The Language of Strategy 2 Execution

Successful Execution of Strategy in Japan (Part 1 of 3)2
ronald.lamb posted in Execution of Strategy, Improving S2E (Strategy to Execution), Country Experiences, Life Lessons & Execution, Learning, Knowledge Transfer on October 5th, 2006

We all learn in different ways. One approach says there are three basic learning styles:

• visual, through seeing
• aural, through listening
• feeling, through trying/ doing.

Organizational change usually requires learning something new. In achieving the desired change, the organization has to overcoming real and perceived barriers, and deal with resistance to change.

One of my biggest change management challenges was in Japan some years ago. My firm had sold Cathay Pacific Airlines an airport departure control system. It automated their passenger handling systems. It also handled many of the boring back-office activities, like aircraft weight and balance. That’s a little activity that is carried out before you take off that makes sure that choices of where the fuel, passengers, cargo and bags and stored in the aircraft don’t cause it to tip over or crush the landing gear on landing. In case you hadn’t thought about it, aircraft hit the ground pretty hard, and it is assumed that a certain amount of fuel will be burned off before you land. Otherwise the wheels/ undercarriage will get crushed. Having an aircraft tip-over or crushing the undercarriage on landing is frowned upon by most airlines.

Our firm had already installed the system, tested it and had trained the local Japanese airport staff. Unfortunately, they still reverted to manual check-in and weight/ balance of aircraft on a frequent basis. The executives from the airline started wondering if the problem was with the system. It was difficult to tell from our Amsterdam headquarters if the barriers to success were human, technical or a combination. Other highly competent engineers had gone out before me, to put things right but each time, shortly after their departure, things would fall apart.

I was called on to give it one more attempt before the customer followed through on his threat to throw the whole thing out. I was chosen because of an unusual combination of experience in airline operations, flying (as a pilot), computer hardware and software, end-user training, dealing with management issues, and also the fact that I was the new guy in the Amsterdam office.
Since there was to be no additional options if I failed, whatever I did had to deal with any and all barriers to success. That meant real and perceived barriers, both technical and human.

After three years of working in Latin America, I arrived at my new office in Amsterdam, to be shipped off three days later to Japan. I can tell you it was quite a cultural shock.

My next installment will tell you about the execution challenges that I found. The first month was one of the loneliest times I’ve ever spent, but in part three, “the solution”, I’ll tell you about how I ultimately became ‘accepted’ by the Japanese staff. I’ll explain how together we successfully executed the departure control strategy. It was much more than implementing a system. It became one of the most wonderful of experiences of my life.

The Heart of a Canadian Fish Mystery: Dead Fish in the Ottawa River1
ronald.lamb posted in Country Experiences on August 21st, 2006

It’s been about 10 days since my last post. You could call it the perfect storm, as three events came together.

1. Nature trumps Internet Access: I’ve traveled with my family to a remote spot in Ontario Canada along the Ottawa River. It’s a summer cottage that’s been in the family for about 75 years. Located at the end of a road that winds through beautiful a natural forest, there are many more animals than humans. Beaver dam up small creeks to create small lakes for their young. The call of the heron and blue jay are much more frequently heard than the sound of a telephone. The sound of children playing with friends they only see for two weeks a year is like music. We all look forward to the sandy beaches and catching up news with local cottagers we have known since birth. It’s a chance to appreciate all that we have on earth as God originally provided. Internet access is a challenge with good reason. No one wants too much civilization to arrive.
2. Where’s Technical Support When You Need Them?: Just before departing for Canada, I upgraded the software for this Blog. You can guess. It didn’t work. I lost the ability to add new posts until this morning. With limited access to the internet it has been a real challenge to get back online. Many thanks to the WordPress support, the problem ended up at the host.
3. Dead Catfish By the Hundreds: I’ve been in the middle of a mystery here on the Ottawa River. On arrival here, we started discovering scores of dead catfish washed up on our little beach. It continued for a few days with no local news reports. After having picked up over 50 dead fish on the third day of vacation, we called the local papers to alert them. Surprisingly they hadn’t heard. Reporters descended and finally the authorities started investigating. The Blog has taken a back seat as we’ve been busy keeping our children safe and happy out of the water. Yesterday was “Pirate Day” put on by the older kids for the younger ones. There were pirate costumes, pirate names, scary pirate face painting, sword fights and a hunt for buried treasure. We had a tired but happy group of little pirates by the end of the day.

