Barrier:
Fast Cycle Teamwork: revving up our communication, collaboration and coordination as a team

By Mike Richardson - Pioneering Agility Expert, Author, Speaker & Facilitator; CEO Mentor/Coach/Peer-Advisory-Group Chair & Resource Speaker at Sherpa Alliance & Vistage International

October 31, 2010 at 7:51am

collaboration

building teams

culture

coordinating activities

operations

Moonshots

Make direction setting bottom-up and outside-in

Disaggregate the organization

Build "natural", flexible hierarchies

Summary

Agility requires us to rev up the frequency of our communication, collaboration and coordination as a team. As the world continues to rev up, we must rev up with it, to handle the dynamic complexity coming at us thicker and faster. Strangely, in my experience, when things get busier, the stakes get higher and the crises threaten to wash over us, many CEOs, executives and managers let their communication, collaboration and coordination as a team decelerate, not accelerate. Meetings get cancelled, become more ad-hoc and go more open loop, because, “we don’t have time”. Wrong answer! When crisis increases, it’s time for crisis management to increase! This is one of the challenges I identify in my hack, In the Driving Seat of Organizational Agility: translating strategy and execution into traction in turbulent times.

Description

Our agility as an organization is being tested these days like never before, at every phase of the economic cycle – on the way into a recession, as we find bottom during a recession, on the way out of a recession and in the next phase of growth . Our emergence from recession, no matter how gradually and progressively it happens, will test our agility once again, at least if we want to exploit the opportunity to ratchet our business to the next level at the expense of our competitors. Are you ready, willing and able?

Fast-cycle teamwork is at the core of our organizational agility, for which we need to rev up the frequency of our communication, collaboration and coordination as a team.

Illustration

Fighter pilots implicitly understand this, as they are trained on something called the OODA Loop:

The Fighter Pilot’s OODA Loop

Observe: Observing what’s going on around us, using all the senses, to be sustain our situational awareness.
Orient: Interpreting what we are observing – what just happened, what’s happening now and, most importantly, what’s likely to happen next.
Decide: in that context, deciding what we our options are and what we are going to do.
Act: acting on those decisions.

And so on, around and around – in rapidly changing circumstances the OODA Loop persists endlessly. We invest so heavily in the experiential training of our fighter pilots, so that they can progressively shrink their OODA Loop to operate inside their adversary’s OODA Loop. When heading into a dogfight, which might last as little as 40 seconds, the pilot with the smaller OODA Loop can go around theirs faster and, as a result, is more likely to get on the other pilot’s tail first. This theory and model was developed by John R. Boyd, as reported in the May 31st 2002 Fast Company article entitled, "The Strategy of the Fighter Pilot" and see video in the "Materials" section below.

In his article, "The Strategy of the Fighter Pilot" (Fast Company Magazine, may 31st 2002) Keith Hammonds goes on to say, "Business is a dogfight. Your job as a leader: outmaneuver the competition, respond decisively to fast changing conditions , and defeat your rivals. Agility is the essence of strategy in war and in business. Connect vibrant OODA loops that are operating concurrently at several levels. Workers close to the action stick to tactical loops, and their supervisors travel in operational loops, while leaders navigate much broader strategic and political loops. The loops inform each other. If everything is clicking, feedback from the tactical loops will guide decisions at higher loops and vice versa”.

Our organizational OODA Loop is made up of component OODA Loops, each of which is informing the other and each of which is a constant process of feed-forward and feed-back.

Root Causes

Our problem in business is that the increasing uncertainty, turbulence and volatility of the global economy has become our number one adversary, with a rapidly shrinking OODA Loop. If we aren’t keeping up, by shrinking our organizational OODA Loop, then we shouldn’t be surprised if we aren’t winning the daily dogfight!

So, what have you done lately to massively shrink your organizational OODA Loop, to be operating inside your adversary’s OODA loop? That's the question I love to challenge managers, executives and CEOs with. Normally, in response, I get blank stares!

Solution

That's what my work is about. Helping businesses shrink their organizational OODA Loop at the core of their organizational agility.

