December 18th: If We Just Follow the Light ??

Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, John Smith, and Dr. Abacus McKinley gathered before the rest of the staff arrived for the workshop. The purpose was to discuss how to conduct the workshop that would start an hour later. They all agreed, even John Smith who in general was still a little reluctant, about the intended outcome: Find ways to improve Christmas spirit. But they certainly didn’t agree on how to reach the goal. 

Santa and Mrs. Claus advocated for letting the staff work as freely as possible, with some overall guidance, whereas John Smith and Dr. McKinley were in favor of a more upside-down approach in which the staff made suggestions and the management made decisions.

To support his point of view, Dr. McKinley told about his experiences from a lot of other very similar projects (at least according to him). “I particularly remember one time when I moderated a goal-setting workshop. In that company, the management was weak, so they let the employees identify their goals themselves. I’m not saying it wasn’t a success, because all the participants actually found a new goal. In fact, none of them returned from the workshop because they all shared the same goal: Find a better job!”

“But don’t you see, Dr. McKinley,” said Santa in his most persuasive voice. “It wasn’t the process that was wrong, it was the company that was bad if they all wanted to leave. I doubt that’s the case here and I really find it important that my staff tries to find the solutions themselves.”

Before Dr. McKinley could respond, Mrs. Claus started speaking. “My dear Dr. McKinley. I’m sure you have a black belt in anything related to consulting, but our people must feel an ownership to the solutions and the only way for that to happen is to let them find the solutions themselves. As you know, our situation is both difficult and serious, so we need some creative solutions. I can tell you this: The best way to kill creativity in a team is to let the boss speak first. So no, we’re going for an open discussion with lots of guidance, but only a minimum of control.” Mrs. Claus’s voice was not persuasive; it was conclusive.

And that’s how it went. When the staff had gathered, Santa started the meeting by reminding everyone about their mission: Create better Christmas spirit so that everyone uses the words we and us more than I and me. “And let us not forget our two fundamental values, because together with our mission they form the boundaries of our endeavor: ‘moral accountability’ and ‘unselfish giving’. Those are our core values and we must always remember them, because if we don’t stand for something, we risk falling for anything. And with these words I hand it over to Dr. McKinley, who has some important instructions for us about the next thing we need to find out, our value proposition. Or as I would probably have put it, what makes us attractive to our ‘customers’, the children and their parents.”

“Thank you so much, Santa Claus.” Dr. McKinley took a long view at the audience before continuing. “One week ago, I stood here and presented what I thought was an intelligent solution to your problems. Today I’m not saying I was wrong, but I have learned a lot since then, both by listening in on the focus group and by talking to Santa and Mrs. Claus. And now it’s your turn to teach me about your value proposition, even though you most likely don’t know it yet. Here’s how we do it. We’ll split you up into a number of groups and in these groups you’ll discuss the following: 1) Target group: Who should we approach? I guess this is a no-brainer, since we must approach both children and their parents, but maybe you can find a twist to it. 2) Which needs do our target group have that we should cover? And mind you, you must look further than just presents. Then, 3) Which solutions should we offer to cover these needs? This is where you need to be creative and think outside the box, even though—as we saw previously—this is not easy. And finally, 4) How do we communicate our solutions? Of course, even the best solution is of no value if it’s not communicated. Any questions?”

There were none. Not because the staff didn’t care, but because they were anxious to get started. During the focus group they had all felt in their heart the need for change and now they couldn’t wait to find the solutions that were so needed.

“Fantastic, but there is one more thing I want you to do when you have come up with a strong value proposition. You must test it, which is quite simple. You must first ask if your value proposition ‘resonates’, that is, do your customers have a real need for the solution? Then you must consider whether it ‘differentiates’, that is, if it’s different from other ways to solve the target groups’ needs. And finally, I want you to consider the ‘substance’: How can you make your target group believe that your solution actually does what it promises to do? That’s it, but before you get started, here’s a piece of advice when it comes to finding new solutions. ‘Always’ and ’never’ are two words you should always remember never to use.”

Mrs. Claus quickly rose from her chair. “I also have a message for you,” she said. “Tonight we’re having steaks.” She paused for a second before adding as enthusiastically as she could, “Because I want you to slay all our sacred cows!”

Main take-aways:

?? The employees must feel ownership of the solutions in order to get them implemented

?? It’s important that the boss takes the back seat in order not to hinder the employees’ creativity

?? The company’s mission and core values must be the only boundaries for the creativity

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