The real power of vision is unleashed only

when most of those involved in an enterprise

or activity have a common understanding of
its goals and direction. That shared sense of a
desirable future can help motivate and
coordinate the kind of actions that create
transformations
 Getting hundred or thousand of people to
understand accept the vision is an enormous
challenge
 Managers trained for communicating with boss
and employees; not the many affected by it
 Common mistakes:
 Overwhelmed with information: lot of
communication, explained in the meetings, articles in
company newspaper, maybe a video for the
employees but a fraction concerning the new vision
 Poor communication
 Failure to communicate vision are attributed to either
limited intellectual capabilities among lower level
employees or a general human resistance to change
 Firstly accepting a vision of the future can be a
challenging intellectual and emotional task for the
guiding coalition , intellectual because lot of questions
have to be answered by them and emotional because
it asks for letting go of status quo, other future
options, sacrifices, trust others, etc.
 Secondly, They assume that everyone in the
organization should become clear and comfortable
with the resulting vision in a fraction of that time.
Illustrated with an example:
 Assumption
 Total amount of communication going to an
employee in three months = 2300000 words
 Typical communication of a change vision
over the same period = 13,400 words
 13,400/2,300,000 = .0058. The change vision
capture only .58 % of the communication
market share
 Simplicity: Focused, jargon-free information can be
disseminated to large groups of people at a fraction of the
cost of clumsy, complicated communication. The problem
of simplicity is that it requires clarity of thought and a little
courage.
Example 1: Our goal is to reduce our mean time to repair
parameters so that they are perceptually lower than all
major competitors. In a similar vein, we have targeted new
product development cycle times, order process times and
other customer relevant processes for change.
Version2: We are going to become faster than anyone in
our industry at satisfying customer needs.
 Use of Metaphor, Analogy and Example: Well
chosen words can make a message memorable
even if it has to compete with hundreds of other
communications for people’s attention.
Example: We want to begin designing
manufacturing more products that are perceived
by the customer base as different, highly
recognizable and prestigious. Such products will
have significantly higher prices and margins
Version2: we are going to be making fewer
Fiat’s and more Mercedes’s
 Multiple Forums: Vision is communicated most
effectively when many different vehicles are used:
large group meetings, memos, newspapers, posters,
informal one-to-one talks, public address, briefing
session, telephone, grapevine etc. When the same
message comes at people from different directions, it
stands a better chance of being heard and
remembered.
 Repeat: The most carefully crafted messages rarely
sink deeply into the recipients consciousness after
only one pronouncement. Our minds are too cluttered
and any communication has to fight hundreds of
other ideas for attention. Therefore, effective
information transferral almost always relies on
repetition.
 Leadership by Example: The most powerful way
to communicate a new direction is through behaviour.
When employees see top management acting out the
vision, a whole set of troublesome questions about
credibility and game playing tends to evaporate. E.g.
A General communicating to a gigantic organization
that defense budgets are shrinking and everyone
must be frugal. So when he travels, instead of
climbing into his helicopter outside the pentagon to
his waiting jet, he descends to the basement, boards
the subway to the airport, takes a shuttle to the
terminal and rides a commercial airline. The word of
his travels spread fast!
 Address Seeming Inconsistencies: The case of a
bank undergoing transformation (p.97)
 Listen and Be Listened To: Since communication of
vision is often such a difficult activity, it can easily turn
into a screeching, one-way broadcast in which useful
feedback is ignored and employees are inadvertently
made to feel unimportant. In successful change
efforts, communication is always a two way
endeavour. It is an essential method of helping people
answer all the questions that occur to them in a
transformation effort.
 Communication Networks
 Hierarchy: refers to the official roles and titles held by
members within the company. Using this network
means following company procedure to communicate
information. This is the most formal method
 Expert: refers to the interest and skill groups around the
company’s specialisms. This is a less formal network.
 Influential: this network refers to those who have
prestige and power within the company whether
through politics, seniority, skills and talents,
family and personal relationships or charisma.
 Friendship: refers to personal friends, family and
supporters within the company. Using this
network means providing and seeking
information as needed to help each other. It is the
most informal of networks.