It’s Hard to Get on the Same Page When Everyone Speaks a Different Language2
ronald.lamb posted in Execution of Strategy, Challenges, Relative Importance, Getting Everyone on the Same Page, Improving S2E (Strategy to Execution), Country Experiences, Tower of Babel, Glossary on August 7th, 2006

It is exceptionally difficult getting everyone on the same page to execute a strategy or high-level targeted outcome. It’s especially hard to do when the participants don’t even seem to speak the same language.

I’m Canadian and speak English as a first language. The first time I went to Scotland, I could hardly understand a thing they said, even though we both spoke English. My father’s side of the family originally comes from Scotland, so I somehow thought that it wouldn’t be that difficult. It was.

While I was living in Amsterdam we had a receptionist, Rhona, from Glasgow Scotland. Clients from countries all over the world would call and she was the first person they would speak to. She had the most beautiful voice you’ve ever heard [What I wouldn’t do to figure out how to find Rhona and put a clip of her voice in here for you]. Anyone who didn’t speak English as a first language had a hard time understanding her. We thought of giving her a different job, but never did. Whenever she was away, clients said they hoped she would return soon. They looked forward to her laughter and the lilt of her voice as she tried to figure out who they were and wanted to speak to.

Few of us have such beautiful voices that other people, whose first language is not the same as our own, will take the time to try to understand us. The same is true in organizations.

Businesses slot people into units that have areas of market focus or skills like finance, sales, engineering etc. It is the same for Universities, Governments and other organizations. Each organizational unit speaks its own language. Their language includes their acronyms, processes and even the personal incentives that shape their behaviors.

Each organizational unit emphasizes their differences to demonstrate their area of expertise. We often use the term ‘silos’ when we talk about groups within the same organizational. They are the vertical hierarchies that have a high level of separation and uniqueness of skill and language. These differences make communications between silos very difficult.

How did this all come about? There actually is an origin with the problem and it goes back before Henry Ford started the automated factory. In fact, according to the Bible it goes back to the Story of the Tower of Babel. It seems it was all the fault of the Babylonians.

At the time we were all descended from Noah and spoke the same language. The people of Babylon started constructing a building that would reach all the way up to heaven. Talk about being upset. God was so put out that he came up with a really inspired punishment for mankind. He made everyone start speaking different languages. You can imagine that it became impossible for anyone to work together. They could no longer finish building the tower. This is the origin of the word ‘babbling’. Now you know why you can never understand engineers. There are wonderful paintings of artists’ ideas about of all the crazy building problems that occurred.

I’m an engineer and apologize on behalf of all other engineers for speaking in ways that most people can’t understand. Who is going to speak up and apologize on behalf of doctors, accountants or lawyers?

To this day we are still trying to construct towers of Babel for our organization. It appears that we’re still suffering for the Babylonian’s mistake. Attempts by countless managers over the past hundred years haven’t helped much us get on the same page, to understand each other. Many organizations seem to have given up entirely trying to get their people on the same page.

A level of commitment is required for those organizations that truly want to get everyone on the same page. If there is commitment, then there are a few ideas that do seem to significantly improve the ability for different groups to work together on execution. Most surveys would put place getting everyone on the same page at the top of the list for enabling successful execution. Let’s start there.

You have to start being more precise in your language about what common execution words actually mean. It isn’t that difficult if you start with this small set of words and phrases. Just try be very consistent in their use. Here are the most important three words to use with a consistent meaning:

1. Outcome
2. Relative Importance
3. Initiative or Project

Three Quick Ideas for How to Get People on the Same Page with these Words:

1. Draft up an Outcomes Roadmap before or During Discussions

Draft a picture that on the right side of the page shows the highest-level common outcome. Working from right to left, draw the interim outcomes necessary to achieve the outcome above it. Use a sufficient level of detail to make who you’re talking to comfortable that the outcomes they are interested are also included.

Creating it together increases shared ownership of the outcome roadmap. The outcome descriptions should be in language that everyone understands. Use it again and again as the basis of ongoing conversation as things change.

2. Talk about Relative Importance instead of Priorities

No one has enough resources to plan and execute every initiative that is likely to be identified. Use the roadmap to gain agreement on the relative importance of the outcomes. For example, there may be three interim outcomes necessary to achieve the next highest outcome. Decide together what the relative importance is of each of the interim outcomes. Which are relatively more important to achieving the next highest-level outcome? This way you don’t have three outcomes all high priority. Each one is relatively more or less important than the others.

