RUN WITH THE Big dogS™ newsletter
Volume 3, issue 39

Having trouble getting your new team structure to perform?  Imagining you're producing a blockbuster movie could help...John

Management idea

Our client's organizational model had each person responsible for hunting up new opportunities, closing the sale, and developing and maintaining an intimate customer relationship while delivering the product.  The model worked well for the two founders - two exceptional supermen who could do everything, and did.  The weakness with the model was that it required more supermen to grow, and supermen didn't want to work for someone else - they formed their own companies. To grow faster, the company shifted to a team approach.

Unfortunately, the new teams were having trouble being functional. Team members were still operating on the premise that they were responsible for every part of the process. One team thought other team members were going to take action, allowing stuff to fall through the cracks. For the second team, effort was duplicated. And in the third team, everyone spent their time joined at the hip in endless meetings making every decision together. They suffered from the frustration of lots of activity and long hours without commensurate results.

Discussion of the issue led to the model of producing a movie.  A movie starts with the concept and then a script with clearly defined roles.  If you want a blockbuster you cast the major roles with the strongest actors available - in some cases delaying the start of production until a key player is available.  You then cast the other roles. An actor who is the star in one movie may play a minor role in another. (Understanding his minor role, he doesn't ruin the production by trying to be the star.)  For new business development we defined the key roles. (Hunter, Closer, and Lover supported by a Director and Special Effects Manager.) Some of the employees had the range to play more than one role simultaneously but in no case would we go to production without at least three individuals.  Clarity of roles, optimal matching of people with roles, and the allocation of the best talent to the markets with the greatest potential created immediate impact.