivered. Where's it most likely to come from in your system, in your processes and interfaces?
- Frustration - when it just doesn't work smoothly, easily, the way they thought it would, and they're stuck, and chucking an internal wobbly. Why? What's the road out of that?
- Fear - what's gnawing away in the back of their head, that could go wrong, that'd cause chaos if it did? What are they most scared of in placing trust in you, your people & value proposition?
- Anger - when the frustration boils over, and things move from "this doesn't work" to "they don't seem to CARE that it doesn't work", where does your track record say that has the potential to bob up? Given its impact, what in-advance fixes do you need to crack on with?
- Uncertainty - borne out of a lack of clarity, or knowledge, or being kept in the dark, or not educated properly... where is your offering softest?
- Loneliness - feeling abandoned, like they're the only ones that made this choice, and no-one's around to help them out. What's the point that'll kick in, and how can you avoid it?
- Perplexion - when it just doesn't make sense. It's just (to them) dumb. Look at it through the eyes of someone on the other side of the counter, of a luddite, of an ingenue, and think about where that can occur.
- Apathy - when they just don't care... is the gig about helping them care, or moving your own act into a space they do care about.
- Sadness - they so wanted it to be great... and it wasn't, or it stopped being great, or something or someone left the building... how do you hedge against that?
- Disgust - if it's got to this point, one of two things are going on. You REALLY stuffed up, or you're dealing with folk with a penchant for going to emotional extremes. What's the answer for tomorrow's work then?
- Helplessness - painted into a corner, stuck with a lemon, unable to get out of a jam... did you do that to them? How? How can you rectify and buffer against it?
- Pity - Ouch. Ever seen it? Any aspect of what you're doing got any potential to create it in those you care about? It's not a good thing. What'll you do?
Image credit below - Harrison Telyan
Slide deck specials
You can't quickly engineer it. It's not cookie-cutter-replicable or leader-mandatable. And trying to transplant it across organisations, across time periods.... well, it just doesn't work. Culture - organic to its shoes - and some of the influences that can help shape it.
Cross-functional conversations
Part of the benefit of a diverse organisation (cross-functional teams, or just a motley crew of different experiences / skills / worldviews in the room) is that it buffers you from same-ol same-ol drinking your bathwater. It tests and challenges and explores topics from different angles that unipolar teams just can't. But it's difficult - different takes, agendas, levels of skin in the game, competing priorities and the impact of decisions isn't always meted out equally.
Fundamentally, to work, any decent cross-functional conversation needs to centre on a common goal (the "what's in it for all of us" piece). Establishing that off the bat - "Why are we in a room together - what, putting our heads together, might we achieve that benefits all?" - is vital. Others;
- Recognise the skills / knowledge / experience & expertise brought by each group - all earned a place at the table for a reason. Call it publicly, make it known and appreciated.
- Weight your criteria upfront - "lots of these potential outcome aspects are important, but a couple are most vital - they are...."
- Let the experts share their expertise - when the conversation goes to a digital place, look to the digital expert. But...
- Don't let "role title" dictate the domains people can contribute to - encourage people to share their thoughts, experiences, ideas on topics that aren't listed in their job description. Just keep it balanced and in context.
- Be open-minded-question focused - what could we do, what might the impacts be, what other possibilities could exist, how else could this be made to work, why else might.... By not corralling the decision too early, too tightly, you create an environment where folk start to consider alternatives beyond their standard role-party lines.
Cross-functional workshops can be terrific culture influencers and team bond tighteners. They work best when approached with an egalitarian attitude - "everyone in here, and every piece shared, is important" - and with leadership that visibly values input from all quarters... before making a clear, purpose, vision & values aligned decision.
The trees for the woods…
Some days, you just get your ambitions and abilities ar$e about... (via @Kookslams)
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Thank you for reading!
Forrest Workshops custom-builds and facilitates team workshops on topics ranging from strategic planning, leadership and sales practice development, to innovation, customer experience creation and collaborating with your supply chain in an evolving market. Based in Adelaide, serving clients nationally and internationally, from SMEs to Fortune 500s.
Committed to facilitating purposeful teamwork.
NEW! Forrest Workshops For One are tailored Coaching & mentoring programs for leaders, business owners, sales and service professionals. High-touch, deep- and long-term impact support.
Contact Troy Forrest from Forrest Workshops on 0430 308963 or troy@forrestworkshops.com.au for a discussion.
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Contact Troy Forrest, troy@forrestworkshops.com.au