Thought Of The Week

“Serve the Result – transformation accelerates.

Serve the boss – transformation decelerates.”

How would you persuade a child to eat their broccoli?

Some people would ‘carrot and stick’ them.  Others advocate role modelling and connecting good nutrition to being able to do all the things the child loves to do.

If we want great Decisions and Actions when we are not in the room (a great ‘culture’), we want the child to know, and want to serve, a positive Result, not a child trained to guess what the ‘boss’ wants.

It is no different for the leader wishing to turn a strategy into Decisions, Actions and Results around the world. They can either carrot and stick people, or role model the change and connect everybody to the positive Results and the strategy to deliver it.

But here’s the Broccoli Paradox: the more urgent the transformation we seek, the more we command and control it (carrot and stick).

This DOES accelerate the transformation. But only for the short term, and at the risk of burnout (burnout because everybody is now micromanaging down and second-guessing up – a massive layer of non-profitable activity).

Serving the purpose takes design, solid foundations and consistency. But it changes ‘culture’ faster than anything else I have witnessed and delivers long term, sustainable transformation

Which do your people serve:

The Boss?

Or the Result?

Have you been forwarded the DARE High Performance newsletter? You can sign up here to receive your own copy in the future.

Book of the Fortnight

This week I recommend a podcast. General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, leader of the UK’s Navy, seems to be genuinely committed to accelerating transformation and performance in an environment where it is traditionally slowed by rank and silos.

Here he explains how he is shifting the focus from serving the boss and protecting the silo, to serving the Result.

My Fortnight

In 2017 I was doorstepped by my next-door neighbour’s son, George Rawlings. He wanted me to invest in a startup he and his friend, Matt McNeill Love, were working on: ‘Honeypot’. Some weeks later I transferred the cash.

That company is now called Thursday. It is the largest IRL singles event organiser in the world.  This week I got time with Matt to hear their story - and what a story it is. If you’re single, or want to host world class events in your city:

Is it possible to use an event to clarify strategy, build energy around it AND create brave Decisions from country managers on what it will take to deliver it in their nations?

That was the question my clients asked before last week’s event in Istanbul and after careful planning, we successfully applied the DARE Loop to the strategy, took the room outside of their comfort zone, and translated the plan into bold, local actions across the world.

And finally, to the London Speaker Bureau Christmas Cocktails. A rare treat to meet many of my closest business partners. We WhatsApp daily – but we only get to meet annually. Thank you all for your support!

Write YOUR story 🖋️

Jim