Thinking outside the box has long been the perceived go-to solution for results and creativity. We often hear leaders in this industry exclaim, “We need to think outside the box to increase efficiency,” “An outside-the-box idea is necessary to improve our safety performance,” or “Let’s come up with something creative, an outside- the-box idea, to market our services.” Yet, the most impactful solutions, when carefully analyzed, actually are ideas that emanate from the heart of the box — especially when that organization’s “box” is properly defined.
Brad Deutser
In the previous four articles, we have shared how leaders can most effectively build their box to drive both employee and bottom-line performance, and dramatically increase workforce safety while decreasing total recordable incident rate numbers. We defined the four sides: direction, operations, people and engagement. Together, these four sides build a framework that is foundational to the vision, leadership, operational efficiency and human capital areas of business.
But, like the issues leaders face across the industrial services and energy industries, the box is dimensional; it is actually a six-sided cube. The additional two sides offer both an anchor and an opportunity and are fundamental to defining the uniqueness of your organization. First, the bottom of the box is the part most leaders neglect to invest enough time in. It is the foundation of your business and is rarely seen, but always felt by the employees. This is where we work to clarify all that is central, enduring and distinct to the organization. These characteristics represent the things that have been true for years, still true today and must be true in the next 10 years. This side also looks at purpose and, when utilized, forces leaders to get back to articulating the fundamental reason the business exists. The bottom of the box is the most defining side, as it becomes the core to protecting culture and the “way we do things around here.”
The top of the box is about the environment in which you operate. This speaks to the competitive landscape in which you exist. It requires thorough outside environmental analysis of all the factors that influence your business, including customer needs, wants and habits. We encourage leaders to regularly and comprehensively evaluate the market through SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, strategy mapping, PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental) and other planning methodologies, as well as in-depth industry and consumer research. In our view that everything is knowable, it is incumbent on leaders to be the ones with an insatiable appetite for information and a willingness to adapt to it. The one constant in the environment is change. When we understand what is happening around us and are firmly rooted in our identity, we are able to give our employees absolute confidence in their today and tomorrow with the company.
This structure becomes your framework for the process we call clarity. The box offers an important construct for leaders to lead from and your workforce to be connected to, but it won’t determine your ultimate success. The highest-performing organizations are the ones that bring their box to life by humanizing their company, creating meaningful connection points. This requires leaders to push creativity and “decorporatize” their rhetoric in order to make the company understandable, likable and real to their employees. This starts at the bottom of the box and connects through the entire organization, delivering a keen understanding of the environment in which you are operating. Don’t give into conventional ways of leading; be bold and be true to yourself and who you really are. After all, you have defined with absolute clarity what matters most to your company and success.
So, don’t ask yourself or your leaders to think outside the box. Take the time to define your box with purpose, and then bring it to life by humanizing every aspect of it. When you do, you will exceed expectations while achieving the things you initially set out to achieve. More importantly, you will change the trajectory of your people, teams and company — and yourself as a leader.
For more information, email Deutser at bdeutser@deutser.com or call (713) 850-2105.