Amongst many other things, the number one the number one proven technique I recommend: Hold a Morning Meeting (or Daily Huddle at some other time of day if that works better):

This is a daily, rapid-fire, communication, collaboration and coordination meeting of your top team, for up to 30 minutes maximum, triaging what’s-hot and what’s-not and closing the loop on open-items from prior days. Given the speed of business, the pace of change and the uncertainty, turbulence and volatility of things these days, managing our attention span has become much more like an ongoing, dynamic process of triage (triage: the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors; the sorting of patients (as in an emergency room) according to the urgency of their need for care. Source: Wikipedia)
Fighter pilots pre-brief and de-brief every mission. A morning meeting is your opportunity to debrief yesterday’s mission and pre-brief today’s mission, for winning the daily dogfight.
In his book, Death by Meeting, Patrick Lencioni recommends a daily check-in. He breaks the myth of “too many meetings”, asserting that good meetings are not time-consumers but are time-savers.
A recent business-week article reported that Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, holds daily meetings of his global team. "When Mulally first instituted the weekly Business Plan Review system, it was viewed not only as a pain in the neck but also like playing poker with all you cards showing. In November [2008] Mulally decided that the dire business conditions, and Ford’s new ability to react to rapidly changing circumstances, warranted daily meetings with the global team. Insiders say these led Ford to strike a new deal with the union or retiree health care before GM and Chrysler, and helped it price discounts and boost market share four months in a row". BusinessWeek Magazine (Ford’s Savior, March 16th, 2009). That’s the CEO of a $100+Bn corporation, holding a daily meeting of his global team, which has helped Ford weather the storm better than GM and Chrysler.
In his book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, Verne Harnish recommends that every employee be in some kind of daily huddle. He goes further and asserts that there should be a cascade of daily huddles, from senior management to frontline or vice versa. That’s about having vibrant OODA loops at every level, with each informing the other.

This technique is embedded in the second of my higher order executive strengths of journey orientation (outlined in my hack, In the Driving Seat of Organizational Agility: translating strategy and execution into traction in turbulent times.), namely, "Executive Intelligence, Intuition & Resilience" and understanding the dynamic complexity anatomy of a journey and how it unfolds real-time. As I briefly touch on in my hack, I help teams develop a micro, granular understanding of how we link and accumulate the traction “ions” of a journey (individual thoughts/cognitions, questions, decisions and actions) - that's what I call the "work" of leadership and manageement these days, as a constant loop of feed-foward and feed-back in this "linking and accumulating process".

Videos

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November 2, 2010 at 7:16pm

Ellen Weber

You articulate well here, what many face on a daily basis, Mike, and it’s an honor to read your thoughtful considerations in response. While complexity increases in our organizations, in some ways it is also a refreshing opportunity to reconsider flaws in the system. You have done it especially well here, and your daily huddles open wide window for change and growth. Bravo!

Do you really want to “win a daily dogfight” here though Mike? J

I liked the idea of your daily meeting, and especially valued the format you laid out so well. But if I attended your meeting, I’d be more interested in building with people on the other side, and learning skills from those who differ from me. I’d want the facilitator to guide talents to the top and prevent redundancy or venting from crippling the process. I’d be interested in getting an agenda ahead, and having the chance to impact it before the session. I’d like to see people valued for their risks, and innovation rewarded in process.

Since research shows that most meetings don’t work well, Mike, it would be fun to see how yours will differ in content and in course of action. Again thanks for zooming in on a key topic and showcasing possibilities for innovative initiatives, Mike! I read with keen interest.

November 3, 2010 at 8:43am

Mike Richardson

Thanks Ellen - great pleasure to make your acquaintance and I look forward very much to following your work, which looks especially intriguing/inspiring. You've got me thinking and I will repond more fully at the weekend, but wanted to seek some quick clarification to your comment of, "do you really want to "win a daily dogfight" here though" as I'm not clear - by "here" do you mean as it relates to the topic of my barrier (meetings etc) or by "here" do you mean at the MIX? Would appreciate some additional gudance so I am thinking down the right avenues. Thanks again.

