Accelerating Organizational Performance

Creating a Results Oriented Culture, Part One

Imagine two hotels in the same town. They both do a good business in meetings and conventions.
Imagine Tom works at one hotel, and Stanley works at the other hotel. Both are involved in getting
rooms ready Ior meetings. They arrange tables and chairs as needed Ior each meeting. They may set up
projector screens, table Ior projectors, podiums, microphones, etc. all depending and the request oI the
group holding the meeting.
On a given Monday morning Tom and Stanley are both to be setting up a large meeting room. Both are
getting ready Ior meetings with about 100 people. There will be a continental breakIast waiting Ior both
groups at 8:00 AM, with both meetings to start at 8:30AM.
Both meeting have requested set ups Ior giving presentations. That means a screen Ior showing the
presentation on, a table Ior the laptop and LCD projector, power cords, a podium, etc.
Tom shows up at 6:00 AM to an empty meeting room, and aIter careIully going over the meeting setup
checklist, he starts to bring in the chairs and tables Irom the meeting equipment storage room. He brings
in an extra table Ior the laptop and projector; he gets the power cords and the black rubber strip to
prevent tripping on the power cord. The large projection screen, which is needed Ior this meeting, is not
in the storage room. With 100 people in the room, the medium screen will not work. So Tom goes and
looks Ior the large screen. Tom has to look in several meeting rooms because the large screen was not
returned Irom its last use.
Tom gets the tables and chairs set up according to the room layout diagram. The presenter had asked Ior
a six Ioot table Ior the laptop and projector. Tom had brought along a Iour Ioot table, which is what most
people use, so he needs to go back to the storage room to get the right table. As Tom sets up the power
cords and the black rubber strip that prevents tripping over the power cord, he notices the rubber strip
will not sit Ilat, so he decides to make another trip to the storage room to Iind a strip that will sit Ilat.
Tom does not want the presenter to trip.
Stanley shows up at 6:35 AM to an empty meeting room, and aIter quickly going over the meeting setup
checklist starts to bring in the chairs and tables Irom the meeting supplies storage room. He brings in an
extra table Ior the laptop and projector; he gets the power cords and the black rubber strip to prevent
tripping on the power cord. He looks around Ior the large projection screen, but cannot Iind it, so he
brings a medium screen
Stanley gets the tables and chairs set up according to how the room was set up last time. The layout
diagram is missing Irom the setup material and Stanley is already behind since he did not set his alarm
last night. The presenter had asked Ior a six Ioot table Ior the laptop and projector. Stanley had brought
along a Iour Ioot table, which is what most people use, so Stanley makes a mental note, that iI there is
time he will go get the longer table. As Stanley sets up the power cords and the black rubber strip that
prevents tripping over the power cord, he notices the rubber strip will not sit Ilat, so he places a trash can
on the strip to try and get the strip to sit Ilat. Stanley looks up to see meeting attendees starting to arrive,
2009 Roger Olson www.aop1.org Get Where You Want To Go. Faster.
and he realizes he has to get another room setup down the hall. Stanley leaves the meeting room with
the Iour Ioot table instead oI the six Ioot table, the medium screen instead oI the large screen and a trash
can sitting on the power cord rubber strip that won`t lay Ilat. Stanley is annoyed that he will not get to
call his girlIriend between room setups. There just is not enough time in the day.
Tom is results oriented. He had to look Ior the large screen that was supposed to be in the storage room,
but was not. He made two trips back to the storage room, one Ior the longer table, one to replace the
warped power cord cover. Tom understood his job was not to move chairs and tables and power cords
etc around. He understood his job was to get a room set up the way that the paying guests had requested.
He put himselI in the presenters place and tried to look at the room through the presenters eyes an make
sure that the room was just as the presenter had requested. Tom understands that each meeting group,
each presenter has speciIic needs and expectations. II his employer wants those people to come back,
then those needs and expectations need to be met. He also understands that sometimes things will not go
according to plan and a checklist will not cover everything. Tom know that sometimes he has to use his
judgment and make decisions on his own because there is not enough time to check in with his manager.
