Stalled out in Denver due to weather in San Francisco. First flight-leg reading, Traction by Gino Wickman. You know, I don’t often do book reviews, but this one caught my eye. Not that it breaks any new ground, but it is a well-organized reminder of the mechanics in building an organization.
It begins with a quick organizational diagnostic (20 questions) which tells you where the book is going. Each section has some sort of checklist, tool, core questions that would be valuable to any organization trying to define this stuff. My favorite was the section on Vision and his Vision/Tracker Organizer (TM), which contains a two-page template that distills the best thinking you can muster about your organization. But then, I must admit I’m a sucker for models and templates.
The real estate on each of the two pages dictates the amount of documentation required to complete, but don’t fool yourself. The most difficult pieces of thinking will be required where the word limit is the lowest.
Here’s why I think this is important. During this recession, in many places, all hell broke loose. We stopped thinking like this while we were down in the storm cellar. It’s time to get out of the cellar and start to rebuild.
