What’s your warpath m.o.?

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[Rick Fuqua]

As a top technology executive, I see the many positive benefits of continuous improvement practices as long as the improvements are deliberate, well designed, prioritized and properly implemented. The challenge arises as tremendous performance pressures to achieve increasing results often leads to mistakes, oversights and in some cases just plain old fashioned activity without reason. I have to remind my middle managers that success can never be attained at the expense of quality or focus.

Change must be kept under control, but we cannot be afraid of change either.

Because resources are limited, we must focus on those improvements that will yield the greatest impact. It’s also much harder than one would think to inspire improvements and creativity without creating some potential chaos. No loose cannons allowed in my world.

My new warpath will be –

A – Attack
T – Team
T – Today
A – Achieve
C – Continuous Improvement
K – Knowledge

I – Information
T – Technology

Rosa - Question - It is annual performance review time again (our year ends March 31) so I thought I would ask you if you could share some quick wisdom on the matter?

[Rosa Say]

Love this Rick! I think that in sharing your ATTACK IT acronym with your team, and why you came up with it, you can set it up as a “decision filter” or the “great-change criteria” to keep that focus you want — the warpath is then focused as you so rightly speak of the need for, versus chaotic.

There is a rhythm of unity (Lōkahi and Kākou!) so that you DO have a concerted warpath, and not random, bloody battlegrounds all over the place: I absolutely concur that no loose cannons should be allowed! Further, no one need go it alone when the team huddles are exciting and empowering.

You also bring back to mind for me this notion of mobilizing your resources in a deliberately focused Kūlia i ka nu‘u campaign. I always will opt for action versus inaction, however it isn’t wise to be draining energies in actions that sap your strength instead of building on it. The reality of workplaces everywhere right now, is that post 9/11/01 most of the “powers that be” do expect their leaders and managers to stay lean and be overly cautious about adding more labor. I am hearing from so many that as business booms they are still expected to handle the crush with their existing resources. That requires a lot of focus and proactivity, and smart campaigning with the troops so everyone is on the same page is a brilliant battle strategy. Problem is usually that,
a) it is so simple it is overlooked (why do we persist on making everything so hard or so complicated?), or
b) too many assumptions are made, and the reality is that teams do NOT speak the same language of intention they think they do.

As for my advice on annual performance reviews, let’s bring all of these discussions together in our strategy (including those concurrently in the MWA Jumpstart program). Stay tuned; I’ll add to this shortly. I actually already had something in drafts for this - it’s as if you read my mind… I love when this happens! We are managing with aloha and working our values together folks … no accident here.

For now, rather than keeping you waiting, take a look at this from the archives:
5 Questions for your Performance Appraisals
http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com/talkingstory/2005/07/5_questions_for.html