What are we doing here?
The confusion none of us enjoy
Last week I had the pleasure of spending the day with a group of leaders in Adelaide. These people are experts in their field and super clever. Over lunch, it was wonderful to hear about their experiences from all over the world. I found it fascinating and enjoyable to work through leadership discussions and challenges with them throughout the day.
But, there is one area of the leadership program that stumped them (as it does with pretty much 100% of groups). It goes a bit like this. I ask...
What are you trying to achieve?
A harmless enough question, but when we view it from a leadership perspective it becomes a little confusing. To the point that in almost every group, halfway through this exercise someone will invariably say "I don't know what we are doing here...". This moment makes me chuckle a little while filling me with dread at the same time.
But there is a good reason for this confusion.
Sorting through confusion in our workshop last week
I will reject the initial responses about numbers, tasks, and project deadlines. This isn't what you are trying to achieve. These are things we do on the way to achieving our real goals. The bigger goals we are there to achieve as individuals and as organisations.
Thinking bigger can be confusing and tough to do. But we got there, as we do with every group. Coming up with meaningful missions that give our work purpose. The sorts of things that give us something to pursue. That gives our teams something to associate with the importance of their work that is about more than paying the mortgage or getting a promotion.
When we feel like we are part of something bigger there is a shift in mindset. It keeps us going when heavy workloads and competing priorities hit us thick'n'fast. Danny Meyer, head of Union Square Hospitality Group in New York speaks of 'Creating Home' as an overarching mission across his restaurants. A place that is welcoming and makes tourists, strangers, and locals feel at home. If staff aren't interested in this, then there is no point in them being there. As one of the most successful restaurateurs in one of the highest risk business industries in the most competitive market in the world, Meyer proves the value of clarity around mission.
In 10 - 20 minutes we ended up coming up with some great slogans and identifiers. They may not be the final product, but they certainly lift and give clarity. The sort of clarity that helps leaders go back to their teams and experiment. Try it on. Workshop it in real time. Discuss it. And, continually refine it.
Even if the process itself is confusing, we find that the overall confusion of 'why we do what we do' is turned into clarity, alignment, and purpose.
