I was watching a football game over the weekend. As the quarterback left the huddle, he saw the defense shift formations. As his offense took their stance, ready for the snap, the quarterback called out a change in the play, an audible.

Back in the huddle, they had used 15 precious seconds agreeing on the play, yet right before execution, in a split second, the play changed.

“Did you see that?” the announcer exclaimed. “Boy, that team can think on their feet.”

But, as I watched the play, it was not a sequence of improvisational moves in response to a shift in defensive formations. It was a highly practiced, well executed play that had been audibly called at the line of scrimmage.

How many times have I seen an immaculate business plan go awry because of a shift in the marketplace, a shift from a competitor? And in response, I see a sequence of poorly executed improvised motions that do little more than create a bunch of noise on the shop floor.

Much more effective in the planning stage would be a series of plays designed to be responsive to contingencies in the marketplace. Calling an audible should not be a cue to improvised chaos, but a distinct call to a different, yet well-rehearsed, thought-out course of action. -TF

The team looked dejected. They had worked hard for six weeks and now it appeared they would miss their deadline. They were missing one critical element that was being supplied by a vendor. That vendor had just called to say the shipment would be delayed by 24 hours. The customer wanted to start on Monday and could move on with another team if we couldn’t deliver.

“Check it out,” I said. “You all look depressed. Snap out of it. You are making assumptions based on a number of unknown factors. Check it out. Get on the phone and see what could be done.”

Twenty minutes later, the team was back in full swing. The vendor was able to break the shipment and overnight enough material to meet the deadline. The customer had reviewed the proposal with the partial shipment and approved the plan.

When things look bad, check out the facts, don’t rely on assumptions. Your assumptions could be incorrect. Relying on the unknown conjures up self doubt, hesitation and inaction. Working with facts moves you to positive action based on reality. Check out the facts. -TF

“I already explained it to you,” said Teresa, a bit exasperated with me.

“I know, but it sounds so complicated,” I replied. “Look, you are frustrated with Carl because he seems to never meet his deadlines. When you ask for reasons, he leads you off on a series of rabbit trails that are very difficult to follow. Accountability becomes almost impossible. Do you know why Carl makes things so complicated?”

Teresa bit her bottom lip, then finally said, “No.”

“Sometimes, people make things complicated because they can. Maybe the project is not challenging, so Carl makes it more complicated just to keep it interesting. Have him take a piece of paper and draw a simple flowchart of the project, but limit him to only six circles and six arrows. If he wants to draw more than that, tell him he has to combine things.

“The point of this exercise is not to ignore the details, but to understand the project flow in simpler terms. If you can understand the project flow, you will find the important milestones that you need for follow-up.” -TF

“And when you finish the project, how will that make you feel?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” responded Mitchell. “The project will be over, I don’t know how I will feel.”

“Well, Mitchell, if you did know how you would feel, what would it be like?”

Mitchell struggled a moment. “I guess I would feel relieved that the project was over. I would feel a sense of accomplishment. I would feel more confident that I could do another project like that and be successful.”

“Good.” I said, watching Mitchell’s eyes. He was glad that I finally stopped pressing. “Here is the payoff. When you are painting a picture of that project in the future, don’t forget about the emotions that you will feel. Don’t forget about the emotions that the team will feel. Those emotions are the support you will need when the project goes through its tough times. Talk about it with your team now. Include those emotions in your picture of the future.” -TF

Jeremy followed the advice, broke his team into four smaller teams who each worked on a small piece of the project picture. Sixty days in the future, the project would be finished. One way or the other, it would be finished.

Jeremy had set goals before, but building this picture of the future was a bit odd as a first step in the planning process. “Why,” he asked. “Why is this picture so important?”

“Jeremy, in the past, during your planning, you set milestones, or goals. Tell me, how excited did your team get when you published the milestone list?” Jeremy looked at me sideways.

“Exactly,” I said. “Teams don’t get excited by goals. Goals are simply measurements. They help us evaluate success, but that’s about it.

“It’s the picture, the picture of the project completed. It’s the vision that builds enthusiasm. It may be the only tool you have as a manager to create excitement, to build energy in the team. That’s why I want to see detail in your picture. Color. Smells. Movement. Bring that project picture alive so your team can truly see it. That’s why the picture is so important.” -TF