AUTHOR SPEAK: ANNE MORRISS
AUTHOR SPEAK: ANNE MORRISS
You say that, far too often, companies don’t tackle the root issues but instead focus on surface problems that mask what’s going on. How can companies identify the real problems holding them back? How will this benefit their company? In the book, we organize steps by day of the week and use Monday to signify the first step: identify your real problem. We invite you to pause and focus on this as it’s very tempting to solve the symptom of a problem and not tunnel down to its root cause. The thing that will help you the most is your curiosity, and that is the abundant and renewable resource we really want you to tap into. It’s not as easy as it sounds to do that because most of us, particularly as we rise in the hierarchy, become convinced that we are paid for our judgment. And judgment and curiosity don’t play well together. The research shows that they can’t co-exist, so often, we must be quite deliberate at leaving judgment out of the room as we figure out the real problem and invite curiosity to take the wheel. Your job on Monday, and when you’re trying to figure out the real cause of problems, is to ask the right questions and not to have the right answers. That’s a real mindset shift for many people in leadership. You argue that creating the conditions for everyone to thrive is the ultimate investment a company can make. Let’s say we’re convinced – where do we start on this ambitious goal?
Leadership is about creating the conditions for others to thrive, both in your presence and your absence. The tools to achieve this differ depending on who you’re trying to influence. For the people in front of you, it’s about setting high standards, being clear about expectations, but also simultaneously revealing your deep devotion to their success. Doing these things at the same time is often counterintuitive. Not everybody is the same, and it’s a huge advantage to create an environment where people can bring their differences into the workplace and contribute to that difference. The simplest way to do this is to practice the platinum rule. The golden rule is to treat other people the way you would want to be treated. But if those people are different from you, that won’t work. We want you to upgrade to the platinum rule, which is to treat other people how they would like to be treated. The beautiful thing about the platinum rule is you don’t know the answer to that question until you go and find out. And so, inquiry can be a powerful, enlightening, trust-building moment. So, go and find out what it will take for someone else to thrive, and then execute that with a sense of urgency. You emphasize the importance of trust and discuss its three essential drivers: authenticity, empathy, and logic. Can you share how you can use these to identify where a company might be losing trust? I am more likely to trust you as a leader if I am convinced of your logic, authenticity, and empathy. Logic means I’m convinced that you can do the job, I trust you at the wheel, and I think you’ll make good decisions. Empathy is where I believe that you care about me and my success. The authenticity part is when I believe that what you think, say, and do are aligned.
Speed has gotten a bad name in business, much of it deserved. Why did you set out to rehabilitate its reputation? Isn’t speed the problem in many companies? What we have found in working with organizations is that there is a huge opportunity to make a difference to those leaders, teams, and businesses that are moving too slowly. If we can help increase the metabolism of organizations by giving people a way to respond with urgency to their most important problems, then that is the path organizations that are taking big swings and/or responding to big shocks. No one has ever told us, “I wish I had taken longer and done less.” So, that’s the jumping-off point for the book. Can we look at the pattern of those who have been particularly effective at leading big, meaningful change and not only learn from the pattern but also codify it in a way that would be accessible to others? to an even bigger impact. We have worked with many
Over the last ten years, Anne Morriss has helped countless companies create the speed and trust necessary to generate momentum and results. Here she tells ai:sight about her latest book Move Fast and Fix Things, where she shares the success she has helped achieve at fast-moving companies, including Uber, Riot Games, and ServiceNow.
ver a decade ago, Mark Zuckerberg declared that Facebook would “move fast and break things”. The phrase
quickly became an informal motto for the tech giant and thousands of businesses aspiring to be like it. However, leadership expert Anne Morriss, founder of the Leadership Consortium and co-host of the TED podcast Fixable, believes a new mandate is more appropriate for businesses: move fast and fix things. Here, she explains why.
NO ONE HAS EVER SAID TO US, “I WISH I HAD TAKEN LONGER AND DONE LESS.”
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Volume 8 ai:sight by Fractal
ai:sight by Fractal Volume 8
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