Craig Lee

Share the data with the team! We used to track customers, competitors, suppliers and substitutes. When the dynamic between these different players changed significantly, we were able to show the impact to our current strategy and tactics. Once that is made clear, it usually turned from pushback to enthusiasm to change course in order to win. I feel that it is really that simple.

In setting strategy, it's essential to go back to the basics. These questions have already been asked (to much eye-rolling, and even audible groaning), but here's what I often ask: 1. What are we good at doing? 2. What are we bad at doing? 3. Which customers can't live without us? 4. Which customers don't care if we exist? 5. Who is trying to kill us? 6. Who could we help be successful, and in turn, help us be more successful? 7. What will make our moat wider, deeper, and more difficult to attack? 8. Finally, what org structure and players do we need? Do NOT make the mistake of creating a strategy based on who you already have on the team. That is optimizing for existing employment. Figure out what is needed to win.

I once did a quiz with a dysfunctional department asking each person to put down in writing the three (3) most important objectives for the team. Wow! The answers were simply awesome! But more impressively, the lack of overlap showed me and the department leader that we were not doing a good job providing the background and reasons for what we were doing. Everyone was pleasant, and working hard, but because everyone was trying to do what they thought were the most important objectives, we simply missed the boat. My advice is to back up. Start with the most important items first. Make sure that those objectives are clear and understood. Everyone's role in supporting those objectives will make it easier to communicate and understand.

Working with an organization requires that EVERYONE is rowing the boat in the same direction in sync. Speak respectfully with NO JARGON. Make sure that a five year old could understand what you are trying to communicate. Omit excess words (flowery adjectives are the usual culprit). Keep sentences short (no run-ons), eliminate semicolons, and no lists longer than 3 items. Once you've done this, check back regularly to make sure that people understand what you have communicated. AND, be sure that you do what you say you are going to do. Nothing much worse than finding out that you don't follow through on your message. That's on you as the writer/communicator.

One thing we liked to do with employees struggling to understand relevancy was to map dependencies. A test engineer was frustrated by how the relentless need to identify and fix bugs. He felt hopeless. We sent him with the sales team to understand why the customer wanted the feature so badly. He came back from the meeting with a renewed commitment to the task. Making a connection to the customer, with their tangible needs, made a huge difference in this person's performance.