Let’s rejoin Rob’s Story from the previous post and get Rob’s perspective as they start to run the plays in the PlayBook.
I was excited to see what could be and I could feel a sense of anticipation in the company as we started executing the plays in the PlayBook. For the first time I sensed a coming together of everyone to meet a common goal (Success Number) and purpose. As always, there were a number of people on the fence waiting to see what would happen and some that were openly not engaged, but Ray assured me that would change as we showed success and commitment.
Implementing the playbook was a lot of work and had its challenges and growing pains. I would tell anyone who asked, to keep it simple and make the Success Number very achievable the first year in order to create wins. We needed to build support for what we are doing since we are making a lot of changes that need time to be accepted. We needed to focus on getting the majority on board, change how things are tracked, change meeting structure and cadence, and adjust responsibilities. Ray kept reminding me that change is hard and it takes time for everyone to trust that I am serious and committed to this change. They need to see, through my actions and behaviors, that I do want to know what they are thinking and am committed to having them take more ownership of their areas.
Ray reminded me that old habits die hard and it takes time for people to internalize change. I and many of my employees had fallen into a rut and were convinced our way was best. I was guilty of building a culture of, “Do what I tell you to do”. Now we are asking them and want them to think and consider how something could be done differently. We wonder why they do not immediately embrace this. The ruts are deep and it takes a lot of effort to stay outside the rut.
I learned that possibility thinking happened best when someone they trusted spent time with them watching how they were doing their job, asking them questions to consider, encouraging them to look at things through a different window, and encouraging them to think of improvements or another way. Getting this to happen takes time. Ray encouraged and showed me that we needed to go slow to go fast. I was becoming impatient and was ready to tell them the answer and what to do. Ray talked me down and convinced me to give it time, to keep coaching, keep asking thinking questions, and provide encouragement. He also convinced me that nothing would ever change if I always gave all the answers.
Ray helped me understand that the goal was developing our people, building a great team, and unleashing them to do amazing work. This positions us for long-term sustainable success. Success is defined by great financial results, but just as importantly, by the great team culture we are creating. We are striving to help everyone understand the big picture, their role on the team, and what they need to do for the team to be successful. We are creating an environment that encourages everyone to do amazing work.
He was right, slowly people started to look at things differently, started asking questions, and became willing to try something new. As we continued to encourage, this willingness to try increased. Everyone started to trust that they would not get in trouble if we lost some production as a result of trying new things.
