The Trifecta
A Trifecta is a special bet in a horse race.? A normal bet is to pick one horse and then wager if that horse will come in first, second or third (win, place, or show).?? A Trifecta, as the name implies, is when you pick, not one, but three horses, and those horses must win, place and show. You need all three to be successful, or else the bet is lost.?
While horse racing is popular today, it was once among the top three sports in the world. ?Horse racing was called “The Sport of Kings,” and it truly was. ?In 1938, for example, a single horse—the incomparable Seabiscuit—received more news coverage than FDR, Hitler, and Mussolini combined.? Pundits at the time justified this variation in coverage by asserting that the little horse with the wispy tail was much faster and more fun to watch than the three older men.
The Fast Track:? The Search for High Performance Over the Years
The search for advantage, strength, performance, and success is not limited to the sport of kings.? This quest is a fundamental aspiration that has characterized many human endeavors, and building businesses is certainly one of them.?? The keys to economic advantage, building a better business and outdistancing competitors has taken many forms over the past centuries.
1.? The Production Line.? In the late Nineteenth to mid-Twentieth Century, as countries expanded and electric power became more accessible; there was burgeoning demand for new goods and products that made life easier and better.? Automation, the production line, and factories fundamentally reshaped the world of work.??
The keys to success during this period of economic transition were economies of scale, effective asset utilization, efficiency, and strict adherence to a defined production process.? People, like machines, were a cog in this process.?? If either broke down, they could be easily replaced.? So long as everything went smoothly, the system worked:? New and cheaper products were available, the economy flourished, the country grew, and profits soared.? Companies in this time were hierarchical and driven by top-down leadership that wanted to control practices and minimize variance and disruption.? The primary focus, after all, was fidelity to the production process which, in turn, was the engine that allowed more goods to be sold and consumed.
2.? Lean Processes.? By the middle of the Twentieth Century, the economy shifted away from production-line compatible products to include more services and flexible products; and the large, top-down bureaucracies that fueled the industrial revolution became too slow, cumbersome, and inflexible.? The primary focus during this post WWII period became efficiency and internal improvement.? This led to new methods and practices, such as those espoused by Edward Deming and Philip Crosby, including kaizen, continuous process improvement, zero defects, business process re-engineering, and lean manufacturing.?
The emphasis was on simplification in all parts of the organization (not just the production line), eliminating waste, and continuous improvement ideas generated by people closest to the work being done.? People were no longer viewed as cogs in the production process but essential contributors to improving performance.? The Toyota Production System (TPS) was a leading example of heralding the voice and role of people in producing quality products.?
3.? Stars.? The next great economic and social shift is what the World Economic Forum has termed the Third Industrial Revolution (1960s to 1990s) which was driven by semiconductors and computers.? This is the world of analytics, algorithms, heuristics, and big data.? The companies that excelled were ones that were agile, responsive, and innovative.? Highly skilled people became central to creating and designing the type of services and tools that would drive growth, innovation, advantage, and profits.? Bill Gates, then at Microsoft, concurred: “Take away our 30 best people and Microsoft becomes an ordinary company.”
This focus on high performers was similarly advocated in McKinsey’s groundbreaking The War for Talent (2001).? There were some dissenters (e.g., Malcolm Gladwell), but most people believed this approach made sense:? Bring in a bunch of very smart people, surround them with traditional talent management practices, and the organization will prosper.? To the smartest belongs the spoils.?
4.? Collaborative Cultures.? ?This preference for stars seemed to work, but then warning signs emerged.? There were seismic failures of organizations comprised of very smart but somewhat dysfunctional people. There have also been numerous examples of IQ/smarts not being nearly as important to high performance as we had thought (e.g., Google’s Project Aristotle).
Dave Ulrich read these tea leaves with his book Victory through Organization—Why the War for Talent is Failing Your Company (2017).? His view—backed by research—is that by improving the workplace, the workforce can flourish.? It is about building organizational capabilities to improve innovation, enhance collaboration, and reduce bureaucratic barriers.? Ulrich’s research showed that by focusing on these organizational capabilities, the return is four times greater than just developing individual talent.
