Complex Initiatives: Use a Multi-Layer Vision to Organize Them

Many times, we are part of a bigger initiative. The initiative we are leading complements a (possibly much) larger one. Or maybe we are leading the larger initiative. How do we define these efforts so that they are coordinated and in sync? How do we even know that everyone is pulling in the same direction?

Those of you familiar with the Tuckman model know that even within a small group there is a period of time, what’s called “storming”, before everyone starts pulling in the same direction. Imagine if you have a large initiative with tens if not hundreds or thousands of team members?

There are many tools at a leader’s disposal to organize this kind of effort. A key one, though, is Vision: What is the ultimate view of what we are trying to accomplish?

This doesn’t mean that when we start we have a perfect, clear vision of the goal. It may need time to mature, but we know enough to sketch it and refine it over time. In other cases, we could call them “Not Vision”, what we don’t want to happen. For example, for the Year 2000 effort as well as the post-9/11 efforts our vision was “no problems that severely impact Intel”.

And the value of Vision is that it is relatively easy and fast to define if we are comfortable with it being somewhat ill-defined. Refine it as more is understood. Other tools, such as synchronized strategies and plans, take much time and effort to put together. And they require a vision of what we are trying to achieve before they can be developed. Start with a vision!

A vision can be drafted quickly and it can guide everyone’s work while the heavier lifting of synchronized strategies and plans takes place.

Man to the Moon and Return Him Safely

For example, on May 25, 1961 in an address to Congress, then President John F. Kennedy issued his famous “…this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth”. This simply-stated vision became the overall vision that led the United States to send Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon and return them safely, with Armstrong and Aldrin being the first men to step on the moon.

This simple vision, plus funding, etc., let to the creation of various initiatives that enabled the success of this vision. Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, among other programs, were instrumental in ensuring the safe accomplishment of it. Each had their own vision.

• Mercury: “Establish the fundamental feasibility of human spaceflight.”
• Gemini: “ Develop and master the techniques required for advanced space travel, specifically to support the upcoming lunar missions.”
• Apollo: “Achieve a crewed lunar landing and safe return, while advancing U.S> leadership in space.”

I’m not saying that these three programs were thought of at the time of President Kennedy’s speech. No, it took time to get there, and some serious thought had to be exercised to come up with a way to get from 1961 to 1969. But the visions for each of these initiatives could be quickly developed so that the work to plan and execute them could take place.

Leader’s Responsibility

As a leader, it is our responsibility to determine what is being asked of us. One of the first questions we should ask is whether this “ask” is part of a bigger “ask”. We need to understand this context to determine factors that may influence our own efforts. Assuming we are part of a bigger ask, then the next question is what is their vision? If they have one, then we can understand how we fit into it and develop our own. If they don’t, we need to work with them to determine what that vision will be. We should refrain from developing our own vision until that overall vision is drafted.

Once available, and once we understand who else is involved in the overall effort, then we can draft our vision. Our vision should be complementary and support the overall vision. This vision is still at a high level. The details will come about as we develop strategies and plans to deliver the vision.

If we are the larger “ask” then our role is to craft a vision that helps everyone see the ultimate goal and that other leaders in the effort can use to craft their own visions.

If we are not part of a larger “ask”, then we can craft our vision based on our stakeholders’ requirements and goals.

Y2K

Back to Y2K at Intel. I ran the overall effort, so my role was to develop the ultimate vision as well as the success of the program. When we started, our focus was on internal, IT-owned and operated systems. As we dug deeper we realized that we had other exposures: systems not owned by IT; our products, suppliers, and customers. This led to the creation of three additional program offices: Products, Suppliers, Customers, plus the Systems program office already in place and the Overall Program Office.

Each of these program offices had its own vision, similar to the overall vision, but tweaked to their specific area of responsibility.

And the visions guided the efforts. For example, after we had remediated systems and any issues in the other program offices, we implemented a Business Continuity effort to respond just in case something happened. And it did. A very obscure bug in one of our fabrication (fab) facilities reprocessed one “lot” (18) wafers, costing a good amount of money to Intel as they had to be discarded. But through business continuity, the bug was detected, corrected, and the fix deployed, ensuring that it did not recur. Our vision had created this part of the initiative: “no problems that severely impact Intel.”

Of course, there’s a lot of other work besides crafting a vision and letting the teams work at it. Planning, resourcing, coordinating are all extremely critical. But Vision can help with this coordination.

Haier

A good example of Vision guiding a major organization is Haier, the Chinese appliance vendor. Haier does not believe in centralization. They empower each “microenterprise” to function autonomously, guided by an overall vision. And each microenterprise has its own vision. They are encouraged to “mimic the architecture of the internet”, one that is flexible, loosely-coupled, but aligned with the overall vision.

Conclusion

Vision is a powerful tool for leaders. Whether leading a small initiative or an extremely large and complicated initiative, leaders must develop and align a vision that points to the final destination. Leverage this vision as you plan the additional work that is absolutely necessary. Remember, Vision helps people understand what we are trying to achieve. Aligned with good explanation of the “why” it empowers people to achieve their best.

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