Stanley is activity oriented. The room needed tables and chairs, a screen, a table Ior the laptop, power
cords and a rubber strip to prevent tripping. Check, check, (medium screen probably as good as large)
check, (Iour Ioot table almost as long as six Ioot) check and (hopeIully the trash can on the rubber strip
will work) check. He went down the check list Ior the room and saw that all the boxes were checked.
Stanley thinks, 'Ready to move on to the next room. Stanley sees his job as a series oI things to ao.
Stanley does not spend time thinking about what was important to the meeting attendees or the
presenter. Stanley tends to see the needs oI the meeting attendees as something that gets in the way oI
taking breaks. Stanley likes making excuses and does not like being held accountable. He avoids
responsibility like the plague.
Tom`s manager likes having Tom working Ior him.. He does not have wonder what will go wrong when
Tom is working, because even when there are snags, Tom makes appropriate decisions He knows that
Tom will put in the extra eIIort to make sure that all the needs and wants oI the meeting attendees are
taken care, and at the end oI the day, the attendees will be happy they chose this hotel Ior the meeting.
Stanley`s manager is not surprised when someone Irom a meeting in a room that Stanley set up
complains that something is missing or wrong. It`s not daily, but it is not unusual. A large screen was
requested and the room has a medium screen, a six Ioot table was requested and the room has Iour Ioot
table, etc. His manager is not surprised at the reasons, stories and excuses he hears Ior why things were
not done correctly. His manager secretly wishes Stanley would Iind another job.
How do you get a Tom working Ior you instead oI a Stanley? Sometimes you are lucky, but most oI the
time it is the result oI deliberate actions taken to ensure 'results instead oI 'activities.
2009 Roger Olson www.aop1.org Get Where You Want To Go. Faster.
Creating a Results Oriented Culture
There are Iours aspects to creating a results oriented culture: Vision and Values, the hiring process,
clarity in giving directions, and Iollow up.
The First Aspect - Vision and Values
Unless you have done a spectacular job oI hiring, you will have some employees who naturally gravitate
towards being activity oriented rather than results oriented. So there needs to be a starting place to build
on. A careIully thought out Vision statement and Values statement, when actively used, work well.
Dave is the owner of a construction company. They make ana install things that go insiae of commercial
builaings. Their vision statement is 'to be the contractor of choice` for all of their customers. Every
month Dave asks each of his 110 employees what they have aone in the last 30 aays to support that
vision. It is a conversation, not a monologue or lecture. Dave asks lots of questions of his employees.
When an employee tells him something they have aone ana Dave cant see the connection with the
vision, he will ask, 'So, exactly how aia that make us the contractor of choice for Acme Builaers?`
Dave uses these conversations as a way to slowly alter employee aecision making to be customer
orientea ana results orientea.
Too many ChieI Decision Makers dismiss the importance Vision and Values statements, so they quickly
write them, put them on the walls and Iorget about them. Wrong. Leaders like Dave see them as tools
to shape his company. Dave has great clarity about what results he is looking Ior and he rarely misses
the opportunity to ask, 'How did that decision support our vision and work within our values? It`s a
chance Ior a conversation to reinIorce what the vision is about, and how to use the values statement to
make decisions.
Dave is not reluctant to remind his employees that supporting the company vision and working within
the values is more than an expectation, it is a requirement. He is also not reluctant to tell them when
they have done a good job. Dave is great at giving his employees timely and speciIic Ieedback.
Dave does not ever just say 'Great job. What Dave will say is: 'When you put in the extra eIIort to
call the client and clariIy their requirements, it gives me conIidence that you are supporting our vision
Ior the company. Thank you and please keep it up.
Every one oI Dave`s employees will hear something about the company`s vision and values every
month. There is never any question about how Dave Ieels about the customer and meeting their
expectations. Dave is also Iond oI reminding employees that delighted customer come back, and you
can`t pay the bills with excuses. Dave Iocuses every day on results and he makes sure his employees are
doing the same.
Next time: Aspect Two The Hiring process
Accelerating Organizational Performance
2009 Roger Olson www.aop1.org Get Where You Want To Go. Faster.