Stamina and Focus

In an earlier article I mentioned the challenge of creating a curious scene: A monkey, juggling atop a pedestal. The story is illustrative of the way we should think about approaching our work and planning. If you recall, it’s poses the question of how to approach the project of producing a monkey who is juggling atop a pedestal. The dilemma is simple. Which should you do first, build the pedestal or train the monkey?

Every project must start somewhere. In this case, you should certainly train the monkey first. At the end of the day, you could build the most beautiful pedestal in the world, but without a trained monkey, you will fail at the project. Attack the prospective deal killer first.

Big But Long Bets

In organizations the choices are neither so stark nor so binary. Attacking a hard problem can’t be the done at the expense of running day to day operations —unless you are, like OpenAI, funded with billions of dollars and under no pressure to deliver revenue. But few organizations have that luxury—especially not start-ups.

Of course, developing clear priorities and a strategy to achieve the hardest goals is paramount. But the ultimate test is in the execution. And execution isn’t a one and done phenomenon. It endures over months and years —and is always at risk if alignment or coordination falters.

Since both alignment and coordination apply to human beings—not machines—attending to the ways in which people lose their focus or motivation is probably wise. The success of the long-term, hard project depends on sustaining interest, commitment and clarity . Your team needs to remain as focused and committed to the project on day 189 as on day one.

When Plans Meet Life

What makes all of it especially hard are some basic truths about work. Reality is a bitch! And often, brilliant plans crumble when they meet it.

So, how do you actually deliver concrete progress on ambiguous, long-term challenges that could take years to solve?

History suggests segregating an independent team to focus solely on the unknowns and the ultimate solutions can help.

At Apple in the late 1990s, Steve Jobs was facing a plateau (even a trough) in Apple’s growth. He had an idea that what the world needed was a new way to listen to music. MP3s were becoming easier to get and download. Jobs could see that Apple could succeed with an mp3 device that would be as iconic for the 1990s as the Walkman had been two decades earlier.

One of the things that Steve Jobs was brilliant at was seeing the long-term potential for something that had yet to be developed —but which was possible—albeit, hard. So, when he decided to pursue the mp3 player project, he created a sequestered team specifically for that. Ultimately, the project didn’t move as fast as Jobs had hoped—or so it seems. But Jobs and the team never lost their commitment or focus.

Instead of continuing to work on the software in-house, they called upon a small startup run by Paul Mercer, a former colleague. The Pixo OS that Mercer had been developing for Nokia and other mobile phones was adapted to the mp3 project. In 2001, the iPod was released using Pixo as its OS.

Stamina

But consider for a moment —it Took TWO YEARS to release the iPod. That is not a drop in the bucket. And so, sustaining the effort over the period of time, while operating the regular business took ongoing management and commitment. Of course, it paid off.

For Apple, the segregation effort worked. But, if you are trying to do this in your own enterprise, you may have bigger obstacles. First, let’s assume that you have the economic stability to cordon off part of your team. That’s a big assumption.

But even then, the hard nut to crack is ensuring that your people remain driven and focused even when they hit a wall. As leaders, we are always thinking about what will energize our people. But we sometimes we assume that bonuses and other financial or “motivational” incentives alone can do the job. Mostly, they can’t.

Research shows that what will really carry the day is intrinsic motivation - a drive based on passion for the work itself. It is more effective at driving sustained effort and creativity. It’s all very well for social scientists to declare that, but how can we, as leaders, catalyze so personal a sense of passion and drive?

That’s the question we all grapple with! Tomorrow, I’ll suggest some approaches that have been shown to work. But there is no formula.

At a moment when employee engagement is low —and lowest for remote and virtual workers, intrinsic motivation may be a diminishing resource. But, like green energy, it’s renewable. That’s the challenge each of us faces.

Are you a tech leader in search of a tribe? A place where you can learn, develop trusted friendships, brainstorm new ways to be a visionary leader and strategic thinker? Then have a look at the Leaders Lab, a mastermind program built for leaders of technology teams. Learn more or schedule a call with me.