November 3, 2010 at 2:06pm

Ellen Weber

Great question Mike, and it reminds me how inadequate is the language we communicatiuon at times:-) Thanks for giving me opporttunity to unpack it further by your thoughtful question:-) Great stuff! Was referring to here in the wonderful scenario of your barrier itself - should it roll into novel solutions at any workplace. In my own innovative dreams I see amazing integration and diversity - where I spotted dogfights in rather toxic workplaces at times in past, settings without innovation on the radar:-)

First, let me say Mike, that I marked this work both "Fundamental" and "Profound," simply because I sense it is at the peaks in both. Second, it intrigues me to see the insights and suggestions for growth here in your work. Love the innovation drive and opportunities for growth in it, and reading it made me grateful to be part of the MIX where folks build on ideas - and offer further possibilities:-) Stay blessed.

November 6, 2010 at 2:12pm

Mike Richardson

Thank you so much Ellen for your encouragement and appreciation of my quest to crack the code of organizational agility at its core - I am truly honored to have anything of mine expressed as being at the peaks of fundamental and profoud - and that is my quest, to get at the core, fundemental, profound way to unlock organizational agility. In most businesses I experience, it is somehow gridlocked, in a knotted tangle, held in jail and managers, executives and CEOs are serving a life sentence, if they aren't careful. So my work is about helping them launch a jail break, unknotting the tangle and unlocking the gridlock.

I ran a morning meeting in every business I ever ran and would do so again, without a moment's thought, regardless of size, shape or situation (high growth or turnaround) - if I got recruited today to run a business starting tomorrow as day 1, from day 2 onwards we would be holding morning meetings, every day, forever! I know that it is at the core of organizational agility and is the fastest, most effective and efficient way I can move the needle and everything else can radiate/flow from there. I think Raj has it right in his Nov 4th comment to my hack entitled, "In the Driving Seat of Organizational Agility: translating strategy and execution into traction in turbulent times", in which he lays out the different purposes/values of sharing Feedback, referencing you also. The morning meeting is a fast-cycle peer group process of feedback which, when run well, achieves the multi dimensional purposes/values Raj speaks of. It was my daily opportunity to set the tone, to engender trust, create freedom of expression, risk taking and innovation. All in best service of our journey as a team, organization and business, linking and accumulating our thinking, questions, decisions and actions into traction on our desired trajectory/path, avoiding the vulnerabilities that I speak of in my "In the Driving Seat" hack (my Eastern Airlines story, for instance). When we got it right, we mastered dynamic complexity and chose our future. When we got it wrong, dynamic complexity mastered up and our future chose us!

I oftern get asked (and if I don't, I ask it of the audience) if a morning meeting is "micro-management", to which i asnwer that it depends upon the questiions you ask. If I ask, "did you do it the way I told you to do it" and "why did you do it that way and not this way" etc etc etc that's micro-management. If I ask, "what other help and support do you need", "who else has something which he/she should be thinking about or questioning" and "what are we missing/not thinking of" etc etc etc than that's breakthrough leadership. And my job as chair of the meeting is to make it as much of a peer group process as possible for "synchronization" in all directions.

Actually, there is a standing agenda, kind of - a running order of say, Sales & Marketing, Projects, Product Development, Customer Service, Finance and the a round-robin. Open items are captured in all kinds of ways (maybe electrronically in an Open Items List kind of document or spreadsheet or I have done it on a white-baord or just white post-cards, which I clip together and hang on a hook at the end of the meeting!) for loop closure but there are no minutes - participants are expected to keep their own notes and come prepared to every meeting to report back, speak up and drive the fast-cycle communication, collaboration and coordination we are looking for. When we fail, we suffer Eastern Airlines scenarios with our business (in some way shape or form) and when we succeed we don't. Its the difference between inviting bad-luck or good-luck into our journey and lives. I will add more details/ideas to this "barrier" as and when I can to elaborate further.

November 18, 2010 at 11:41am

Kristin San Martin

Such a timely article for me as my team, in a struggle to remain agile, has become TOO responsive as of late. When we fail at the Observe and Orient stages we end up making incorrect decisions, or making decisions and taking actions where "watch and wait" is a better option in the moment.

