Leading at Warp speed? Here’s What You Need to Know

Pam Harper (00:00): Are you leading your company at warp speed? Join us for a quick take on what you need to know when you're changing the game -- episode 216 of Growth Igniters Radio with Pam Harper and Scott Harper.

Chris Curran (00:21): This episode is brought to you by business advancement, incorporated, -- enabling successful leaders and companies to accelerate to their next level of success. On the web at businessadvance.com. And now here's Pam and Scott.

Pam Harper (00:37): Thanks Chris. And welcome everyone. I'm Pam Harper, founding partner and CEO of Business Advancement Incorporated, and sitting right across from me as always is my business partner and husband, Scott Harper.

Scott Harper (00:51): Hi everybody. It's great to have you with us again. And as always, our purpose here is to spark new insights, inspiration, and immediately useful ideas that can help visionary leaders accelerate themselves -- and their companies, of course -- to their next level of game-changing innovation, transformation, and growth.

Scott Harper (01:09): Now, many of you listening can probably identify with the CEOs C-suite leaders and corporate directors we talk with who say they need to move fast and change quickly to keep up with the shifting business environment.

Pam Harper (01:22): That's right. That's why we call it this a "quick take." In fact, one leader called it "moving at warp speed," which is a phrase we've adopted.

Scott Harper (01:32): Right. You know, it is important to move fast, but that can come with a challenge.

Pam Harper (01:37): The biggest challenge is the tendency to make assumptions about what and how strategies and plans will play out in the bigger picture.

Pam Harper (01:47): You know, I think we're pre-programmed to make assumptions. After all, how else could we live? But think about this -- we can't question every single thing we're doing. So we make assumptions and this works really well in a stable environment.

Scott Harper (02:03): Right. But the thing is the environment isn't so stable anymore. There's an increased pace and turbulence, and it's more important than ever to be sensitive to those changes and be ready to adapt.

Scott Harper (02:14): So here's the thing. What happens if the assumptions we're making don't actually fit with reality?

Pam Harper (02:21): That can be a real challenge. For instance, in the case of one client that I was involved with, they were about 150 million in revenue, and they were growing. They were having their best year ever, and they were on track for amazing growth. But surprisingly, there was a mysterious morale problem. Top leadership could not figure out where it was coming from, but they were very concerned that poor morale and the lower productivity would make it difficult for them to continue on their growth trajectory.

Scott Harper (02:58): So what was going on?

Pam Harper (03:00): Well, they'd already done a 360 degree survey before they called me in. They could see the morale problems. But they couldn't figure out why; things just didn't add up. When I finally had a chance to speak with people at various levels in the company. What I did notice is that there was a fundamental gap in communication. In fact, many of the employees of the company were seeing all kinds of changes. They didn't understand why. So they started making up explanations. And one explanation to them was that the company was going to close -- exactly the opposite of the facts.

Scott Harper (03:44): Wow. So what was going on there?

Pam Harper (03:49): Well, the C-suite was very focused on moving to that next level. And they were making assumptions. Like "everyone knows what's going on," or people won't notice some things that the leaders couldn't talk about yet, Like a pending M&A.

Scott Harper (04:08): So these assumptions, they were off track, and things weren't working out so well...

Pam Harper (04:15): No, they weren't. And the leadership team wasn't even really aware that they were making these assumptions until all of the pieces came together, and to their credit, they were interested. They were curious, they were engaged and they took action to close that communication gap, not just with their employees, but also with stakeholders that were also starting to question what was going on vendors and all kinds of others.

Scott Harper (04:48): So the whole point is that once they understood that they had to check their assumptions and close gaps, they were able to move more quickly and actually hit their goals.

Pam Harper (05:00): Right. And of course, when we talk about this, it's always two-way communication, you know, or multiple communications.

Scott Harper (05:07): This brings lots of perspectives,

Pam Harper (05:08): Right. And you can only do that kind of thing when you're doing it on an ongoing basis. It can't be, "We're gonna wait, and then we're gonna have to go back and do the research," right? No one has time for that when you're moving at warp speed.

Scott Harper (05:22): Absolutely not. So, it was this situation and others like it that has led us to develop a quick checklist that we call "Five questions to ask when you need to move even faster."

Pam Harper (05:34): We were inspired to create this strategic resource to help leaders discover any gaps, assumptions, and the evidence supporting these assumptions. And with five questions, it really doesn't take that much time to do.

Scott Harper (05:48): Right. It's a quick way to check the confidence you have in these assumptions and get a feeling for the evidence that they are correct.

You can download a free copy by going to Growth Igniters Radio.com. Select episode 216 and click on the "five questions" link in resources.

Pam Harper (06:06): Okay. Now -- here's a disclaimer: It's a quick starting point. It does not replace conversations with employees and other stakeholders.

Scott Harper (06:15): In fact, it depends upon those.

Pam Harper (06:17): That's right. And beyond conversations, it doesn't replace being able to observe what's actually happening. But it gives you a way to focus, and it can help you come up with some immediately useful next steps to help you focus your attention and resources.

Scott Harper (06:33): It's important to point out that this questionnaire does not call for a lot of time-consuming in-depth analysis. It builds on the regular conversations that you have all across your different stakeholder groups.

Pam Harper (06:46): So no paralysis by analysis.

Scott Harper (06:48): Right. It's a way to get a feeling for whether or not what you think should be happening actually is happening ,and moving on from that.

Scott Harper (06:56): So let's go to some immediately useful next steps. What are three particular times where the five questions checklist can really be useful?

Pam Harper (07:05): The first immediately useful idea is to use these question just ahead of making a game-changing decision. Maybe you're thinking about a merger. Maybe you're thinking about going into a new market. These are just a couple of situations and because you're going to go in a dramatically different direction for game changing growth, you need to know that people are already able to handle current priorities as well as adapting to new plans.

Scott Harper (07:38): So the checklist will help you check that assumption and get the evidence behind it.

Scott Harper (07:45): So what's the second time that the questionnaire is especially useful?

Pam Harper (07:49): Second immediately useful idea. This is when you're trying to get a quick read for yourself, to organize your thoughts and get a feeling for your level of confidence, that the evidence supports your assumptions. This is where we're gonna focus our energy.

Scott Harper (08:06): Good. And what's the third circumstance?

Pam Harper (08:09): The third immediately useful idea is when you've accomplished a major milestone, because now you're talking about what's next. It's a little bit of closing the circle to say, "We thought about this. We were checking our assumptions at the beginning, at the middle and at completion." And that's the way that you don't have to do a lot of major research, because you've been checking your assumptions all along.

Scott Harper (08:39): And that's a quick take. And with that...

Pam Harper (08:42): This is Pam Harper...

Scott Harper (08:43): And Scott Harper...

Pam Harper (08:44): Wishing you continued success, and leaving you with this question to discuss with your team: As we're leaving at warp speed, what can we do to foster the regular communication we need in order to confirm our assumptions in the constantly changing world?

Chris Curran (09:16): Ignite Igniters and growth Igniters radio with Pam Harper and Scott Harper are registered service marks of business advancement incorporated. All growth Igniters radio episodes are copyrighted productions of business advancement incorporated intended for the private use of our audience, except as otherwise provided by copyright law. All other uses, including copying, editing, redistribution, and publication. Without prior written consent of business advancement incorporated are prohibited all rights reserved.