The Oyster, the Grain of Sand, and the Pearl

It’s funny how a metaphor suddenly appears and yet is so obvious you wonder what took you so long to see it.

Over the last month, I’ve taken to joking that the name of my consulting firm should be changed to Oyster Consulting, because “We’re the grain of sand that irritates the hell out of everyone, but when we’re done, you’ve got a pearl.”

It’s amazing how true that is. 

Significant strategic change is never easy.  People resist, no matter how clear it is that the change is needed and it’s the right thing to do.  People are more comfortable with the Status Quo.

And because of that, change won’t happen without getting people out of their comfort zone. It is only then that people will be willing to move in the new direction.  Thus, the need for that grain of sand.  That grain of sand is so irritating, it makes people uncomfortable – uncomfortable enough to change.

Being the grain of sand from within an organization is career threatening.  Once the process is done, people won’t remember the benefit you delivered – they’ll just remember that you were really irritating.  That’s why bringing in the grain of sand from outside can be so valuable.  That outside grain can help irritate people, make change happen, and then leave. All that’s left behind is that beautiful pearl.

Taking A Sharp Curve

You see it all the time. Companies that are great at running their business suddenly have something big go wrong.  The examples are endless:  System implementation failures, new product introductions gone wrong, an acquisition integration botched, an expansion plan scuttled.  But why? 

Consider….

Companies spend most of their time racing down a straight line. They hire managers that are excellent at keeping things going in the right direction, making adjustments along the way.  They’ll even pick up speed, keeping their eye on the ball, working hard at accomplishing their goals. They’re good at it. 

But every so often, a company has to take a curve.  Sometimes by choice, more often pushed by conditions outside its control.  Not a little curve or a slight change, but a major-league, ninety-degree plus curve.   And that’s the problem.

Most companies are really bad at the sharp curves.  They don’t happen often.  They haven’t been built for them.  The management team isn’t skilled at navigating them.   So they struggle.  Eventually most get through the curve, but it takes much longer and costs a lot more than planned.  Sometimes they fail completely. 

Helping companies take the sharp curves.

Successful Strategy Execution uses a structured and disciplined process, strong sponsorship, a thorough understanding of execution risks, and a tool kit of tactics to mitigate those risks.  The right Strategy Execution approach enables companies to realize the goals of their most important initiatives on time and within budget.  

Use a specialist.  It’s all we do.  What looks like a sharp curve to you is our straightaway.  We’ll get you through it fast and efficiently and then leave you to do what you’re really good at – running the company, fast and strong, down a straight line. 

An Unexpected Change of Plans

It was yesterday, Saturday afternoon, about five p.m.  My wife and I had a date last night.  It had been a very busy and stressful week.  Her mother had had foot surgery - not "major" in the sense of life-threatening, but certainly significant.  She was still in the hospital, recovering.  Our youngest had been dealing with exams all week (not exactly pleasant around the house!); I was scrambling to juggle several work challenges.  So I was truly looking forward to our date.

At about 5:30, my wife came downstairs and said, "My mom has had a really bad day.  I've got to go out and see her.  I'll be back in about an hour."  An hour came and went.  At 7:00 pm, I got a text message: "I'm going to have to stay with her tonight.  Please bring me out some dinner later."

No!  I texted her back: "You're kidding, right?"  We had a brief exchange, and it was clear.  She wasn't kidding, she was going to spend the evening at the hospital with her mother, our date was off.  No!  I was so looking forward to our date.  I had worked so hard all day and all week.  I had made special plans for us.

After about 15 minutes, my mood changed.  I was furious!  I slammed around the house, told the girls we needed to go get something to eat, and to take two cars because one of us was going to have to take things out to mom.  My eldest helped pull together her mom's overnight things, and, still fuming, we headed out to dinner.

We ordered Mom's dinner and started to chat about how to deal with the evening.  I thought that, perhaps, I could go out to the hospital and spend some time there.  Then I remembered that I had promised to clean carpets in a couple of rooms before guests came tomorrow.  Well, I could do that tonight and my daughter could take the food and clothes to mom.  That would work - we'd all get to do something needed, and I'd get something done unexpectedly early in the process.

But I still wasn't happy.  In fact, I was downright moody and grumpy.  It looked like something productive was going to come out of the evening, but I still wasn't happy.

We finished dinner and headed off in our different directions.  It felt like things might work out.  Not exactly as initially planned but, you know, okay.  I got the carpet cleaning equipment, did my work, and, all in all, dealt reasonably well with our unexpected change of plans.

This morning, it hit me. I had experienced a classic case of "Negative Resistance to Change."  Shock, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Testing, and Acceptance.  All within a two hour period.  (I must acknowledge, as always, that much of my Change Management training came via Daryl Conner, author of "Managing at the Speed of Change."  This model is discussed in detail in his book.  In turn, it is closely related, literally, to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's classic "Stages of Grief" model.  Daryl and Dr. Kubler-Ross collaborated at one point.  In my own defense, I have developed a few ideas things of my own along the way.)

My change was relatively minor, and so I traveled the various stages quite quickly.  The bigger the change, the more negative the perception, the longer it takes to reach acceptance.

No matter how long you have been doing something, it's nice to get reassurance that you're doing it right.  I had that happen last night - and it was completely outside a business context.

Time is the Enemy

One of the hardest lessons to learn in our connected age is to do something, rather than nothing.  This blog is a perfect example.

I won't speak for anyone else (as my wife is the exact opposite of me), but here are some of my weaknesses:

1. Analysis Paralysis - It's so easy to get data these days, and then let the data overwhelm.  It's a skill to identify what's important, pay attention to it, and discard all else
   
   
2. Demanding Perfection - When I was in school, I learned that a '95' was a great grade, but '100' was better.  Getting '100' got me a lot of positive reinforcement - so there's a tendency to try to get '100s'. That's very bad.  This issue has been noted succinctly as "Don't let the Perfect by the enemy of the Good (enough)."  It's very true.  Getting something good accomplished is far more important and beneficial than planning something great that never gets done.
   
   
3. Losing Site of Priorities - What's more important - Delivering for a client or answering email?  Drafting a blog or reviewing LinkedIn?  The first question is easy (isn't it?); the second not as much. When time is the most valuable currency, it must be spent (and saved) wisely.  I need to make sure I focus on what's important now (because it does change, depending on time and circumstances).  Are you familiar with the Agile Development Methodology?  In a lot of ways, one needs to learn to live life like that - get the most important things done first, then go to the next.  Periodically re-rank.  Continue and repeat.
   
   
4. More is Less -  Be brief.  When you can make the point in three words vs. thirty, do it.  Yes, it's hard.  When one has a tendency to verbosity (hmm, who could that be?), it's very hard.  But keeping it brief and clear has tremendous value.

And that's it for today.  Get it done, Make it Good (enough), Don't let it get in the way of more important priorities, and be brief.  Okay?