frankchadhoeppel.me

Hey Frank. So I got this world-changing initiative thrown at me, and I honestly don’t know where to start.

Most of us have been there at one point or another – the grandiose vision statement announced without warning and with less detail that you’d prefer at a time where you are already hip- or neck-deep in a dozen other projects that were designed to get you to a stable operational posture. Some of you are there right now. I should know – I see you. See me waiving?

Yeah Yeah Yeah – stop trying to make me laugh. So what?

So what? Good question. The old adage “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” serves well in this situation to a certain extent. It probably doesn’t capture the smorgasbord you’ve already been trying to clean out for the last six months. You’re already full. One bite at a time of anything may give you indigestion, or diabetes, or a heart attack.

Not to beat the metaphor to death…

But you’re going to…

but I’m going to, and this is where portion control, creative recipes, and exercise comes to the rescue. What am I on about? Allow me to explain:

• Understanding how much you can take onto your plate – actually and figuratively – is critical in the early stages of approaching the epic program. Many of the reactions that fall into the “no way in Hell” bucket often stem from an incomplete or unconfident understanding of existing workload. The initial reaction is usually emotional. Letting that pass and looking at what is being asked from a neutral place helps rationalize the level of effort.
• How many milkshakes can you drink? A blender is an amazing vehicle for consuming all manner of foods, vitamins, minerals, and protein that is a handy workaround for how much you can physically fit on your plate. Throughout history, examples of challenging if not desperate circumstances driving innovation are too numerous to mention here. Understanding that the mechanism for achieving what needs doing may not exist yet helps – especially when partnered with confidence that it will be found.
• Burning calories is essential to maintaining health, especially when you know Thanksgiving dinner is around the corner. So you hit the gym a little harder and pick salads instead of pizza starting November 1st. You trade off some calories now for the glutton-fest you’re heading towards. Realignment of resources is necessary, as will adjustment of process, service level, and tool usage.

I see what you did there. Cute, Hoeppel – but where does this take us?

The adage lacks detail but is spot on. It just takes a couple of guiding principles and a few tactical steps to apply successfully.

• Act like a butcher – look at the “elephant” and carve it into chunks – by work type, timeframe, technologies, finances, location – whatever attributes you identify as commonalities or separators. Do this with help – they will see things that you won’t.
• Act like a chef – many are hyper-focused on creating the new, the avant-garde, or the extravagant. But they all started with the familiar and got really good at the basics. Their knowledge of how to transform the ordinary comes from experience. As with you and your massive initiative – you’ve done parts of this before. And for those parts that seem entirely new, they are likely to be evolutions of existing products, services, and practices rather than revolutions. And if you are truly in revolutionary territory – remember all of the things you’ve learned to get where you are, and approach this new thing as you did all of the other new things in your professional – and personal – life.
• Act like a host – approaching any massive project, especially those that carry the “transformative” label, must have a team-focused approach. Communication is critical – whether it be gathering knowledge and wisdom from your staff or bouncing potential solutions off of customers. The idea that you can figure it all out on your own is asinine. The idea that you wouldn’t accept feedback from your staff – especially about an effort of such scope and impact – says a-lot about the culture of your organization. None of it good.
• Act like an expeditor – If you watch cooking shows or shows about restaurants, there’s always someone that is marshaling the kitchen to get orders assembled in the right time for the right table. Who’s that for this project? You? If so, who’s doing the other things that need doing? If not you, ensure there is someone that can wrangle these efforts – project manager, program manager, service delivery manager, Deputy whatever the heck – that carries sufficient authority to make decisions about getting the work done.
• Act like an owner – Restaurant RACI charts are really easy to fill out, especially about where the A goes. Regardless of of who burnt the salmon or forgot to order the parsnips, the owner is ultimately accountable. Don’t shy away from that role – embrace it. Major initiatives come with a thousand “I dunno” responses early on. Picture the first NASA meeting after President Kennedy announced the moon landing goal. Did they have all the answers right up front? No. 100,000 times no. Your approach to encouraging excellence, learning from errors, allowing the team to execute, brokering conversations to improve service, defending choices, and continuing to establish purpose are all part of the process.
• Act like a customer – a service organization that inadvertently or purposefully fails to incorporate the opinions of those they intend to serve won’t be in service for long. In many of these transformative experiences, there is a top-down, shut up and do it element or ethos that makes this challenging. I’d argue this is exactly when that perspective is most valuable. Adopting a new platform or product, realigning staff, relocating functions and/or offices – all of these are terribly disruptive to your team and those they are serving. There are myriad ways to do almost everything. Using customer feedback to minimize disruption, or at least make changes more palatable, should be a no-brainer.

Basically “The Bear as guide for big missives” thing. Groovy. But this doesn’t tell me much about what I or any reader should actually do.

I realize this is pretty mushy, especially from the “step one…” perspective. But I don’t know what version of “gigantic earth shifting plan for the future” deal you’re getting shoved at you. Details matter. What I hope you, dear reader, gets from this is three things:

1. Trust your experience – as mentioned, you have done some part of this before or something like this before. Find the familiar and work from there.
2. Trust your team – failure to include them and their own set of skills, knowledge, and experience creates challenges you simply don’t need. Get them involved. Your appreciation of their input also boosts morale at a time when their future with the team, at least their role in the team, can be questioned.
3. Trust your customers – however you choose to solicit that feedback, and however varied those opinions and suggestions may be, the net benefit outweighs the effort. Even the opportunity to refine your message around the changes coming in response to that feedback is valuable.

As my own version of “We choose to go the Moon” gets underway, updates will continue – some lessons learned, some questions to be asked. Either way, it will be good to hear from you.