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| The Russians Are Coming! by Mike Wagner |
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That was the cry that went up at the local alfalfa mill I worked at one summer during 
college. Our supervisors warned us a delegation of Russian agricultural experts could arrive any day to inspect our facility.
The Cold War was very real back in the early ‘70’s and it was important to show our superiority by presenting a plant that was part of our well-oiled, capitalistic way of life. The threat of Russians inspecting our plant was a poor attempt to create alignment between the way we worked and a desired outcome. It didn’t work.
To get everyone in your organization “on the same page” keep these concepts in mind:
Alignment is an outside/in proposition. Many businesses focus internally - on efficiency within the organization. Everyone looks for the leanest, most cost-effective way of doing the work. Agreed, this is important.
However, the danger is in losing sight of the fact that your customers are “out there” in the marketplace. It is possible to end up with a team of employees who are efficient inside the company while not making, loyal, word-spreading, raving fan customers out there in the real world.
Make your focus flesh and blood customers. The possibility of Russian farming experts being unimpressed with how we processed alfalfa was not enough to change our operation for the better. Trying to align an organization around industry standards, best practices, market forces or big name corporations misses the target. Each is too abstract and lacks the tangible human factor.
Align your work, processes and outcomes around a real/right customer – who we call the “sweet spot” customer. Personify that type of customer for your organization. Paint a picture for your employees of whom you are serving through your products and services. Make it real for them. (For an example of how Ford is creating alignment around a tangible customer, see this issue’s Brand Resource.)
Everyone needs to “know” your sweet-spot customer. To take the performance of your organization to new levels of effectiveness, constantly inform your employees of customer feedback. Customer familiarity breeds alignment.
Perform a quick organizational assessment to see if you are getting this done: Does accounting know what customers think of your invoicing system? Does shipping know the experience your customers have when your products arrive? Does the sales team know what your clients/prospects think of your sales and service processes? If not, why not?
The Russian delegation of agricultural experts never arrived at the alfalfa mill that summer. Nothing changed. I’ve always wondered what would have happened if a busload of our best customers had showed up instead? Meeting people who depended on our products and how we made them might just have been the kick in the seat, and the shared focus, we needed.