Rob and Marc discuss why the simplest explanation is often right, how to incentivize team collaboration and execution when not under fire, and why total ownership is the new hotness.
Marc had quite a chicken scare earlier this week, but it all worked out okay. The simplest explanation is most likely correct, but don’t rule out teleportation portals.
One of Rob’s customers is a “glass half-empty” kind of guy who could find the lost ark and still unhappy. However, the team has converted this into comedy which fuels teamwork and accelerates progress. Learn to transform stress into hilarity and team building. Marc digs into the notion of “commander’s intent” as explored by Stephen Bungay in “The Art of Action” which reveals how the Prussian Army were the original authors of “The Agile Manifesto.”
“Strategy is essentially an intent rather than a plan, because the knowledge gap means that we cannot plan an outcome but only express the will to achieve it, and the effects gap means that we cannot know for certain what the effects of our actions will be, and that we will probably have to modify our actions to achieve the outcome we want. We can only do that if we are clear about what outcome we desire.”
You have to have a clear desired outcome, but leave massive flexibility for how to get there. Rob explains why nobody is more agile than the warrior in the trenches. Business leaders often aren’t as clear with the goal. In the military, people are incentivized to make the best plan and execute due to the high stakes of trying to stay alive for next 24 to 48 hours. They consider options and variables and generate a list of if/then statements. They incorporate and maximize flexibility, taking 20 options and prioritizing 5 of them. It is easy when it’s us or them. How can you create the same demand in business?
Is business like war? People push back on this notion, since they don’t want to actually hurt or kill people. It’s not war from a physical danger and suffering perspective, but some aspects of that could be beneficial to instill a feeling of “this matters”. When you get an unclear command or directive from business leader, it’s too easy to say I don’t care or I’ll try and do something… The stakes can be so low in your mind you rarely do your best or what is actually required. How do you get people to push their leaders and managers for clarity and meaning – “I need to know more from you about this mission in order to succeed.” It’s too easy to not push back in a non-military setting. In a big company, few problems will come down on you from failure.
How to raise the stakes without the fear of a real physical threat? Warfare is straight forward for motivating people and incentivizing team collaboration. How to get people to get excited? We can deliver more, we care more, we have higher attention to detail. The right mindset is that myself and the rest of us as a team will hold us accountable to executing better than anyone else. Our product needs to perform better so the market and users benefit. It gets the people going. Find that emotional thread in your work that compares to ‘charging the hill’. Everyone must confidently believe “I understand how what I do fits into what those above me do and to those above what they do (turtles all the way up…)”. And if I don’t do this, what are the impacts to the business? It’s very apparent in military if something isn’t done. In a business, it’s so easy for a person or department failure to become part of the noise and friction that occurs every day. It’s up to the leaders to detect and deal with this. Get team buy in and achieve critical outcomes.
Look at your company’s structure (war fighting is very flat). There are big desired outcomes and objectives – take the hill, secure the bridge – companies can allocate resources and assets for particular tasks to introduce effects into an environment you want to change. If Product delivers something that doesn’t meet the need, Customer Experience can swoop in and bridge the gap to keep customers engaged while Product addresses the concerns. It’s often very military-esque.
How well do you know your commander’s intent (military, manager, VP, CEO)? Do you believe they understand the obstacles in their way? If they did know, would they change the mission or not? If ‘yes’, then how can you make them aware of new data without causing bigger problems? How can you say ‘I got this’ to them and start moving in that direction as ordered, and illuminate obstacles as you go so they see for themselves and change the plan. In short, you own it.. If ‘no’, then buckle up and get going and enjoy the ride. Figure it out.
Rob is obsessing over radical self acceptance and knowing who you are. Journaling is powerful. Know thyself, and get to the objective quicker. Make it happen.