The Blanket Rule

Many organizations invest money in tools, processes, strategies based on what the others say - what did my boss sitting in the US, who has no idea about the people and the culture here, say, what did that text book say, what did my quality manager say, what did those guys who came up with this new methodology after their latest whiskey-on-ice party say. You spend money on these, you create a big hype around it, and then you send all your people for training on these making a franchisee of an American organization make money. Your people who still apply common sense ask the question, "But how is this different from the latest wave that we had a year ago?". You shut them down because it is unkind to say the Emperor has no clothes on.

They told you to buy a blanket. They said it is great. They even gave you money to buy this blanket. However, it does not matter whether the same blanket was wonderful in a cold country. It does not matter whether this is the latest trend in the blanket industry. It does not matter whether your bosses and colleagues in other regions of the world praise this blanket.

The blanket is no blanket for you if it does not make you feel better. As a leader, you need to make the call if you need a different perspective on it. An Execution Consultant can definitely pitch in as your partner to identify the actual room conditions, identify the temperature optimality needs of your team, and then recommend the right set of blankets, or a stroll in the sun.

Marc Andreessen's 'Rule of Crappy People'

"There are good people and there are great people. Great people tend to hire other great people, because that's who they want to work with. But good people tend to hire people who aren't so good. They don't want to manage people who are smarter than they are. So over time, unless you're tough and disciplined, the talent level in the company declines to the lowest common denominator, and you wind up with lots of crappy people. It's a disaster. But it takes tremendous willpower not to compromise."

This is very similar to what a colleague of mine said close to 10 years ago about "The Pygmy theory of hiring". It goes "The pygmy will always hire people who are shorter than him"

The Interpreter

The role of an Execution consultant is that of a coach in more ways than one.

The organizational leader who hires the services of the execution consultant is himself a very smart person, and a very capable leader. However, caught in familiarity and the web of ongoing deadlines, he is using language without meaning, methodologies without contextualizing, driving a good car without knowing the terrain.

The Execution consultant is a knowledgeable friend who interprets the leader's own language to him, throws a new light to his methodologies, exactly in the light of what terrain he is in. With a renewed and refreshing look at the language, with the eagerness of learning a foreign language, the organizational leader is helped by his consultant friend to decide what foreign language training has to be given to his team so that the organizational language is no longer foreign to them. He also helps repair the terrain to some extent, tunes up the whole essay of the organization into a manual all can follow, even change a few cars and drivers.

Driving with an interpreted understanding of the language which was by far foreign to the entire organization in many ways, becomes a great pleasure.

As in the story of the newcomer who joined a monastery, where the disciples told him, 'Be like a student eager to learn a foreign language. The words he speaks sound familiar, but don't be taken in; they have an altogether foreign meaning' (Anthony De Mello).

Do you really need that cat?

The story goes thus about a sage who had a cat as a pet. Whenever he prayed, this cat would jump on his lap and on his back and disturb him. To prevent the cat from distracting him, the sage used to tie up the cat while he was praying.

The disciples were never allowed in the sage's room while he was praying. The disciples always however watched from a distance how their master would tie up the cat for the full hour that he was praying.

The sage died one day, and the favourite disciple became the master. Whenever the new master prayed, he also used to tie the cat, since he had always admired his master's ways, and knew his master definitely had a purpose behind whatever he did.

One day, the cat died. The master ordered his disciples to get for him a new cat, though he had no love lost for cats. He would then tie this cat before he prayed everytime.

Decades went by, and the disciples increased far and wide. And wherever the monastery was setup, they always got a cat for the master of that monastery. The cat became an integral part of their prayer life.

Organizations follow practices likewise, without understanding the relevance of why they are doing what they are doing. My boss said so. The Head Quarters said so. That's the way we have always done here. We have seen the results.

Are the results still happening? No. Then why do you still have that cat?

Introspect. Contextualize the need for the cat. Optimize. Improve your efficiency. Your costs. Your productivity.

If you still love a cat, keep it for the love of the cat.