Without
Focus any speed will do. Is it better to get to the wrong place
rapidly or slowly? Too fast could disrupt your organization and place a
barrier in the way of strategic success. On the other hand, while getting to the wrong place slowly prevents the barrier from disrupting
other initiatives early on, it sucks up valuable resources to no value. It locks up your top talent and if expectations collide after a great deal of effort, it could result in Top Talent Leaving.
Many of us would be surprised to know how many times Boards of Directors, Executive Teams, and Top Leadership Initiatives fail to ask
one of the most basic questions, "What are we trying to accomplish, by when, and why?"
While it seems hard to believe that minor and major initiatives begin their work without this question being posed not only by the authority that commissioned its work but also by the team itself.
Often even if the question is asked when a new commitment is made publicly the answer is sufficiently vague so as to set up a series of expensive conflicts of expectations. Not infrequently the answer is, "we'll look into it" and "I'll take it and get back to the team." While the answer and facial expression may appear well understood by all, frequently both parties forget who made the commitment, what exactly that person actually committed to, and by when the commitment would be fulfilled.
Upon realizing this, one Executive Team instituted this question as a routine discussion every time an action was called for. The CEO and the Executive Team itself became better at identifying when the question was truly answered and when it wasn't. Together they came to expect a complete answer, meeting documentation of the commitment, and a review date scheduled into the Executive Team agenda calendar.
Sufficient agreement on the focus of an initiative or commitment is a prerequisite for accelerating collaboration and achieving desired results. A Medical Director made a commitment to a team of hospital leaders working on re-designing their Patient Flow Process, assuring them that she would align attending physician and resident morning rounds with the team's new process for discharges and bed turnover. Two weeks later, when the team asked for an update, the Medical Director simply said that she had discussed the matter with medical leadership. When the team wanted to be reassured that the medical staff was ready to go, she replied,"I committed to look into it, not guarantee a new morning-rounds regime."
Until that moment, everyone on the team had thought that nailing down the answer to such an elementary question as "what are we trying to accomplish etc." was unnecessary among professionals and insulting. the question was asked religiously from that point forward.