On another note, I have experienced the benefits of the "daily check in" (a tremendous tool) but typically use it with that frequency when a hot issue or urgent, short term goal is on our radar. I continue to challenge myself and my team to commit to the frequent, brief check-ins to keep everyone plugged in.

Grear article!

November 18, 2010 at 12:56pm

Mike Richardson

Thank you Kristin - yes, when our OODA Loop goes open loop, or becomes larger and more lethargic, we are at risk of losing the daily dogfight, or the weekly dogfight or the monthly dogfight etc. Staying closed looped with the re-observation (what are we seeing/hearing/noticing which is different and relavant?) and re-orientation (how do we interpret what has changed and what does it mean to us?) is crucial. Otherwise, we can become busy fools real fast. Thanks again.

November 18, 2010 at 11:45am

John Hillard

Over the last 12 months ... in the heat of battles on many fronts ... we have lost discipline and gotten out of the habit of our regular morning status meetings. Your article is a great encouragement to "huddle" up again.

Thanks

November 18, 2010 at 1:01pm

Mike Richardson

Thank you John - yes, when done well, my experience is that these meetings are time-savers, not time-consumers. Indeed, not just time-savers but stress-savers, money-savers and sometimes life-savers. Thanks again. Best.

November 18, 2010 at 11:55am

shaun alger

Watching CNBC this morning, and newscasters "chirping" about GM offering. I prefer Ford. and Ford wins because CEO Alan Mulally has a one page plan and daily Huddle across the international biz. our small company and small team has been working from home more lately, and with the holiday's noticed the sense of urgency/intensity waning. ok when everything on course and smooth. but we are in triage mode. that requires being on site, in the muck, shoulder to shoulder wth the team where you can taste it, smell it, touch and feel it. communication is only 7% words. the rest is non-verbal. even the best video conferencing can't capture! love your ideas, mike! will use them TODAY!

November 18, 2010 at 1:08pm

Mike Richardson

Thank you Shaun - yes, its easy to fall into the complacency that everything is under control. In my experience, it typically means we aren't digging deep enough or looking forward far enough or being productively paranoid enough. Thanks again.

November 18, 2010 at 9:10pm

Mark Neilson

Mike seems to have it dead on - CEO's need to RISE during times of intense challenge within the organization vs. the tendency to SINK into the hands-on aspects of mgmt triage. This is probably why so many organizations struggle thru the storms because their leaders are working IN the business (pulling back to their roots) instead of ON the business (what leaders shold be doing).

Mike / thanks for the reminders about what TRUE leadership is about - and what it is NOT about.

November 22, 2010 at 11:46am

Mike Richardson

Thank you Mark - yes, its an "and" proposition of working "in" and "on" all at the same time, which only increases as an imperative as crisis increases. But, paradoxically, crisis management effectiveness (in terms of communication, collaboration and coordination) can often decrease as crisis increases. Simple approaches can help prevent that. Thanks again.

November 18, 2010 at 10:51pm

Laura Pyle

As a result of being in the middle of an acquisition, lately my world has revved up 100-fold. Because of the accelerated pace, I'm guilty of letting my normal communication patterns disintegrate, since there is just no time. After reading this piece, I realized that many of the increasing inefficiencies and redundancies occurring on my team could be eliminated with a daily huddle. I'll give it a shot!

November 22, 2010 at 11:41am

Mike Richardson

Thank you Laura - glad I have inspired you to give it a try - in my experience, you won't be disappointed. Thanks again.

November 18, 2010 at 11:45am

John Hillard

Thanks

March 30, 2012 at 2:51pm

Abbas Hijazi

Thanks mike for sharing at least two great management tools. I am inspired by both- the daily huddle and the ODDA loop. My problem is that successful daily huddles needs a culture that embraces transparency, respect, professionalism, and common purpose. Then , on top, a leader who can act like you described..open , inviting, caring, focused, accountable..I am not sure we can daily huddle without fixing the corporate culture from politics first..what do you think?