It was one of those not so uncommon winter trips on the QE2 highway between Calgary and Edmonton. A friend and I were heading north during a snowstorm and the conditions were becoming more and more of a concern. I was driving and at one point we hit a whiteout and I literally could not see anything. It was as if someone had thrown a white blanket over the windshield of the car. We went into the whiteout driving in the right hand lane and came out of it driving in the passing lane – and I did not realize that I had made the switch. It was at that point that my friend and I opted for a different strategy. I would watch the center line to my left and what was right in front of us, and they would keep a close eye on the line that marked the right hand shoulder. We hoped that would keep us right where we were supposed to be.
Last week I was one of many who had the opportunity to hear Patrick Lencioni speak here in Calgary. I saw a number of you there and it was good to talk for a bit and catch up. The morning was built around his latest book, The Advantage, which is about building organizational health. Lencioni truly is an exceptional presenter, and there were a number of points that stood out for me. The presentation was a good reminder of things I was already familiar with, but also provided some fresh insights. One particularly honest moment was when a gentleman stood and made the comment that all of this organizational health stuff sounds good “when you say it fast enough”, but wondered if it really worked, could work, or could actually be applied. Lencioni addressed the comment well I thought and acknowledged the challenges in trying to build this part of a company while emphasizing the necessity and advantage in doing so.
Reading the book is definitely worth your time and I will most likely share some additional insights from it with you over the next few months, but a primary theme throughout is creating clarity. It is essential to know what you do, why you do it, and to communicate this well and repeatedly to everyone in your organization. It all sounds so simple – when you say it fast enough – but it can sometimes feel like driving in a snow storm and everything is something of a blur. Driving a car when you cannot see is nerve wracking. Working in an organization or on a team that is not exactly sure where it is going or why can also be somewhat nerve wracking. Finding ways to navigate well and to create clarity is a key strategic advantage and Lencioni provides a number of ways to do this.
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I Can’t See Anything!
Last week I was one of many who had the opportunity to hear Patrick Lencioni speak here in Calgary. I saw a number of you there and it was good to talk for a bit and catch up. The morning was built around his latest book, The Advantage, which is about building organizational health. Lencioni truly is an exceptional presenter, and there were a number of points that stood out for me. The presentation was a good reminder of things I was already familiar with, but also provided some fresh insights. One particularly honest moment was when a gentleman stood and made the comment that all of this organizational health stuff sounds good “when you say it fast enough”, but wondered if it really worked, could work, or could actually be applied. Lencioni addressed the comment well I thought and acknowledged the challenges in trying to build this part of a company while emphasizing the necessity and advantage in doing so.
Reading the book is definitely worth your time and I will most likely share some additional insights from it with you over the next few months, but a primary theme throughout is creating clarity. It is essential to know what you do, why you do it, and to communicate this well and repeatedly to everyone in your organization. It all sounds so simple – when you say it fast enough – but it can sometimes feel like driving in a snow storm and everything is something of a blur. Driving a car when you cannot see is nerve wracking. Working in an organization or on a team that is not exactly sure where it is going or why can also be somewhat nerve wracking. Finding ways to navigate well and to create clarity is a key strategic advantage and Lencioni provides a number of ways to do this.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 24th, 2013 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.