3. Talk about Outcomes before Initiatives or Projects

Talk about targeted outcomes before diving into the projects designed to achieve them. Outcomes tend to have descriptions that everyone can understand rather than unit specific jargon that initiatives tend to be described with. The previously shared understanding of outcomes increases shared understanding of initiatives.

Just using these three ideas will move you much further toward getting everyone on the same page. This is a great step forward in achieving increased success in execution.

Curling in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) Africa circa 19823
ronald.lamb posted in Execution of Strategy, Country Experiences, Life Lessons & Execution on July 31st, 2006

This the second installment sharing a personal work experience having worked in over 45 countries. One picture that keeps coming back to me is about execution in the Cote d’Ivoire. (Don’t worry, no one dies).

I was a project manager for Raytheon in the early 1980’s. The airport manager for Air Afrique in the Ivory Coast was one of my clients. I spent about 3 months installing an airport departure control system for their main airport. French is the local language, which I spoke well, but with a limited vocabulary. But, one day my language skills completely failed me. My client also owned a restaurant and part of the deal was that I would eat all evening meals there. This particular evening there were a large number of French colleagues, their wives and my host. We were having a wonderful time, and with a few glasses of wine, my French was almost fluent. I was excited to tell them that I’d made the most fantastic discovery that day. There was Curling in Abidjan.

The Intercontinental Hotel had connected to it, a skating rink. I was told that, at that time, it was the only skating rink in all of Africa. Not only that, but it also had markings under the ice for Curling! Every second Tuesday a group of expats gathered and played curling. Beyond that, I was at a loss how to explain the game in French. There was no other option. With great excitement I invited my dinner table to come to the next curling bonspiel two weeks hence.

Here is what the Duluth Curling Club says about curling: “The strategy of positioning rocks as the end develops is extremely subtle, and is what makes curling a lifelong obsession for some people. It has been called “chess on ice”. … Above all else, curling is game of skillful execution of strategy.” That’s right Curling is a game of skillful execution of strategy. I hadn’t known that my years of curling in my teens would be a foreshadowing of my life work!

I had a trip back to Amsterdam, where I was living, and secured the right footgear for my grand entry into the world of African curling. I arrived at the rink duly attired and was made Skip of my team of four, which meant I was the last to throw a rock. (see the photo). I’m sure that I had an audience of fifty locals and expats. Many of them were ready with cameras to capture my first rock thrown in Africa. I have to say that I was excited and confident of my skills. Six other players each threw two rocks before it was my turn. As skip, I had demonstrated my strategic abilities and had created a difficult situation for my competing skip. It was now my turn to execute. I made my way with great speed, and elegance down the ice, pushing with one foot and sliding with the other.
As I prepared to squat down into the “hack” to take my shot, I took one last look at my audience before squatting down to execute, to throw my stone, and achieve our team’s strategy.

The next thing I heard was roaring laughter. As I had squatted down to take my first shot, my pants split with a great ripping sound. If you look at the photo, you can actually see a small sliver of white in a strategic location. That is where a cool breeze confirmed what had just happened. There was nothing to do about it, except continue playing amid the flashing of the cameras my friends had all brought. You might have even seen the reflection of my red face in the ice that day.

Curling; it’s all about strategy and execution. Sometimes execution takes some unusual turns. As far as I know they’re still playing curling in Abidjan.

Mexico: Have you ever been to Acapulco? Do you know how to drive a stick shift?0
ronald.lamb posted in Country Experiences, Life Lessons & Execution on July 16th, 2006

This is the first of a number of personal stories that I’m going to share in this Blog. I’ll look for links to execution, but in large, they’re going to be about the wonderful experiences that I’ve had working around the world over the past 30 years.

By a set of coincidences, my first job after university was working for Raytheon in the airline industry. I caught the airline industry bug and loved the life that it offered. For many years I traveled, worked and lived all over the world. I’ve long since expanded my work experience beyond the travel industry, but it was my ticket to the world. At last count I’ve worked or lived in over 45 countries.

One of the most generous work experiences I ever had occurred very early in my working career. It had a major impact on the way I treated my customers/clients and as a result how they were able to execute.

I was working as a customer engineer for Raytheon in Mexico City. We were automating airports and reservation systems across the country for AeroMéxico and Mexicana Airlines. I was just about to step into the twilight zone of ultimate customer experience.

As part of this Blog, I thought it would be fun to let you get to know some of the wonderful people I’ve met all over the world. They’ve had a profound affect on my insights into the execution of strategy. I’ve met some wild people and been in a number of tight spots too as wars started or insurgencies boiled over.

