Too Much at Once

Wow. Who would have thought six months ago that President Obama would be evoking such strong negative feeling for trying to solve the country's major problems?

But look at how he has done it. He has attacked many large problems at once. He has not provided the American people (his stakeholders) with clarity. He has not built consensus around his sense of urgency. He has used his political capital (i.e his authority) to push through what he wanted.  He left us behind and what lingers is a sense of a huge amount of debt, and instead of hopefulness, fear.

This is not a comment on whether he made the right moves or the wrong moves. It is more a look at what was wrong with his methodology. In a corporate setting, bringing about change is recognized as a process that takes time. There has to be buy in on a few levels. There has to be a carrot and a stick, rewards and accountability. There must be clear communication and there must be a vision of a believable positive future. Confusion cannot be allowed to reign- clarity is a must.

Well, who is clear on TARP? On the stimulus? On the healthcare reform plan?  Obviously, not enough people. How can we be so against fixing a system that doesn't work? It is because Obama doesn't own the conversation- he let opponents fashion the communication. Rumors, negativity, outright lies and a total lack of clarity prevail. All of this is on top of a prevailing environment of fear at the huge deficits we have incurred already.

He may be doing everything right while he is communicating it and executing it all wrong.

Stop for a minute and think about instances in your business when you have been positive what you are doing is right and you haven't bothered to be thoughtful in the way you present it to others.

There are proven, successful ways to implement change. Take the time to do it right and do it well and your chances for success are multiplied. many times. Try to push it through just because you are the boss and have the authority to do so, and you will be dragging your team along unwillingly and the effort will wear you out and end up giving you a less than satisfactory result.

Multiple change initiatives pushed in the same timeframe are almost impossible to sustain unless your team is primed for them, incentivized and motivated. Typically, doing too much at once is a prescription for failure. It dilutes the focus on any one thing, making everything equally important or unimportant and therefore leaving no prioritization.

Do one thing. Do it right and do it well- embed it in your culture and then move on to the next initiative.  Too much at once will be lost on everyone.

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