Pat Lencioni took the stage at the World Business Forum today with an interesting thesis: every company is "smart". Every company knows that in order to be smart they need to execute on things such as technology, finance, marketing, and strategy.
So how do smart companies differentiate from each other? Pat's answer is corporate health.
Pat's thesis is that the health of a company has a multiplicative effect on its "smartness" (thus multiplying competitive advantage). The health of a company starts at the very top: the executive team. There are four behaviors on the executive team that reflect corporate health:
- Build an maintain a cohesive leadership team.
- Create organizational clarity (leaders must have EXACT same vision in their heads)
- After #1 and #2 are achieved, OVERCOMMUNICATE the clarity
- Implement basic human systems for hiring/firing/manage/reward. Minimize bureaucracy.
Pat then went on to identify the top dysfunctions on teams and how leaders should overcome them:
- "absence of trust" can be overcome by making statements such as "I don't know the answer", or "you're smarter than I am". "Buck-naked vulnerability" can build powerful, dynamic teams.
- "fear of conflict" can be overcome by encouraging passionate debate. Be particularly sensitive to geographical attitudes towards conflict (e.g. NY vs California) in order to spur debate.
- "lack of commitment" can be overcome on teams by touching base with everyone who weighed in during a conflict, and telling them why their option was or wasn't chosen.
- "lack of enforcing peer behavioral accountability" can be overcome by pressuring team members to behave more appropriately. Behaviors precede results, so identify inappropriate behaviors right away and communicate to the team. "Don't be a wuss!"
- "inattention to results" can be overcome by looking at the team's output, making sure they are all holding each other accountable, making sure they are all committed, making sure they are engaged in passionate debate, and making sure they trust each other.
Pat actually described this technique as a ministry that improves and impacts the lives of your teammates and everyone that comes across them down the road.
Steve
