by Lee Fried, on 17 Feb 2008 02:33 pm
The Journey
Reflection During a Transition Year
As I have dicussed many times over the last couple of months we are in a transition year. The organization is moving from a system of Management by Objective (MBO) to a Strategy Deployment System (Hoshin). For all of you familiar with Strategy Deployment you know this commitment and change is far more extensive then just learning to apply a new set of tools and processes. in order to develop and deploy a strategy. Strategy Deployment is a management system that challenges traditional leadership models, leadership behaviors and probably most drastically when it is applied correctly it will it challenge the belief systems of an organization.
Strategy Deployment has a management cycle where each year the organization stops and reflects on the past activities before it sets direction for the next years. As a result each year the organization gets more focused on where it’s biggest problems and opportunities are and the causes that are associated. The focus and understanding of the organization’s business should improve each year and so should the business results.
Additionally, one of the most powerful aspects of the Strategy Deployment system is that each year senior leadership takes time to reflect and improve the management system itself. This is a powerful and unique concept that is foundational to continuous improvement. Not only do we focus on improving the results of the business, but also the means by which the results were achieved.
This year I believe this reflection is even more important then it will be in future years for our organization. Unlike in future years we will not have a years worth of data and intuition captured as a basis for us to learn and develop our next years plans. Nor will we have a years worth of leadership experience in working in this new way and practicing these new mental models. As a result, we will make more mistakes this year. Problems will seem bigger and scarier then in the past, because we will know more about them. This is why the reflection will be so important this year as we build this new management system. We need to stop often to understand why challenges are arising and to adjust. We need to capture our learning often and improve our system so that next year we don’t repeat the same mistakes.
Additionally, we need to provide an outlet for leadership to release the pressure of the challenge of this transition. This last Thursday we stopped to reflect with the senior leadership team who is wrestling with many of the challenges of this transition. The entire team is working really hard to learn and do at the same time and it can be exhausting. This reflection was an important moment for the team to stop and recognize how far we had come so quickly. And more importantly, it was a chance for the team to realize collectively that it was okay that we were making mistakes. Things were not going to be perfect and better is the focus not best. Very powerful…