Going Slower to Go Faster
Remember the “Seinfeld” TV show, where periodically Jerry or George would suggest that the show is about “nothing”, whereas in reality it was about something very entertaining? Well, today’s blog is about “nothing”, but in reality the little point I want to discuss is something very important.
There’s an astute leader I work with--a senior VP of a major U.S. corporation. I want to share with you something elegant and subtle that he did in a meeting a couple days ago. It was a two day strategy session with the top 10 people in the division. Based on prior due diligence, they had come up with a specific set of strategic intents that would define the direction and priorities of the division during the next three years.
Now under the best of circumstances, a comprehensive strategy-development session is a complex, trying experience. In this case, it was doubly so, because the strategic intents that the team developed would demand some major deviations from the strategy the division has subscribed to in the past.
Nevertheless, I thought the team did an exemplary job, and I was looking forward to seeing how the plan would be received during the rollout in next week’s meeting with the next level of 50 upper level managers. Yet, as our meeting began to wind down mid-afternoon, some signs of fraying at the edges began to appear.
The concerns revolved around issues like—Are we very clear about our message? Do we really understand the implications for execution? How will this play out with certain functions and groups? Have we resolved some obvious objections that might emerge next week? Aren’t there some unresolved soft spots?
Here’s what the leader had to sift through. Were these concerns legitimate, or just a last-minute, hyper cautious, let’s-not-make-a-decision-yet sort of risk aversion? And what about the participants who were impatient to move on and start executing? Would it be unwise to dampen their sense of urgency and rain on their enthusiasm? And what about the fact that next week’s meeting site and travel plans for 50 people had already been planned, booked, and confirmed?
And yet, what about this: when you’re talking about something as critical as strategic intent, it’s critical that top management speak with one voice with one passion, and present a clear, coherent, well-thought out, inspiring message. What would be the impact if that didn’t happen next week, and beyond?
Now comes the Seinfeld “nothing”, that’s everything: The leader took a time-out, heard out the concerns of a few of his top managers, conceded their potential validity, and gave the team permission, and protection, to postpone next week’s big, planned meeting if they thought it was best for the division. And after further discussion, they did.
What the leader told me was “Sometimes you have to go slower in order to go fast.” He had to do a delicate balance act in order to maintain velocity without veering to recklessness. On one hand, his own instincts were: we’re okay, we’ve done good preparation, we do have a clear compelling message—let’s go for it. On the other hand, his instincts also told him that he had good staff, and unrolling a plan with less-than-100% understanding and commitment from his top team could open up a Pandora’s Box of hurt. On the third hand (is there such a thing?), his instincts also told him that he couldn’t permit the postponement to be perceived as an excuse for risk aversion and a bureaucratic slowness until some mythically “perfect” plan could be developed—which is one reason next week’s postponed meeting will be a non-negotiable opportunity for the 10 top managers to reconvene, wrap up all loose ends, and plan a follow up with the next level. On the fourth hand (!!), he had to be willing to show the resolve to lead whatever damage-control that might be required from canceling a meeting of this size.
These sorts of challenges aren’t covered in business schools, but any leader knows they pop up regularly. How leaders handle these “nothing” sorts of dilemmas often determine the organization’s fortunes to a greater extent than the kinds of spreadsheet analysis or software that they use. Maybe one gets the wisdom from experience, and if that’s so, then aspiring leaders would be wise to start paying attention to the subtleties of these dilemmas right now.
There’s an astute leader I work with--a senior VP of a major U.S. corporation. I want to share with you something elegant and subtle that he did in a meeting a couple days ago. It was a two day strategy session with the top 10 people in the division. Based on prior due diligence, they had come up with a specific set of strategic intents that would define the direction and priorities of the division during the next three years.
Now under the best of circumstances, a comprehensive strategy-development session is a complex, trying experience. In this case, it was doubly so, because the strategic intents that the team developed would demand some major deviations from the strategy the division has subscribed to in the past.
Nevertheless, I thought the team did an exemplary job, and I was looking forward to seeing how the plan would be received during the rollout in next week’s meeting with the next level of 50 upper level managers. Yet, as our meeting began to wind down mid-afternoon, some signs of fraying at the edges began to appear.
The concerns revolved around issues like—Are we very clear about our message? Do we really understand the implications for execution? How will this play out with certain functions and groups? Have we resolved some obvious objections that might emerge next week? Aren’t there some unresolved soft spots?
Here’s what the leader had to sift through. Were these concerns legitimate, or just a last-minute, hyper cautious, let’s-not-make-a-decision-yet sort of risk aversion? And what about the participants who were impatient to move on and start executing? Would it be unwise to dampen their sense of urgency and rain on their enthusiasm? And what about the fact that next week’s meeting site and travel plans for 50 people had already been planned, booked, and confirmed?
And yet, what about this: when you’re talking about something as critical as strategic intent, it’s critical that top management speak with one voice with one passion, and present a clear, coherent, well-thought out, inspiring message. What would be the impact if that didn’t happen next week, and beyond?
Now comes the Seinfeld “nothing”, that’s everything: The leader took a time-out, heard out the concerns of a few of his top managers, conceded their potential validity, and gave the team permission, and protection, to postpone next week’s big, planned meeting if they thought it was best for the division. And after further discussion, they did.
What the leader told me was “Sometimes you have to go slower in order to go fast.” He had to do a delicate balance act in order to maintain velocity without veering to recklessness. On one hand, his own instincts were: we’re okay, we’ve done good preparation, we do have a clear compelling message—let’s go for it. On the other hand, his instincts also told him that he had good staff, and unrolling a plan with less-than-100% understanding and commitment from his top team could open up a Pandora’s Box of hurt. On the third hand (is there such a thing?), his instincts also told him that he couldn’t permit the postponement to be perceived as an excuse for risk aversion and a bureaucratic slowness until some mythically “perfect” plan could be developed—which is one reason next week’s postponed meeting will be a non-negotiable opportunity for the 10 top managers to reconvene, wrap up all loose ends, and plan a follow up with the next level. On the fourth hand (!!), he had to be willing to show the resolve to lead whatever damage-control that might be required from canceling a meeting of this size.
These sorts of challenges aren’t covered in business schools, but any leader knows they pop up regularly. How leaders handle these “nothing” sorts of dilemmas often determine the organization’s fortunes to a greater extent than the kinds of spreadsheet analysis or software that they use. Maybe one gets the wisdom from experience, and if that’s so, then aspiring leaders would be wise to start paying attention to the subtleties of these dilemmas right now.
posted by Oren Harari at 6:25 PM
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