The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork Ch 7

IBM's Transformation and the Law of the Compass

• IBM, once a dominant force in American business, faced significant challenges in the late 1980s/early 1990s due to slow responses to technological shifts. This led to substantial annual losses.
• Lou Gerstner, IBM's new CEO, implemented a strategy centered around a unifying vision of e-business, addressing internal fragmentation and marketing weaknesses.
• Under Abby Kohnstamm, senior vice president of marketing, IBM replaced multiple ad agencies with a single firm, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, streamlining its message and focus on e-business – the largest marketing campaign in IBM's history.
• This strategic shift successfully transformed IBM's perceived image from a laggard to a leader in the digital space, without changing product or service offerings significantly.
• The campaign fostered renewed direction and confidence among IBM employees. This change demonstrated the power of vision in unifying teams.

The Law of the Compass: Vision for Team Success

• Vision is crucial to team success, providing direction and inspiring confidence.
• Teams lacking vision may be aimless, with members' individual agendas conflicting and draining team energy.
• A team embracing a clear vision, however, gains focus, energy and certainty. Knowing the destination and purpose fosters motivation.
• Leaders have a responsibility to present and maintain a compelling vision, ensuring everyone's understanding. They don't necessarily have to create the vision, but they must communicate it effectively.
• Defining a shared vision is crucial to team performance, clarifying the path and building trust, even for team members not directly in leadership positions.

Defining a Compelling Vision: The Six Compasses

• A team's vision must align with key principles for success:

  • Moral Compass (Integrity): A vision grounded in ethical principles – integrity. It fosters credibility and motivation for team members.
  • Intuitive Compass (Passion): A vision stemming from internal passion and conviction. It creates strong motivations and distinguishes between committed and uncommitted members.
  • Historical Compass (Building on the Past): A vision that links the past, present, and future – valuing previous contributions. Storytelling methods are effective for connecting with the history of the organization and values.
  • Directional Compass(Goals): A vision with clear objectives and metrics. Goals give the team specific targets.
  • Strategic Compass(Process): A vision with a clear plan. Strategies give the team a road map.
  • Visionary Compass(Potential): A vision that looks beyond current circumstances to appreciate team members' potential and motivation through stretching expectations.

• Vision helps people accomplish challenging goals and motivates highly talented individuals who might face lack of motivation without an inspiring objective.

• Effective vision promotes focus, energy, and confidence, preventing the team from losing direction and ultimately failing.

Starbucks Case Study

• Howard Schultz, who bought Starbucks in 1987, had a clear personal vision to revitalize and expand the company.
• His vision initially focused on expanding Starbucks throughout the US.
• His vision expanded to include adding espresso bars and other offerings.
• Schultz recognized and addressed issues of staff morale and cynicism, fostering a more positive and respectful working environment.
• His commitment to creating a place where employees felt valued and respected ultimately led to a highly profitable and successful company.
• This example highlights the power of vision in transforming a company's culture.

Teamwork Principles

• Teams need a clear vision to progress confidently.
• Team members need to understand the team's vision and check if it aligns with their strengths and goals.
• Leaders play a key role in articulating and communicating the vision to maintain focus and achieve progress.
• Teams should use a checklist for communicating vision effectively to stakeholders. Key components for impactful communication include: clarity, connectedness, purpose, goals, honesty, stories, challenge, passion, modeling, strategy.

Explore the pivotal transformation of IBM under CEO Lou Gerstner in the late 20th century. This quiz delves into the strategies that revitalized the company's approach to e-business, streamlined marketing efforts, and reshaped its corporate image. Test your knowledge on how a strong vision can unite a fragmented organization.