For six quarters, I watched a third-generation family business repeat a tough process. Every quarter, they’d set Rocks and not accomplish them. Then, the leadership team would get annoyed with their lack of progress and rate their quarter a C.
Finally, I had an epiphany.
They were treating their Vision/Traction Organizer® like a wish list.
Wish Lists
The leadership team acted like kids making wish lists around birthdays and major holidays. The company V/TO listed business “goals” that were the equivalent of a child’s wish for a pony or a baby brother.
While their V/TO represented things they really wanted, they had no actionable plan or commitment to getting them. The sad news is that, like most things kids wish for, a benevolent mythical character wasn’t going to magically deliver their V/TO wish list.
Years ago, my daughter’s wish list had a Barbie Dream House on it. It was massive (and massively expensive). I couldn’t commit to making such a large purchase. So my daughter kept wishing.
Likewise, these leaders had a comprehensive training program on their V/TO. It sounded amazing. They knew it was strategically important. Everyone wanted it and needed it. Sadly, they weren’t committed to it. No one wanted to be accountable and own it. No one wanted to be responsible for the effort necessary to bring it to life.
After we realized what was happening, we talked about how serious they were about achieving the items on their list.
Shopping Lists
If the leadership team wanted a comprehensive training program, they were going to have to make a plan for it. Rather than just wishing things would happen, they needed to look at their V/TO as things they were going to go out and get—you know, like a shopping list. That changed their perspective.
It was like the year I finally put “Barbie Dream House” on my own shopping list for my daughter. For two years that house sat on her wish list until she advocated hard for why she really wanted it.
Finally, I put it on my own shopping list.
From Wishing to Shopping
By thinking of the V/TO as a shopping list, the leadership team got more serious and disciplined about their training program. They realized the wisdom of the saying “Vision without Traction is hallucination.” It was time to start doing something to achieve those goals.
If they wanted others to follow suit, they understood that accountability started with them as the leadership team. To start, rather than randomly setting Rocks, the leadership team thought about how to align their Rocks with goals.
They wrote a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) Rock that someone owned. The Rock owner made plans to complete it, and the others held them accountable.
Pretty soon other team members created Rocks to build on the ones the leadership team completed.
Everything You Want from Your Business
This family business now has a great training program. It took them several quarters to build all the pieces for it. And they’ll continue building on it and tweaking it each quarter after that.
If you want to get everything you want for your business, make your V/TO a shopping list… not a wish list.
YOUR PRIVACY CHOICES