Precision, Pace, Performance and .............. Passion. A quick corporate health check?

A few years ago an incoming CEO asked staff for comments/suggestions on how to improve the company. I took the opportunity to raise the 3 P's, ie precision, pace and performance. In retrospect I think I should make it 4 P's and add PASSION.

Of the original three, precision could be read as "focus". At the time the company was trying to do way too much, change and BAU, and failing to do much of it properly. Ironically this increased the pressure to start more. Because only a fraction was expected to succeed one needed to start more, right?

I had previously worked in a place where we would say "not yet" and focus on a smaller agenda. The quid pro quo of saying "not yet" was a fanatical focus on delivery, on meeting our committed dates/targets. Once achieved we moved quickly on to the next piece of work.

I would suggest that in the latter situation we delivered as much if not more to a stakeholder community that had confidence and trust in our ability. To me this was preferable, but has to be earned through delivery.

Pace, could also be read as "appropriate empowerment" ie an ability to execute what is needed when it is needed or best addressed. The opposite is a fear culture where no one moves until everything has been "signed off" by everyone else. This is to protect oneself from criticism (sometimes known as CYA) and just drags out timelines. I saw a quote on a board the other day that said "Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible." This is a manifestation of lack of pace.

A loss of pace starts affecting everything the organisation does and can be crippling in the current climate.

The last, performance, was actually more about poor or a lack of performance. This needs identifying and dealing with quickly. At a leadership conference, Colin Powell, ex US Secretary of State, said that a persons peers spot poor performance ahead of any one else, and when they do they look for to seevwhat the leader does about it - this then sets the tone for everyone. If poor performance is tolerated it will spread!

So now to the last "P" that knave added, passion. There has been a thread on a Linkedin discussion about whether an interim resource needs passion to succeed. Not surprisingly the consensus is "Yes", and not just interims. I missed this when I wrote to the CEO because my passion was high and overall it was at worst mixed in the organisation. That said and looking back,the lack/loss of passion spread like a contagion and is definitely worthy of inclusion.

I offer you the 4"P's" as a quick personal health check list when looking at or walking into a work situation.

Precision
Pace
Performance
Passion

Do let me know if this resonates or even better if you used it and it was useful?