VIDEO CASE ANALYSIS

'Boss Talk' Video Case Analysis

'Boss Talk' Video Case Analysis

Synopsis of the Situation

Recently I've been consulting with a large financial services company that is changing direction. A major aspect of the change is a reorientation away from a product focus toward a customer one. This is the kind of change that requires the management team to revisit almost every important aspect of the business. The CEO has written a memo describing the strategy. He has also provided written answers to a large number of questions. Problem is, nobody knows what to do next. (Well, the people I work with are having trouble figuring out what the strategy means; I haven't spoken to everybody.) The Program Management Office managers feel they need the strategy to be articulated well enough so that program charters can be written and the business basis for the work can be determined - a very reasonable point of view (Laswell, 2011).

Key Issues

My advice is to develop a document that sets out the strategy in clear, unambiguous, actionable terms. Now nobody knows what I mean. So I agreed to take one of the main themes and develop the sort of clear document I'm talking about. Writing this article will help me get going by helping me clarify my own thinking. (There is a pattern forming here that's a little too recursive, like an Escher drawing. I'd better get linear, or I'll accomplish the opposite of my intention.) The fact is, clear thinking is difficult. So is clear communication - probably because it requires clear thinking. Visionary leadership is necessary to get organizations moving, but so is clear communication. In fact without it people generally don't know what to do next, as we have discovered (Laswell, 2011).

Define the Problem & the Opportunity

Let's analyze the three words I used to characterize the communication that helps turn Strategy into Action and results: Clear language is, to use a dictionary definition, (The American Heritage College Dictionary, Third Edition) “Free from what dims, obscures, or darkens; unclouded…” and from another dictionary: “Plain or evident to the mind; unmistakable.” Clear language seeks to communicate so it over-communicates if necessary. Repetition and examples are used in clear language, as is structure. Clear language should appear to have been parsed for easy reading and digestion (Miller, 2005).

Unambiguous language can only be interpreted one way. Unambiguous communication does not equivocate; it is explicit and not obscure. This is difficult to do and sometimes requires a series of communications. The key here is to realize the importance of getting the information (in this case the strategy) documented unambiguously. Once this is realized, a dialogue that encourages active listening needs to be started. The questions and answers that followed the CEO's first memo was a good example of this. However, the dialog has apparently stopped and needs to be picked up again (Miller, 2005).

Alternative Solutions

Actionable language specifies the changes in behavior or the work that should be started based on the ...