In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins reports his findings on what it takes to be a great organization. One of the things he points out is that you have to have the right people on the bus and in the right seats. It is important to have the right people who are in the right place based upon their giftedness and abilities. We want people to be in their "wheel house" so they can swing away and do what they do best. You don't have to micro manage the right people, you just set them up for success and let them work their magic!
There are times in the history of organizations when the bus becomes stuck and the engine will not start. Those are the times when you have to get off the bus and push!
A number of years ago, my wife and I were camp counselors. One of my jobs was to take the day campers back to town at the end of the day. It was pretty straight forward; load 40-50 kids on the BIG BLUE BUS and drive them to the park in downtown Vero Beach and wait for their parents to pick them up.
On one particular day, I completed my mission and stopped at the grocery store on the way home. When Donna and I got back on the bus... You guessed it, the engine would not start! Being the strong, young and cocky husband, I decided that I was going to push start the bus and impress my young wife. I KNEW that if I could just get the bus moving inertia would take over and the engine would start.
Donna had never driven a stick shift vehicle of any kind, so I gave her a CRASH course on how to hold the clutch in until the bus began to move and then pop the clutch. I gave her specific instructions not to let the engine stall out once it started.
I managed to get the bus moving and yelled "Pop the clutch!" Amazingly the engine started and the bus began to chug away from me. It suddenly dawned on me that I never explained to Donna how to push the clutch back in and disengaged the transmission. To this day, Donna still remembers the look of panic on my face as she watched me in the side view mirror. I ran after the bus, jumped through the doorway, changed places with her and stopped the bus. We still laugh about it to this day!
Sometimes you just have to get out of the bus and give it a push to get it started. You've got all the right people and they may even be in the right place, but the bus is not moving. You can find a new direction or a new path, but you just have to get the bus moving again. Trust me, the more people you have to help you push the bus, the better! Inertia will take over!
So surround yourself with a great bunch of people! It makes pushing the bus a lot easier!!
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