On this beautiful day I'm watching this container ship creeping out of the harbour, and from my limited knowledge of navigation gleaned from observing Navy ship bridges and navigation courses, I'm thinking how much a ship like this resembles organisations and the challenges of changing course with strategic decisions.
For a start, there are no brakes. This is probably the first thing you learn when in control of a vessel of any kind. At least you learn very quickly when you want to stop or control your speed.
But that word control... yeah it's a tricky one right? It's a relative term really. You've got control, but only so much. And the bigger the vessel, the more difficult this term gets.
How then do you stop? By applying power in the opposite direction. If you're on a tiny paddleboard, ok that's digging your paddle in to slow, then a few backwards strokes. But a large ship like this it's serious power even at slow speeds, and it takes a while.
Ideally, the navigator of this ship wouldn't get themselves in the situation where they have to stop suddenly. That's why they plan their route meticulously and rely on radars and lookouts to spot any need for course correction ahead of time.
Even planned course changes take time. The navigator or Captain gives the word to the person at the helm to steer port or starboard by a certain expertly decided degree. This sends the mechanics of the ships steering system into gear which turns the propeller under the hull. The movement in the propeller acts on the forces already created by the ships forward movement, creating new forces which act on the ships hull, and this turns the direction of the ship. As the ship comes round onto its new course, adjustments are needed to straighten the propeller at just the right moment, or even turn it back the other way. All of this results in the desired new direction. Physics demands that speed is compromised a little in the process, so extra engine power may need to be applied to maintain speed.
Is it just me, or are there almost too many parallels to organisations there to count?!
🛳 Control is an illusion. We have to acknowledge that we only have so much control over our organisation, or our part of the organisation. This must be factored into our decisions, and our decision-making process.
🛳 There are no brakes. Change requires new forces applied in a new direction.
🛳 Organisations, and even large projects, work programmes or initiatives within organisations don't change in an instant.
🛳 The bigger the organisation, the more effort it takes to change it (usually).
🛳 An organisation's strategists are responsible for looking ahead and planning in as much detail as they can, whilst leaving room, and having procedures ready, for the unexpected. They also need to be ready to spot the unexpected with enough time to adapt. Sometimes that is possible, and sometimes it's not.
🛳 Even planned course changes take time. Organisations are systems, just like ships are. Messages are communicated between parts of the organisation, and there is always the possibility that the message gets lost or distorted, or breakages occur in any part of the system meaning that the intended course correction is not applied. We call this alignment...
🛳 Expertise often allows for decisions to be made that are based on a pretty good prediction of what the result will be. However, complex systems can be unpredictable so there is always an element of making a change, then being ready to observe the outcome and adjust your approach.
🛳 Course changes take effort. People are the power of an organisation and they only have so much energy. We can't expect our 'ship' to continue at the same speed without extra resources during a period of change.
All of this brings home for me why strategic thinking is so much a human activity. Learning it is not like learning how to apply a formula. That may be part of it, but there are our human elements that are challenged in the process and cannot be ignored.
The experience of grappling with the complexities of making all parts of the 'ship' work in concert, in the context of constant outside forces and unexpected events. The knowledge that everyone on the ship is depending on you, and perhaps others in your environment. The feeling of lacking control due to the level of uncertainty under which plans must be made. The courage needed to make the decisions that count, before it is too late to execute a course correction. The relentlessness of incoming information needing to be processed to ensure the big picture is big enough. The clear headspace to do and be all of this.
If this resonates with you as a leader, manager or anyone trying to get stuff done in an organisation that feels like a big ship, check out the Strategic Thinker Development Programme at this link.
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