Acapulco Mexico

It was 1976, I was 22 years old, and had just flown in to Acapulco from Mexico City to fix some sort of computer problem at the airport. It is no small thing to have the check-in system for the main airline in Acapulco to stop working. I managed to get it going fairly quickly and was finished by about 5 pm. The airport manager, a cosmopolitan looking man about 35 was very relieved. As the chaos started to recede he asked what my plans were. It was a Friday and I’d left straight from the office to the airport with just what I was wearing. I had just planned on taking the next flight back to Mexico City.

I’d just started with Raytheon and this had been one of my first jobs as a customer service engineer. Hearing that, he told me that there was no way that I was leaving that evening without him having the chance to thank me. He insisted on taking me out on the town that evening. It was to be a welcome to AeroMéxico, who was to be my main client for the next few years. Now I have to say, I’d never met him before, and this was one of my first business trips anywhere with my new job with Raytheon. I thought what a nice welcome. I was pretty dirty from having worked on their computer (they were open to the elements in those days), so wasn’t sure what to do between 5 pm and when he would meet me. In Acapulco, going out for the evening means starting at 11 pm at the earliest.

He must have seen my blank look and his face brightened! “Ah, that’s right, it’s Friday, and there won’t be any hotel rooms in town (Acapulco) tonight or tomorrow. I can see your problem”. He took out a business card and just wrote on the back of it. “Please look after Sr. Lamb”, and then his signature. He then told me to go to one of the biggest luxurious hotels in Acapulco and show them the card.

As I looked at the card I tried to imagine as a 22 year old, going to one of the most expensive hotels in Acapulco. I knew there would be no rooms, and they would cost more than I had. I was to show them the card and had no idea what would occur. He then brightened again and said, “You don’t have a car do you”? Of course I didn’t. He said, “You know this is Friday, there won’t be a single car available to rent to get into central Acapulco”. It was about a 40 minute drive along a windy coastal road in those days. “Can you drive a stick shift”? I could, but had no idea where the conversation was going. He reached into his pockets and threw me the keys to his car. “Here, take mine, I’ll get a ride in with one of the other employees later. Show the card to the hotel check-in desk and they’ll find you one of the ‘non-existent’ rooms and give you an airline employee discount. Take the card to the gift shop and get some clothes for going out, and get a bathing suit and enjoy the pool”. He then headed back to the chaos that was now receding and I headed off along the windy road in his Volkswagen Beetle. All of this and he’d never met me before. I finally made it around one last curve between the coastal mountains and Acapulco Bay to see the skyline of fancy hotels. Boy was I elated.

Everything occurred as he said. I got a room immediately like I was their most important customer. I got some clothes at the gift shop with a steep airline employee discount. There was a message waiting for me that he had to go home first and would meet me later at one of Acapulco’s famous discos. I arrived there to see a long line of the rich and famous. I was again to use his business card with his short introduction on the back. I made my way nervously towards a big tough looking guard at the door, who looked at me, a gringo, with a stern look. He took the card and twisted it around in his huge hands. He looked back at me and you might have imagined that we were long lost cousins for the way he greeted me and ushered me in. I was pretty much in shock at what had been happening for the past few hours. He arrived an hour later and we had a wonderful time. It seemed every beautiful woman at that disco knew him and wanted to stop by and say hello.

I was pretty shy at the time, but have to say that as a young Canadian, just starting a new job, in a new country, with no girlfriend at the time, things were looking up.

p.s. Was my job in Mexico like this all the time? I have to say that in retrospect that was just the beginning of a wonderful ride.

Did this experience affect the way that I treated AeroMéxico as a client? You bet it did.

I would do anything at any time to day or night to make them happy. As a customer, you too can have an incredible impact on the way your vendors or partners treat you. Is that important in execution? There is no question that I ran faster, tried harder and didn’t give up on the toughest problems that occurred while AeroMéxico was my customer. As a result they were able to execute and achieve their targeted customer outcomes. And I loved just about every minute.

I had many exceptional experiences while living in Mexico and some really terrible ones. It’s interesting as I reflect on it. The really terrible experiences were actually most often with foreigners who were also living in Mexico at the time. I can say that I came to truly love Mexico, its people, its culture and will always have a special connection to it. My wife and I consider the possibility of retiring there.

My plan is to use Sundays as a time to write a story about a different country and how it has affected my thoughts on execution. They won’t always be as happy as this one. I’ve been in some pretty scary places too and plan to share those experiences too.