What are the organizational capabilities that matter most and foster greater collaboration and commitment?? One place to look is the literature and research on high-performing companies.? It is useful to come up with a manageable nucleus of these critical characteristics that truly matter. (Forman, 2020)??????????????????????
No more secrets.? People will do the right thing if they have the opportunity and information they need.? Everyone should be able to contribute.
The bedrock of a reciprocal relationship.? Trust is a multiplier:? The more trust is repaid, the more it extends.
Matters of the heart.? Believing in something counts.
Having multiple bottom lines, not just financial ones.?
A two-way street between people and the organization.? People take responsibility for their own choices.?
Keeping people fresh, marketable, and at the top of their game.?
Being accountable to each other, not just bosses.? “We are in this together.”
+? Serendipity
Have some fun, Be memorable.? Laugh.
Michael Arena (2019) reinforced these findings when he said it is not enough to bring in the best people (i.e., stars), but to bring out the best in all people.? It is about creating organizational cultures where the genius is not what happens inside people’s heads, but between or among them as they work together.? Social capital (people working together) became just as important, if not more important, than individual human capital.
The world of work shifted to reflect these new realities.? Today, more than 80% of the work done in mid to large sized organizations is accomplished in teams.? These teams have a common goal, are usually comprised of four to nine members, are business and customer focused, enable contribution by all, and are able to change as fast as the world around them.? Work is now a team sport, where teams are agile, inclusive, cross-disciplinary, and self-governing.
Back to the Track:? The Wisdom of the Trifecta
Each of these four approaches—the production line, lean processes, stars, and collaborative cultures—has made important contributions to improved performance over the years.? They have reflected the market, economic, and resources of their times, and each was also a reaction to what transpired before them:? Big multilayered organizations led to the need for leaner processes, more efficiency and greater roles for people; which led to the emphasis on high performing people, the best talent, and stars; which, in turn, led to focusing more on teams, culture and organizations rather than individual skills and accomplishments.
So, what are the lessons for today?? How should we now view the quest for better performance, productivity, advantage, and competitive strength.? This will doubtlessly change in the years ahead as new challenges and opportunities are encountered, but what do we know at this moment?
There are three overarching factors that characterize high performing organizations in the third decade of the Twentieth First Century.? They all have historical precedent, as we have seen; but now they are in the race together.?
The High-Performance Trifecta?
1. ?A Talented Workforce….
The business of business is people.
2.? Collaborating in an Agile and Vibrant Workplace….
Even the brightest flower will wither in a barren garden.
3. ?Delivering Meaningful Results and Outcomes.
Just because something can be counted doesn’t mean that it counts.????????? ?????????????????
If you take one part of the Trifecta equation away, the system underperforms or simply stops working. The Trifecta for High Performing Organizations is:? 1) A Talented Workforce (the people), 2) Collaborating in an Agile and Vibrant Workplace (the organization), and 3) Delivering Meaningful Results and Outcomes (the impacts).? All three of these factors must exist, and it is the equilibrium and balance among them that is the key to continued success.
Past lessons have taught us that focusing on just one or two factors is not enough. For example, talent, by itself, is not enough to enhance productivity and improve performance of the company.? Similarly, if all the emphasis is on building organizational capability, that effort may shortchange the needs of employees which can negatively impact engagement and collaboration. ?Likewise, if the emphasis is just on financial outcomes, the organization will not continue to grow and develop, and likely not be sustainable over time.?
It is the synergy of all three equally important factors working together—talented people, in a capable and vibrant workplace, driving meaningful business results—that enables the race to be won.? It is often a delicate balance to achieve, but it is the magic of The Trifecta.
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For those who want more specifics behind the Trifecta, high performance organizations, and driving business results, please see Fearless Talent Choices (2020), available on Amazon.? For those who want to explore more about The Sport of Kings, two great books are Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand set amid the Great Depression, and Horse by Geraldine Brooks that charts the path of the greatest racing stallion in American history from the pre-Civil War to present times.