When he became CEO of Ford, Alan Mulally ran a weekly business plan review meeting. In this meeting they reviewed vision, product plans, and sales status. Mulally went first, reminding his team of the vision and strategy. Then each operating executive gave updates on their initiatives. The framework for these updates was a simple Red / Yellow / Green formula: - Green - Everything on track - Yellow - Issues exist but solutions identified - Red - Issues exist and solutions not yet identified Leaders were asked to bring facts and data (versus opinions) supporting their assessments. In one of the first meetings after becoming CEO, the leaders went around the room and gave their pdates per usual. They were green. Across the board. All systems go. And yet, Ford was on track to lose $17B that year. 17 BILLION DOLLARS. Mulally confronted this fact. If every division was 100% on track, how on earth could the company be losing so much money? Finally, a brave exec stood up and admitted he had a serious production problem causing risk to his business plan. His peers were floored. You see, until Mulally joined Ford, bad news was unwelcome. What did Mulally do? First, he applauded this leader's vulnerability. Then he asked the other executives around the table for their experience with the production issue. Turns out another division had a similar problem and solved it. The status instantly went from red to yellow (and eventually to green after it was implemented). There are two things stick out to me about this story: 1. People can accomplish more when they work together. It's the leader's job to normalize vulnerability and collaboration. 2. Simplicity is your friend when managing complex programs (as we do in the high-tech industry). Ford's managers didn't need fancy cheat sheets to report their status. Just a dead-simple heuristic. How can you apply this approach to your: - marketing campaigns? - renewal opportunities? - sales pipeline opportunities? - product development initiatives? - new customer implementations?
This is very useful in the Project Management realm as well.
Simple and consistent, as a strategy should be... What changes is the steps we take to get there based on the variables we chose are important. Love this
Great advice
Jay, Thanks for sharing!
Jay Nathan - spot on - "Simplicity is your friend when managing complex programs!"
It was about 5yrs ago when I first heard the story of Alan Mulally and the transformation of Ford. All it took was one person questioning the status quo for the rippling effect of change to carry through the organization. I have “don’t tell me what I want to hear, tell me what I need to hear” written in my notebook as a reminder to avoid becoming a narrow minded thinker.
Love how simple he made this
"Good news is no news. No news is bad news. Bad news is good news." Quote from chairman James Morgan of Applied Materials where I started as VoC Manager and led companywide CXM and Corporate Quality. The BS meter was on full alert there, and acknowledgement of weaknesses was seen as early opportunity to course-correct before potential negative consequences. Bringing all groups up to par with organizational learning was the managerial attitude. This was instrumental to my ability to engage 50+ business units each in stopping 2+ root causes of what bothers customers, every year. Multiplier effect on profit, revenue, CX, and EX.
This is why being open about data is so important. If the numbers say one thing but reality says another, you're flying blind. Leaders who normalize open reporting solve problems faster and build a culture of constant improvement. The same goes for revenue teams. Clear goals, shared insights, and teamwork between sales, marketing, and customer success help businesses grow steadily instead of struggling every quarter. Jay Nathan
I love this story