Transitioning from Fire Fighting to Growth Frank J. Ciccia See Leaders in a New Light
Big Ideas 1. Delivering your on your promises to your
customers 100% of the time, should be your greatest challenge collectively as an organization.
2. Your only true competitive advantage is your organization’s ability to innovate.
3. If you are focusing too much of your time on ”fire fighting”, then you are probably not devoting enough time on growth.
Leadership * Communication * Teamwork POSITIVE CHANGE
TODAY
CUSTOMERS The Right People Doing the Right Things Technology Processes Knowledge
RESOURCES
Goal Attract & Retain
Organization Purpose
WINNING OUTCOMES Customer Loyalty Sustained Financial Growth Increased Retention Increased Productivity Job Satisfaction Organizational Citizenship Employee Engagement
FUTURE WIN “The Promise” Key Competitive Differentiators Strong Culture Living your Values Exceptional Service
VALUE PROPOSITION
Independent Critical Thinking RESISTANCE
INNOVATION
Alienated Followers
Effective Leader/Followers
Passive Negative
Active Positive
Sheep
“YES” People ARTIFICIAL HARMONY
STAGNATION
Dependent Uncritical Thinking
Leaders have a Growth Mindset Where are you spending your time and energy?
Fire Fighting
Maintenance
Growth
Fire Fighting In continuous problem resolution mode Always Reacting Creates instability Expensive Not sustainable Other people’s priorities become our own You are burning up your time You do not grow in this mode
Two Modes of Fire Fighting THE CURRENT CRISIS (examples)
1.
Poor allocation of time (i.e. spend all day in meetings)
2.
Procrastination and time wasters
Others problems becomes your problem
3.
Poor organizational culture
Urgent Client Request
4.
Lack of or no people development
5.
Tolerating poor performers
6.
Leaders like or have become very good at Fire Fighting.
1.
An error has occurred
2.
Immediate lack of resources
3. 4. 5.
THE IMPENDING CRISIS (examples)
Environmental
Maintenance Delivering on “promises to clients, associates” Focused on long-term sustainability Creates stability with workforce and clients Creates stability within organization Makes us operationally and fiscally efficient Making good use of your time and resources Takes discipline Creates associate and customer satisfaction
Maintenance Innovation & Creativity Building systems and processes Creates instability for those who want you to stay the same and energizes those who want to grow with you Others grow as a result of your growth Allows you to embrace and create change Will involve an investment of time, energy, focus
The ability to foster growth is your competitive advantage
Time is your Greatest Constraint
Different constraint are decisive for different situations, but the most fundamental constraint is limited time.” - GARY BECKER
Growth vs. Fixed Mindset FIXED MINDSET
GROWTH MINDSET
Skills + Intelligence
Set - You have what you have
Can be grown and developed
Main Concern
How they look / performance focus
Learning / Getting better, Process focused
Effort
Something you do when you're not good
An important part of learning
Challenges
Give up / Check out
Persevere / Work through it – Show more grit
Feedback
Take it personal, get defensive
Like it / Use it to learn
Mistakes
Hate to make them / try to avoid making them
Treat them as a learning opportunity
We will shift out of firefighting mode and into growth mode. WHY?
• Growth is a mindset shift • Fixed mindsets lead to more firefighting • Firefighting reinforces and rewards chaos
• Firefighting devalues growth efforts • Growth requires investment
WHAT?
• Time Allocation Check In
Time Allocation Check In USE: Add an agenda item to your weekly team meetings for a “Time Allocation Check In” Mode
Percentage of time
Growth Mode Maintenance Mode Firefighting Mode
IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, I OPERATED IN THE FOLLOWING STAGES:
1.
If you are spending more time in firefighting than you need to allocate, what’s causing this to occur?
2.
How much of your actions are contributing to this dynamic?
3.
What is one thing I can focus on next week to reduce our firefighting?
4.
What support/resources do we need to achieve it?
The Collective Win • One way for teams to focus on growth is to begin by establishing a “Collective Win”. • It serves as a “rallying cry” for immediate, yet growth minded, and developmental change. • A collective win is a combined effort that the team focuses on in the next 6-12 months that if achieved would create a win for the team, the associates in the organizations, and the people you serve. • It is also an effort that everyone must be involved in. Everyone must have a role, or task in it.
Can you identify a collective win for your organization? 1. Work in teams of four (4) 2. Present what you think the collective win to your small group
3. Gain Feedback from your group mates: • What I liked about your collective win is… • An idea or suggestion is….
Closing Challenges 1. What changes might need to occur within you to
move from a potentially fixed mindset to a growth mindset?
2. What will you specifically do to build greater stability
(maintenance) within your organization that will allow you to focus on growth?
3. How will you communicate and gain buy in from your leadership team in order to work collectively towards this collective win?