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Interview Patty

How to Build a Bridge from Passion to Performance

Great ideas shouldn’t remain with one team.


I was just as surprised to hear it as anyone else.

A group of people had just solved a problem plaguing the organization for years. What surprised everyone was that most were new to the team, yet they had taken the initiative to solve the problem on their own.


Catching up with them to discover how was a difficult task. All the members of this high-performer’s division were spread out over dozens of miles of dangerous terrain.


After a ride in an armored escort, I caught up with the group in a hamlet outside Fallujah, Iraq. This unit was tasked with clearing houses of enemy fighters — a very dangerous job. Often, the insurgents they were hunting would head to the top floor of the buildings they occupied and make a long — and costly — last stand. These Marines needed a way to get to the roofs of these buildings without being detected and clear rooms from the top and bottom.


“We had ladders strapped to the sides of our vehicles and rarely used them,” they told me. “Why not use them as makeshift bridges to get from rooftop to rooftop?”

And that’s what they did. So how did they come up with a solution that saved lives — and countless dollars?

1. Clearly defined role

The group’s job was notto win the war on their own, nor was it to innovate solutions. Yet, they knew each of those was important — and that each would contribute to the success of the organization.


In your company, every one of your employees should be able to define how his or her tactical duties contribute to your overall strategy. If they don’t know what your overall strategy is, communicate it. If they don’t know what they’re aiming for, they likely won’t hit their targets.

2. Encourage feedback

When the young Marines went to their boss with this idea, everyone was busy trying to keep their teams — and each other — alive. Yet the leader knew he couldn’t innovate every solution and lead his team. He’d been taught to be open to feedback and new ideas.


Are your folks comfortable coming to you with new solutions? (Here’s a hint: If they’re not doing it regularly, it means there’s a problem.) This goes beyond an open-door policy. As a leader, you should regularly solicit and reward innovative ideas and feedback from your people. When your teammates see these ideas are welcome, they’ll provide all you can handle.

3. Share the idea

When the team tested out the idea of using a ladder to leapfrog from building to building and worked out some of the challenges, they didn’t keep it to themselves. Quickly, it became standard operating procedure for all the Marines in the area to use their breeching ladders.


Great ideas shouldn’t remain with one team. The highest-performing companies regularly share innovative ideas with their entire organization, ensuring everyone can profit from a small success.

Building a bridge from your team’s passion to performance isn’t hard — if you’re there to lend a hand.

Source: bizjournals

 

​Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. From improving cash flow…. ​to increasing staff productivity…. ​to scaling for growth, these periods of transition — and so many more — provide both challenges and opportunities. Managed effectively, change can become a productive force for growth. The Block Group harnesses that potential​, turning roadblocks into building blocks for women-owned businesses​.


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Advice for women entrepreneurs in Houston Texas

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