by Marco Schreurs - HPO Center
Economic developments and increasing competition compel managers to shift gears more and more quickly and effectively. Customers are becoming more adept at determining their needs - and making sure those needs get met. Employees want more responsibility and not have a manager breathing down their neck. At the same time, tighter budgets mean that more work must be done with fewer resources. In other words, few managers appear to be able to avoid these developments. So where should a manager’s focus lie?
If you look at the animal kingdom from a different perspective, you will soon notice that animals have instinctively developed the right characteristics to survive in the long term. We are not talking here about the animals in George Orwell’s classic book Animal Farm, which shows how things should not be done. But there are many lessons to be learned from Animal Farm about power hunger and herd behavior. This story from 1945 continues to be an appropriate metaphor for the behavior shown by many managers and employees within today’s organizations.
In a High Performance Organization - HPO (Animal Firm), the situation is entirely different. Coaching elephants. African wild dogs running in relay form. Ants that learn from each other and share knowledge as part of a guild system. Crows and titmice that organize innovation. Wildebeest, zebras, giraffe and ostriches that group together on the savannah. Goose that give each other feedback. It is a motley group of animals that work together effectively to perform better. They show the same behavioral characteristics found within successful teams and organizations.
But what is a typical organization with the characteristics of an Animal Firm? Google, for example, is an organization of ‘crows and titmice’. Crows and titmice excel at organizing improvements and innovation. They are continuously on the lookout for new solutions to urgent problems. Google organizes this curiosity by carrying out unbridled ‘bird-watching’ through a sort of laboratory in which the focus is on experimentation. Google, for instance, gives employees the opportunity to spend 20 percent of their working hours (one day a week) in a creative fashion. This time is not spent on normal tasks, but on following their creativity and seeing what happens. Many of the innovative developments like Google Earth and Google Books are the product of this 20 percent of ‘bird-watching’ time. A genuine Animal Firm.
The new management book called Animal Firm – Bring out the best animal behavior in you and your coworkers! describes what we can learn from ‘animal organizations’, substantiated by scientific research into the success factors of ‘high performance organizations’. In this article, we describe a common practical example and link it to an example of a strong animal organization. Finally, we provide a number of practical tips for managers to create their own Animal Firm.
A vicious cycle…
For some time, Michael, the Purchasing Department Manager, has had an uneasy feeling. He feels like he always has to identify and deal with new developments alone. Every time a new development enters the department, he is the one who always takes the initiative to discuss with his employees how to deal with it. Michael believes it is important that his staff take more initiative and deal with changes more proactively. He wants his people to behave like co-pilots. During one session, he talks about his vision and observations and makes agreements with his staff on the desired improvements. But, as time passes, his employees show less and less of the behavior that was agreed on at the time. In other words, nothing changes and this concerns him. During the monthly progress discussion meeting, he shares his concerns and vision, as well as the necessity to quickly follow up on agreements. Once again, nothing changes. In fact, things seem to be going from bad to worse. He feels like he is stuck in a vicious cycle and is unable to make the desired change… His behavior starts becoming more and more a form of ‘control’ (proactivity) and his employees are becoming more and more passive - which is exactly the opposite of what he aims to achieve.
Few people set out to sabotage improvement. But, all good intentions aside, it seems to happen often and for a variety of reasons. These reasons include: built-up resentment, poor follow-up action, poor feedback organization and roving leadership. These can occur in any workplace, even in the best performing organizations. Animal behavior is the answer to dealing more effectively with this kind of tough, vicious cycle. Effective animal behavior is described in the Animal Firm and one of these animals is the ’dumb’ goose.
How many ‘dumb’ geese are in your team?
We hope the answer is ‘many’, because geese demonstrate strong leadership and have turned ‘teamwork’ into an art. This is an important characteristic of high performance teams.
You run faster alone, but further as a team.
- Geese often fly in a V-formation. There are a number of advantages to this. The amount of energy used by the total group can be reduced by as much as 50 percent. Why? The moment a goose’s wings flap in the wind, he creates an upward force for the goose flying behind him. If a goose falls out of formation, he will suddenly notice the slowness and resistance of flying alone. The goose will then quickly fall into formation again in order to take advantage of the upward force of the goose in front of him. By flying in V-formation, the group can get 71 percent further than when flying alone.
- The goose at the front of the formation is not always the same animal. The experienced geese who know where the final destination is change position frequently during flight. The moment the lead goose gets tired, he switches places. Another goose takes over the lead position. In other words, leadership is a shared responsibility.
- Migrating geese who fly in V-formation squawk at each other continuously. This squawking has several purposes. One is to encourage the goose in front to maintain speed. Another is for the entire group to stay in contact and profit optimally from the V-formation.
- When a goose gets sick or injured and falls out of formation, two other geese will also fall out of the formation. They will guide the goose downwards to offer help or protection. They stay with the ‘fallen goose’ until it has died or is able to fly again. They then fly back to the group in a formation of three. Sometimes, they may join another group temporarily until they can join up with their original group.
The next time you see a formation of geese fly by, you might find yourself secretly wanting to join them and experience the strength of truly good teamwork!
Strong leadership is the foundation of success!
Success lies in strong leadership. Strong leadership is the result of being (daring to be) open, communicating with others and showing vulnerability when it comes to the challenges you face. Geese provide the perfect example. Geese give each other feedback continuously and act in the interest of the group. Self-confidence, modesty and a sense of servitude are the ingredients of this ‘animal’ leadership. This type of leadership involves appreciatively encouraging one another while making an effort, maintaining contact and acting in the interest of the group. You can also build confidence by demonstrating strong exemplary behavior. Geese show us that this is what really matters, not so much what you say. Continuity should not be based on leadership that revolves around chasing individual targets or climbing over others on your way to the top of the hierarchy, but around forging relationships of trust and long-term collaboration.
To achieve improvements towards becoming more successful, we have put together a number of practical tips to help you start your own Animal Firm and encourage more ‘geese behavior’.
Tips:
1. Know what motivates your coworkers! Stay in touch. Take the time to sit down together and share information. Show genuine interest in private and work-related matters. Everyone is busy and, before you know it, another month has passed without any real contact. If it does not happen spontaneously or gets lost among all the priorities, schedule it.
2. Talk to each other about the kind of behavior you wish to show as an individual, team and department. Develop performance-oriented values and norms: this is the behavior we want and need to show to perform better. Follow simple rules like:
a. Do what you say and say what you do.
b. Always arrive at a scheduled meeting on time.
c. Give direct and bilateral feedback.
d. Ignoring an action twice is once too many.
Communicate with your coworkers and start your own High Performance Animal Firm!
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