Is your strategy stuck in neutral? The answer may just lie in identifying chains to the past.
You’ve worked together with your team on a vision and your strategic framework, but something is not quite gelling. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it’s clearly getting in the way of leading your organization to success.
Wherever you are in your strategic planning and deployment cycle, you know it requires the continual attention of leaders and teams to innovate and achieve strategic objectives.
Engaging team members in a strategic framework that is relevant - one where everyone can clearly see their contribution. Aligning teams that believe they can reach the vision. Values that are not just a poster on the wall, but alive in people’s hearts and behaviors. This is the work of leaders.
In VJ Govindarajan’s newest book, The Three Box Solution: A Strategy for Innovation, he uses powerful “roots and chains” conversations to help teams make visible limiting beliefs.
In one example he cites, Hasbro's team had to let go of the belief that they were a toy company selling products through brick-and-mortar stores. This was essential in order to evolve into a branded-play company, selling through multiple platforms.That's an enormous shift in thinking and behavior for a team to navigate.
Try this. Hold team conversations that ask: “What policies, structures, training, performance metrics, or other elements in your organization should be forgotten in order to move forward?”
“Roots and chains” conversations often help uncover the belief systems, assumptions and biases that may be barriers to your success. Preserve vital roots. Make chains to the past visible and explicit. That way, they can be reframed in ways that better serve future success.
Feel free to call me to discuss how your strategic planning and deployment process can benefit from new ideas and approaches.
Sherri McArdle is a wife and mother to adult children and has been a business leader/owner for over 25 years. She is also a Master Certified Coach (MCC) to leaders and executives across the country and a trained mediator.
