Sherpa Alliance

Life used to be slow enough for “or” propositions to be OK – it was OK to be operational or strategic, short-term or long-term and leader or a manager.  Not any more.  Life has become too fast moving for that and the pace of change is accelerating all the time (see:  Change Has Changed).  Now we have to master “and” propositions, being strategic  and operational, short-term and long-term oriented, a leader and a manager all at the same time.  

 The good news is that we know how to do this as we do it every day when we drive our cars.  Think about when you last drove to work.  Did you have a strategy?  Even though you might not have written it down, you figured out a strategy the evening before or over a cup of coffee that morning.  Maybe it was the same strategy you have every morning, or maybe not as you had to drop the kids off at school or make a breakfast meeting on your way in.  Then you operated that strategy (mirror, signal, maneuver) starting from the moment you pulled off the drive.  You were long-term oriented (where am I trying to be by when?) and short-term oriented (which way do I need to turn at the end of the street?), a leader (what are my route options and which is best?) and a manager (do I need to fill us with gas on the way?).  All at the same time as changing the channel on the radio, making a cell-phone call (hands-free of course), talking to a passenger and thinking about life – usually arriving at our desired destination, safely, on-time and ready for what’s next.  If you encountered unexpected events on the way (unusual traffic problems due to an accident perhaps) you didn’t pull off the road to restrategize, you did so on the fly.  In the driving seats of our cars, we are masters of the challenge of the “and”.  

So what happens when we pull in the parking lot outside our office and walk inside?  Why is it that we often feel like these natural abilities abandon us, at least to some degree?  I see it all the time – CEOs and Executives who are struggling with mastering the challenge of the “and” in the driving seat of their business, or their role in their business.  They are typically experiencing some degree of overwhelm as they try to master a  dizzying array of “ands”

i.e. mastering the challenge of the “and”.  I would suggest for you and me its about raising our game of integrative thinking and superior execution and faultless execution.  Some integrative thinking authors have given us some examples:        

Order and Chaos
Dee Hock calls this “Cha-ordic” (Birth of the Chaordic Age, 1999):  the behavior of any self-governing organism, organization or system which harmoniously blends characteristics of order and chaos.

Professional Will and Personal Humility
Jim Collins calls “Level 5 Leadership” (Good to Great, 2001): a paradoxical blend of professional will and personal humility.

Harmoniously blending?  A Paradoxical blend?  Everything we are able to do in mastering the challenge of the “and” when we are in the driving seat of our car, with hardly giving it a second thought.  Yet, when we pull in the parking lot outside our office and walk inside?  We need to be in the same journey-oriented mode when we are in the driving seats of our business as when we are in the driving seat of our car.  That’s what our work is about - a concept-suite, model-set and tool-box to help you begin right away.  Travel well.