(The Fifth in the Series-II of ‘The 7 Mavens of SOPs’)
By Dinesh P. Bhrushundi @ dbknowledgey
A great Hello from ᵭᵱᵬ’the मितवा’ ! ‘ᵭᵱᵬ’ is my initial and ‘मितवा’, a Marathi acronym for Friend, Philosopher and Guide, my humble attempt to ‘Sit Back and Give Back’, after 4 decades of career-cruise.
Series Title: ‘7 Mavens of SOPs’ is expression for instilling some of my learnings as “seven propositions in sets of seven SOPs (norms)”, befitting the human mental capacity and attention span.
Being part of successful transformations, for both tries and triumphs, across three different organizations, in different phases of their lifecycles and with different products each, led to the search for common-unique practices of their leaderships. The result is the figure alongside, schematic synopsis of my book idea- “7Secrets Of Alchemist” (or Pathbreaker) and the excerpts below:
Align the Aliens: Think within your mind, about a change in your routine, and your own body will alienate. Such powerful is the resistance to change. So put a proposal for change on the table and everyone except you will become an alien. To Align these Aliens is the first fierce fight for which the win needs to be secured both subtly, sensitively, and vibrantly, vociferously.
Canned to Can Do: The epidemic caused by SIMI virus (Simultaneous Interventions of Many Initiatives- mostly prolonged), in the organization inflicts state of MIDS (Multiple Initiatives Disorder Syndrome) upon its people. Their minds get kind of canned, difficult to open, and ‘Oh! No – No more’ is the only reaction to new programs. Two prong approach helps, first – clean up and consolidation of multiple intervention and second- Leadership cascade of earnest efforts to turn these ‘Canned’ minds into ‘Can Do’ minds.
Lag to Lead: Elucidating this rung by, ‘Set Lags tight to get the Leads right’, will albeit ease the dilemma of ‘if one lags how can (s)he lead’, but not eliminate it completely. What is indicated here is, looking at the mountain, mole by mole to be able to ride up the top, breaking the IMPOSSIBLE looking big goals into small ones, with each of them enticingly revealing to you that I’M POSSIBLE. Build a fishing net from threads of Lag and Lead indicators, knotted by effectiveness and efficiency measures, and the GO(A)LD fish will rather be a comfortable catch.
Teams Work-Dreams Work: Aptly positioned centrally on the ladder this is the next important mission, to commission the set of self-steering, stimulated people for streaming and submerging into different sections of sea of dreams given to them. It is sustainably substantiated that when such ‘Teams Work-Dreams Work’ into reality. Much has been there about teamwork. However, here are some additional points for pondering with potential for actions, e.g. Hierarchy of Teams; Roles of Sponsors; Purpose and life span of teams; Size and numbers of teams; Criteria, duration and maximum teams a member can participate in.
Don’t Never Look Back: With two negation making for an affirmation, this step, actually insists on looking back regularly and rigorously. It is important to step aside of the stream and look back (Review). Retrospection ascertains if initial factors at origin are same or altered; assesses if progress is on track; checks whether any doused fires are resurging and indicates course corrections, if any, are essential. This ROI, Reflection on Past, Outlook of Present and Insights for Future, augments ROI (Return On Investment) of the enterprise wide efforts for transformational triumphs.
ASK Stories: Another significant prerequisite for pathbreaker’s search for success is stimulating spirit of teams. And what else other than stories can fit the bill? But ASK Stories or TELL Stories? Of course, tell Stories of ‘ASK’ or Attitude, Skill and Knowledge. Storytelling is powerful tackle in pathbreaker’s tool-pack to build and burgeon attitudes, instill and improve skills and depict and disseminate knowledge within the people of organization.
Wandering Wonders: V.O.W, representing the Voice of Workplace, Workpieces and Working-People, plays important part in the expedition of excellence – one of the essential elements in a pathbreaker’s endeavors. Wandering around these three, formally or informally, regularly, or intermittently, by schedule or surprise, works wonder for him. He can accumulate and assimilate V.O.W into the voyage, as necessary. It helps him stay connected to ground realities and ruminations and understand the echoes and effects of his efforts across the organization.
The Pathbreakers pursuit is tough and lonely. Pursuance of this SOP with Patience and Persistence is the only Panacea. Most pathbreakers have their own set of tried and tested toolkits which will be illustrated in another article ‘The Eighth Ensemble’.
I am fortunate to feature this SOP from what I figured out of these three experiences for you to appreciate and adopt. Happy Reading.
Bestest!
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