Snowmobile in the desert.

The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture.  ~Edgar Schein

I'll admit I go from an obsession with one author to an obsession with another.  My current obsession is with Simon Sinek.  He's young (Gen X), studied anthropology and has applied those concepts to organizations, and consequently has one of the top-viewed TED Talks.  One of the things we tend to forget is that organizations are made up of people.  One of my favorite quotes (unfortunately I don't know who to credit) is, "We thought we hired employees but people showed up instead."  Simon very insightfully puts people back into organizations. 

Simon's most recent book is entitled, Leaders Eat Last, which I highly recommend.  The following paragraphs are excerpted from the chapter entitled, "Snowmobile in the desert."

If the human being is a snowmobile, this means we were designed to operate in very specific conditions.  Take that machine designed for one kind of condition—snow—and put it in another condition—the desert, for example, and it won't operate so well.  Sure, the snowmobile will go.  It just won’t go as easily or as well as if it were in the right conditions.  This is what has happened in many of our modern organizations.  And when progress is slow or innovation is lacking, leaders tinker with the machine.  They hire and fire in hopes of getting the right mix.  They develop new kinds of incentives to encourage the machine to work harder.

…the machines will, indeed, work harder and maybe even go a little faster in the desert.  But the friction is great.  What too many leaders of organizations fail to appreciate is that it's not the people that are the problem.  The people are fine.  Rather, it's the environment in which the people operate that is the problem.  Get that right and things just go. 

…trust is like lubrication.  It reduces friction and creates conditions much more conducive to performance, just like putting the snowmobile back in the snow.  Do that and even an underpowered snowmobile will run circles around the most powerful snowmobile in the wrong conditions.  It's not how smart the people in the organization are; it's how well they work together that is the true indicator of future success or ability to manage through struggle.

Just as we can't simply tell someone to be happy and expect them to be happy, we can't just tell someone to trust us or to commit to something and expect they will.  There are all sorts of things we need to do first before someone will feel any sense of loyalty or devotion. 

Please take note: loyalty and devotion is the consequence of a feeling.  Not a compliant response to a memo or a mandate. 

In my work, I frequently see leaders tinkering (sometimes desperately) with the snowmobile, when they should be focused on the conditions—figuring out how to get the snowmobile out of the desert and back in the snow. 

Edgar Schein is one the leading authorities on organizational culture.  When he said, "The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture," I believe he was saying, "Spend less time tinkering with the snowmobile and focus more on keeping it in the snow."