If you are looking for a way to align across teams, start with definitions. Particularly, definition of metrics and KPIs.
A meeting is a meeting, right? Think again.
A signup is a signup, right? Think again.
A sequence enrolment is a sequence enrolment, right? Think again.
Going through what things mean, exactly, can be a painful, unnerving, boring process. And nobody ever wants to actually ask the question.
But when it’s done and documented, there’s immediate alignment and clarity.
Bureaucracy is there mainly because somebody wants to save their ass.
Perhaps it’s because they don’t want to take a chance, or because they feel the risk is too high, or because they prefer not to be bothered rethinking a process that has worked once, or because they are disturbed by the chaos that different opinions and ways would bring about, or because nobody has ever done it before.
Bureaucracy puts an end to all that and it protects somebody’s ass. It’s infuriating, unnerving, impossible to understand. But it’s safe.
Bureaucracy is inevitable in many aspects of life, but a bureaucratic mindset can sneak in places where it should probably not be.
Like a team, or a project that aims at being innovative.
That’s what you need to be careful about.
The things you always notice, the things that rile you up, the things you just can’t stand anymore, the things you’d rather do without, the things your really cannot understand.
Those things are a thing for you.
And others, well others have their own things.
Just move on.
A change in focus requires a change in indicators.
If you decide to focus on employees well-being and retention, why are you still talking about growth rate?
If you decide to break down the silos, why are you still setting goals and reporting results by department?
If you want to spend more time with your family, why is your salary still the measure of your success?
A change is a change.
If you have something you care about – an idea, some work you have done, a job, a project, a new product -, it’s fair for you to assume that nobody else will get it. And it’s your responsibility to explain it, sell it, evangelize it, adjust it, combine it, market it.
That means two things.
First, that we can’t assume that we will hit the mass on day 1. Overnight success is a hoax, but you know that already.
Second, and most importantly for this post, that your role very soon gets much more complex. Because if you want to buy people into whatever you are doing (that you care about), you need to spend a large amount of your time talking about it.
And I guess that the bad news is that nothing is self-evidently great.
And the good one is that everything can be.
You've got this 