Let’s pick up the story from Part Two with Rob as he explains what the Playbook looks like.
The next phase Lead Engage Agency took us through was the development of Our Custom Playbook. They gathered all the information generated during the assessment phase and worked with us to develop a “Success Number”. I did not fully understand the significance of this at first, but this is the single most important number when met will insure the success of our business going forward. That does not mean there are no other important goals, but it defines the one that is most important and the one that everyone needs to rally around.
What impressed me was during the assessment phase Ray had been asking everyone from the janitor to the leadership team their perspective on the biggest challenge and/or biggest opportunity the business was facing. When it came time to pick our “Success Number” we already had the input and personal stories and perspectives to guide our discussions. I was amazed at some of the insights our employees came up with. We ended up selecting a “Success Number” that reflected our most significant challenge. I will have to admit that it was something that was actually quite different from my initial perspective.
Because everyone was involved and had input into the chosen “Success Number” there was buy-in. Everyone understood why the number was selected and what it meant. I personally thought we spent too much time on this, but I see how it resulted in a high level of buy-in and support.
This next step was the “Aha” moment for me. The Success Number was defined and measurable at a business level, but not necessarily relevant at the department and employee level. I assumed, that as a leadership team, we would develop the relevant targets for the departments and others below them, but that is not what happened. Each department and the teams within the departments were asked to develop what they needed to do at their level in order to be able to meet the success number. Because I had never asked (or to be honest wanted) this level of involvement they initially all said, “We don’t know what to do, why don’t you tell us.” Ray’s response reflected his deep belief, “Why would I be so arrogant to believe I know your department and jobs better than you do.” “Let me ask some question to help you get started.” What was amazing is that once he started to ask the questions and they understood their input was required and desired it was as if the floodgates opened. They clearly had an opinion, deep knowledge, and with the discussions around the business and what was critical, they were able to define what they needed to do to achieve the success number. Next, We held a series of meetings and discussions to get clarification, deepen understanding, understand the challenges and make needed adjustments.
The end result was a deeply understood plan that defined what everyone needed to do in order for us to meet our success number for the year. And they understood it at a depth that even I had never previously achieved. I was excited to see what would happen as we began to execute the plan.
Stay tuned for next month’s Journal where we will discuss how Rob’s company did as they executed the playbook and began the planning process for the next playbook.
