One of the reasons why I have created a suite of Accelerators is because I believe that sometimes we complicate things too much in the organization, and we run and run in circles (diagnosis, decisions, ‘sharing’) for no reason other than we have always done it that way: the slow, painful, recycling, wasteful way.
In one of our Accelerators, Reboot!, [1] participants, a management team for example, are convened with no preparation to provide answers to 12 diagnostic questions. Two of them, for example, are about finding ‘Sacred Cows’ and the ‘Elephants in the room’.
We, consistently, get the answers on the table quickly, bypassing months of brainstorming, or, even worse, painful (and expensive) Big Consulting exercises. People know what we are referring to, what we are talking about! They cut to the chase. They may disagree with the findings of the colleagues – and we will follow a process to reach an agreement – but there is little or zero problem in providing answers to the 12 diagnostic questions.
Similarly, later on (usually within a one day, sleeves up session), solutions are articulated quickly. Some times too many, and we will follow another process to settle for the core ones. It ends up with a Game Plan that has been crafted and designed by the team with immediate actions and traceable outcomes, and all with accountabilities.
Other than the obvious operational achievement that this brings to the table, people end up with a great sense of control, when they realised that it was possible to rely on their personal insights and knowledge of the organization to, unprepared, reach clarity on diagnosis, decisions and an plan to action. When this is all done in one day, the sense of achievement and self-belief is enormous. Many management teams need this boost.
Decision making, change, strategy review, team alignment, etc, can all be accelerated.
Not everything in the life of the organization can be accelerated in this way, but it’s worth knowing that the opposite is not true either. We are not condemned to long, expensive, painful and sometimes exhausting exercises and processes. Pain is inevitable, but misery is a choice.
Accelerate, if you can!