Focus Is Nothing Without This
Focus Is Nothing Without This
Everyone needs to know how their actions fit into the bigger picture
“Vision without execution is hallucination.” — Thomas Edison
In my previous newsletter, I wrote about the importance of building focus into your strategy.
As I was reflecting on it, I recalled the words Alan Mulally used to say to us over and over: “the most important thing is to have a compelling vision.”
He was right: without a vision, you’re rudderless. Focus without direction is useless.
Read it here:
But when you provide that vision—that direction—you need to be clear about how everyone’s actions and efforts fit together. Otherwise, you get lots of movement — perhaps in the same general direction — but not always in coordination or along the same vector.
I’ll give you an example.
If you’re anything like me, you probably think of utility companies in two instances: when you lose power and when your bill is due. Electricity and water are supposed to be reliable and an accepted part of life.
When you look at power company websites, their marketing usually indicates how they want to give you a warm fuzzy feeling: with their reliable service, offering financial assistance when you have trouble with your bills, and perhaps even making your community a better place.
But I’m reminded of my utility company a little more frequently. Every weekday, I’m pained by a sight along the side of the road as I drive my kids to school.
Many of the back roads in our town and adjacent ones are lined with trees that are encroaching on power lines. It’s not an unfamiliar sight; I’m sure you’ve seen something like this as well.
I don’t know exactly what the mandate from the power company is, but I think it must be something like “Trim the trees back so they don’t grow into the power lines.”
Simple enough.
Whether the power company hires tree surgeons or simply trusts the linesmen to cut the trees away from the power lines, I can’t say. But based on the results, I can say this: linesmen aren’t tree surgeons, just as tree surgeons aren’t electricians.
When you look closely, as with the photos above, you might think, “They did their job. The lines are clear.”
But when you zoom out and literally look at the bigger picture, it leaves us with an eyesore — an ugly mutant tree that looks like it belongs in a Dr. Seuss book or a dystopian post-nuclear story.
The linesman who did the trimming may look at it and say, “Hey, I did my job. The tree isn’t going to interfere with the power line now.”
But he hasn’t embraced that wider vision of making the community a better place. He hasn’t looked at the trees as anything other than a hindrance, while the neighborhood may look at them as beautiful things that provide shade.
This is literally about not being able to see the forest for the trees.
A few weeks ago, they were at it again. You would think that the winter months would give them a chance to see just how drastically they trimmed things back:
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what “I was just doing what I was told” looks like.
It’s reminiscent of an ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant.
If you’re not familiar with the story, it goes like this:
A group of blind men heard that a strange creature called an elephant has been brought to their town. They had no idea what an elephant was, so they said they'd like to touch it in order to satisfy their curiosity.
The first man felt the trunk and said, “This animal is like a thick snake.” The second man, whose hand was upon its leg, said, “It is a pillar like a tree-trunk.” and the third, who placed his hand on the side of the elephant sad, “It is a wall.” Another felt its tail and said “It is a rope,” and the last felt its tusks and determined “It is sharp and smooth like a spear.”
Individually, they were each right, but in sum, an elephant is all of those things, and more.
The story shows that we have a tendency to claim absolute truth based on our limited, subjective experience and that we tend to ignore other people’s limited, subjective experiences which may be equally true.
As a leader, it’s your job to help your people understand the importance of what they do and how it ties back to the compelling vision that you set forth. That includes constantly communicating that vision and plan, with tangible progress so they can see the effects.
Are the lines clear of encroaching trunks and branches? Sure.
Do the trimmed trees contribute to a beautiful neighborhood and ensuring our community is something we can be proud of?
That shouldn’t be subjective.
After all, it's not brain surgery.
There’s so much to learn,
