I was reading another post by Michael Hyatt this morning, and it struck a cord with what we do at Dialect and why I wanted to start the company.  Michael was asked a simple question in an interview: “Which is most important – mission, core values, or vision?”

Michael answered that they are all equally important and interconnected.  They are distinguishable but inseparable.  You can read the post here.

Then the comments came rolling in.  One comment on Michael’s post says that he has heard that values are defined first.  Another person was more animated about the need for values to come first.

In my experience, leaders start from many places.  We’ve done work with companies were the leader sees purpose as being the glue for everything else.  In other situations, we’ve had leaders emphasize shared values and the strategy.  In other situations we’ve seen leaders who start with strategy and return later to what it will look like when they get there (vision) and what beliefs and behaviors will be necessary to accomplish it (values).

What do you start with at your company?

You can read it here.

One of the things that I find most interesting about strength based
thinking is that it seems as though we (as people and as companies)
seem to take our strengths for granted.  We expect others to be able
to do what we find so easy.  And many times, we wish we could do what
we see others do so well.  I see the same things happening with
companies.  The article talks about different ways to look at
innovation in light of the strengths that your company possesses.

I’d like to hear how you define the strengths of your organization.

In many ways, her post relates to two important concepts we try to emphasize in our work:  sync and cognitive filters.  She points to the need for a memorable message, the need for stories, action tools, partners, and “point of action” nudges.  Together, these five elements relate to creating a direction, building a culture that supports the change, giving process to the effort and connecting the ideas in concrete ways to stakeholders.

Typically, we find that most of us can’t do all these things well because they are very different strengths (i.e. filters).  By making sure that each of Rosabeth’s elements work well together (i.e. they’re in sync), you have a better chance of enabling change.

When you think about the change efforts you’ve been a part of, did leaders recognize our cognitive diversity and use that knowledge to their advantage?

His thinking is simple, straightforward, and powerful.  It resonates with my experience and from a personal perspective, it can be hard to keep the why in mind when dealing with the challenges of business and life.

We recently talked to a large company that has merged two divisions.  The company leaders are asking the question, How are we better together?  I believe their how is Simon’s why.

When is the last time you’ve really looked at your why?

I first used introNetworks software when I attended the TED Conference (Technology, Entertainment and Design).  The software allowed me to choose attributes that best describe me and then view the attributes of more than 1,000 people at the conference. Being part of this smart network allowed me to quickly recognize people, gave me ideas for conversation starters, and help me find people with common interests.

I hope that if you participated in the webinar today you found the conversation helpful.  If you missed it, you can listen to it here.  I think there is great potential to promote organizational sync with a resource like introNetworks.  Anything leaders can do to facilitate different ways to connect like minded people is helpful in promoting sync.

He continued to say that organizations need to have a new strategy and structure with a corresponding culture in order to be appropriately repositioned.  In addition, he suggested that you have to innovate to figure out how you will change.This really resonated with me because as I talk to CEOs and business leaders, they are trying to stabilize.  When I ask “Where are you going as an organization?” they talk about waiting for the market to recover.  They also report how tired their employees are – that it’s been a long period of doing more with less.  What I’m not hearing is how they hope to inspire their organizations toward the future.

•What do you think of this business leader’s advice?

•Are you resetting your organization?

•Do you agree with his premise that there has been a fundamental shift in the economy?

•In times of great change, are you changing how often you review your strategy?

Tell us what you think, what you’re doing differently in the current economic conditions, and share any advice you have for others.