Turning Large Ships
‘Stuck’ is bad for you as an individual, but what do you do when your organization starts to lose traction and gets lost?
How does a team get their spunk and spirit back when they get confused and overwhelmed?
We love this question…and get it a lot.
We were once contacted by a school within the State University of New York system. After years of neglect and internal turnover, their communication and wayfinding system was a mess. The problems started when trying to determine which exit to take off the interstate, and continued all the way down to finding which building housed student orientation. On top of it, a lack of consistency, outdated logos, and being unclear about such basic things as what the actual name of their school was, they were not even able to hand out diplomas at graduation (can’t send them to print when you don’t know what name to stamp it with!). There were some—understandably—unhappy nursing graduates indeed. Not cool.
The school’s new director saw these problems and wanted to fix their heading, but the changes needed seemed too big and she was, admittedly, overwhelmed. She was handed a clumsy ship and didn’t know how to turn it around. So she called on us for help.
The way out is to look within. Each of their crew had a part to play and their own skills—if they were willing and allowed to share! By getting the team to communicate and be open to their collective ideas, good and bad, they found the change they needed and that a new course was possible. We were able to free up their navigation system and set them on course toward their north star.
Large ships are designed to turn and do it all the time.
We did it for Yeti when they were dealing with growing pains and growing competition, and again for a Boston healthcare marketing agency who forgot that they were actually the “creative” team.
Numerous other companies and agencies over the years have come to us to help them navigate change and get back in the race and out of the “business as usual” doldrums.
So, how do you turn a large ship? Here are a few of the Steps:
Use your resources.
Allowing each teammate to do their job and contribute from their skill set lets them take ownership and responsibility—and no one is dead weight. Let your crew bring their weirdness to the table. Help each individual to see their own gifts and abilities so they can 1. make their lives better and 2. bring that energy back to the group.
Communicate, fer chrissakes!
Communication can solve any problem. For the University it was less about the obstacles as it was the inability to share their ideas and problems and then propose solutions. Gather the crew together, set the compass North, and talk, talk, talk!
Get onboard
(OK, these nautical references are killin’ me…but hear me out). The old joke says the light bulb must be willing to change. Be open to new and even crazy ideas. “The way it’s been done before” is the death knell of curiosity, new and innovation. And the easy way is always a trap.
Make it fun
and take the fear and emotion out of it. Allow people to take risks and fail in a workshop situation without any real life consequences. Allow people to go to the wrongest answers and see all the possibilities within them. And, above all, play and make a mess.
Lastly,
you may want to feck a little perfuction in the process.
Turning a large ship is not impossible if you have a nimble and agile crew who feel powerful and in charge of their direction.
With love, your Captains,
James and Shannon
Need some help navigating? We offer custom speaking and workshops. Drop us a line at howdy@yourworkisagift.com
A recent workshop day in Indianapolis with the team at Well Done Marketing :-)