I am ‘cheating’ and giving you the top 4 things right now, right up front. You may be able to make sense of them and move to the next blog. So, in respect for your time, here they are:
Top 4 Things to Consider NOW:
- First, do you even KNOW who you are as a company? What’s your identity and what do you stand for? That’s the vision part.
- Second, who are your customers and your employees? That’s the empathy part.
- Third, what new stuff are you bringing to the world’s table that creates a place that sells and makes it better? That’s the innovation and the courage part.
- Fourth, what steps are you taking once you do get it “all together”? Did you communicate, train and set in stone your transformational action steps. If not, get to it!
Now, to the “lay-up”:
“When you have good musicians, you don’t have to say anything… When you DON’T have good musicians, you can’t say anything.” Cab Calloway¸ circa 1930’s..
How is your company doing? Great, you say! Yeah, me too. I thought the same thing – my teams are as productive and happy as they can possibly be and that the customers are as full as they possibly can be. There were No issues and productivity is on right on schedule.
But, is everything really doing great? Really? Is your company solid because your employees and customers are happy? Would your company stand the test of time to become an icon? Will it be a company known for its’ production, longevity and success? Will you survive or succumb to the Fortune 500’s La Brea tar pits of extinction, like over 50% of the Fortune 500 companies who became extinct since 1955? Consider good old Montgomery Ward, or the revolutionary COMPAQ as heavy weights that once were. How about the indomitable Borders (my sad loss!), and now USAir, or is it American Airlines?
Who’s next? The venerated HP, or Office Depot vs. Office Max?
Yeah, that’s what I thought. This could be YOU!
So, who can argue with Cab? You think you’re at the top – in control, large and in charge. But, like Cab knew in his gut; you can’t follow, you must lead. Cab orchestrated his band differently from the rest of the pack. He took the large bass fiddle player and put him IN THE LEAD… (yeah, I said LEAD). He placed the percussion half a beat BEHIND the fiddle (very unusual arrangement, BTW); and the wind instruments no longer dominated – this was once “the sound of the times”.
Calloway changed the traditional sounds of swing jazz because he was an innovator, a change maker. This glorious NEW sound set the tone for a whole new beat in African American music, which ALL Americans absolutely loved.
But the thing about Cab is that he knew he could get these fabulous musicians to be so perfect sounding, so well-orchestrated, and so team oriented, that their strong, loud sounds coming out of wood, metal and strings actually and miraculously took second stage to nothing but the ‘scat’ singing of Cab’s instrument – his superb voice. This was because he knew that it was his voice, the last component, which made the magic.
How did he do that? Simply put, it wasn’t about HIM; it was about the MUSIC. Also, Cab was one of the first to embrace the tools of the new technology, i.e., microphones and electronic instruments just coming into their own, to create his vision. Then he added the ‘human touch’ of talent, wisdom and compassion for and FROM his team members – And yes, indeed, he did make Magic!
Fast forward this scenario to Brian Solis, Principal at Altimeter Group, in his discussion on “Digital Darwinism” about how businesses need to change. I interpret his discussion to getting back to ‘the old world order’ of “vision, courage and empathy” – Brian’s path goes from management to leadership – one just as described above in the Cab Calloway school of leadership.
Brian paraphrases a Darwin quote that states: “It’s not the strongest of the species, or the most intelligent, it’s the most adaptive who survive.”
There’s that word again: “Change”
Brian goes on to state: “Part of the problem is that decision makers and stakeholders react to shareholders and not necessarily evolving customer expectation or transforming markets. When they are finally ready to react, it’s typically a technology-first rather than a people-first initiative. Without understanding behavior, expectations, patterns, and new touch points, technology is often the right answer at the wrong time. Ready, fire, aim.” End quote. Notice, he did NOT say: Ready, AIM, fire.
Brian continues: “Without vision or direction, businesses will always miss the true opportunity…”
Brian is writing a book not yet published (and well he should), entitled: “What’s the Future of Business: Changing the way businesses create experiences.”
I agree and have also worked for large and small companies that callously have slapped a technology patch onto problems without taking the time to include the human element. Cab Calloway didn’t do that. He took the voices and sounds of EACH individual in his band, and practiced them with the new technology to get it to work in superb fashion. He is a legend because of it.
So, what is it that you can do as a business person? Well, in a few short sentences, without the benefit of writing an entire book, I would suggest you invoke the human element into your business. That would be your employees, your customers and your community. Simple, right? Not really, but doable, yes. And I repeat:
Top 4 Things to Consider NOW:
- First, do you even KNOW who you are as a company? What’s your identity and what do you stand for? That’s the vision part.
- Second, who are your customers and your employees? That’s the empathy part.
- Third, what new stuff are you bringing to the world’s table that creates a place that sells and makes it better? That’s innovation and the courage part.
- Fourth, what steps are you taking once you do get it “all together”? Did you communicate, train and set in stone your transformational action steps. If not, get to it!
So…Did you create and honor your company’s culture and values? That’s a good beginning point. Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn said recently at a conference entitled “Wisdom 2.0”, and I quote: “If you had asked me about culture and values in our organization, six or seven years ago, I would have rolled my eyes…And yet, culture and values are what have given us that competitive edge (now).”
Well said, Jeff. I agree. And thanks for the head nod to coaching in that same talk. Yeah, you have to transform, transition and change using inside, or if necessary, outside resources, to get there.
However you do it – just get there; or you will be part of the decomposed resources used to fuel those companies new on the horizon; those who hopefully follow the transformational change model.
It’s pretty ugly being just ‘tar’.
“We cannot live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.”
Hildegard von Bingen
