Focus is about doing more work on fewer things

Another dimension of the gridlock challenge is that customers build loyalty with companies based on very specific attributes Volvo for safety, Nordstrom for customer service, Nike for sports performance, Honda for reliable motors. Does that mean that Volvo doesn't have any performance engineering or pay any attention to ergonomics for comfort? Of course not. But when Volvo advertises, they emphasize safety. When they make trade-offs and tough decisions on manufacturing costs and designs, they bias decisions toward the value of safety.

Opportunistic companies, in contrast, have no central strategic and market focus and end up taking a stand on everything and, therefore, nothing. The unfocused companies will also launch best-practices efforts on every part of the business, regardless of whether the area is a differentiator in the eyes of customers. This creates more task overload and is overkill in some areas. In a well-focused company, in contrast, you should drive to set (not meet) the standards for best practices in the areas that are the highest value points for your customers ones that create lasting customer relationships.

Often, companies that grow through acquisitions have a tough time gaining a single market focus. Either a company, over time, builds a unique standing in the eyes of customers, or it is not successful. The challenge in acquisitions is in knowing how to leverage "the best of the best" from each acquired entity to create a new "one company" perspective. As an engineering manager in an acquired division put it, "We are just a bunch of separate companies all with the same business card." His company was in gridlock over RandD funding decisions. Each business fought for its own funding with many overlapping business plans in the marketplace, which you would expect because these were supposed to be complementary businesses. The negotiated outcomes of the RandD budgeting process had resulted in subpar funding for everything, including the portfolios that should have received a "doubling down" of bets. The market's perspective? Jack of all trades, master of none. A lack of focus is a sure way to maintain a mediocre position in the market.

Imagine you are leaving a major stadium from a sporting event. When traffic comes to a halt in gridlock, is it because all of the drivers have stopped wanting to move ahead? Of course not. In fact, the more the gridlock sets in, the more frustrated people get and the more they try to push and inch forward usually at the expense of blocking the progress of others. Because each person has his or her own intentions, eventually too many people with their own agendas meet up at the same intersections. What is needed is some prioritization of traffic flows, the sequencing of longer runs of traffic in specific directions, and a traffic cop to call out the directions clearly. It is the same at a gridlocked organization.

The only way to cure the gridlocked organization and generate the required focus to execute is to be willing to start at the top, set a clear direction, set priorities, and let people's underlying motivations and innovations begin to emerge and build momentum. It takes a leader seeing the pattern of gridlock and stepping up to prioritize efforts and set clear direction to get started.

As put by Len Rodman, chairman and CEO of Black and Veatch, "When I think about what worked in those days at the start of the ACT process, it was the ability to look at a few items and put our energy there. When things are difficult and change needs to happen, it seems that there is a plethora of things to work on there is always something else that comes up. But we found, by focusing on a very few things everybody could work on, that channeled the mass of the organization in the right direction."

A common fear of many leaders is that if they admit that the organization is doing too much, they will lose their ability to motivate the team to do more. Managers might believe such an admission will build in an excuse for people at all levels to not work harder and to not deliver results. In response, these leaders try to rally the team to step up, thereby adding to the overload rather than prioritizing major initiatives. This just overwhelms an already overtaxed system. And, when the leader keeps raising the bar relentlessly, and calling for more and more effort, it becomes political suicide for any team member to throw up the white flag and call out the issue of task overload. Instead, everyone just hunkers down further in their fox holes, checking the boxes on their tasks as fast as they can.

Focus is not about doing less work overall, but rather doing more on fewer things. You need not give up on the call to grow the organization rapidly or for people to work hard. You just have to be willing to shoulder the risks of clearly articulating a tight focus on what will and won't be done. You need to lead the way to make the tough choices that mean less hedging of bets, and then trust the team to execute with more impact and accountability because they are now called on to drive further against fewer goals. Bill Barnes, a private equity investor at one of the world's largest Swiss banks and former executive at a $30 billion computer manufacturer, describes focus well. He points out that, "Focus comes from clearly understanding the unique elements of your business model and market strengths that are the drivers of your success. And there are times when you can't simultaneously do two things well and will need to focus on your core priorities." Although, he also points out, "You can't get so narrowly focused that you lose sight of how the business environment is changing around you so you'll need to continually reassess your focus."