Why Jamaican CEOs Only Get Results During Hurricanes, And How to Stop

Imagine your fellow executives adopting a dangerous belief: people only perform when threatened by a crisis like Hurricane Melissa. This point of view sounds plausible, but it worries you.

On the positive side, Jamaica’s recent tragedy brought out a degree of sacrifice and service some believe had long been dead. But as a leader, you are suspicious. Do your employees need an existential threat in order to deliver?

Or is this cynicism masquerading as realism?

Consider this belief to be an admission of leadership failure. Why? Deep down, you don’t want to dig up a crisis merely to fire people up. And you abhor the hype of fake urgency: “People, this is our make or break moment!”

Fortunately, there is a source of “clean” inspiration you can use: perpetual category design.

Case in Point: Up until the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the world accepted a limit on feasible techniques for the high jump. Athletes could not leap headfirst or face up. In fact, USA Olympic coach Payton Jordan warned that such a technique would “wipe out an entire generation of high jumpers because they will all have broken necks”.

However, a time traveller from the 1992 Olympics would be confused. From then until now, 100 per cent of jumpers have defied Jordan’s wisdom. What happened to engineer this turnaround?

The answer: Dick Fosbury created a new category of high jump technique. Acting almost alone in high school, he began toying with an approach that took advantage of foam landing pits. Consequently, he transformed himself from a mediocre athlete to a 1968 gold medallist.

And no, there wasn’t a crisis afoot. In fact, he was on track to become a successful civil engineer at a time when there were few monetary rewards in athletics.

How can your business tap into this kind of energy at will?

Seeing the Alternative

At your company, certain employees already understand this possibility. They are upset because executives don’t. Often, they bemoan the fact that their leaders thrive on the adrenaline of surprise disruptions. They will explain that this approach contributes to further crises – a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Case in point: In what should be the organisation’s finest hour, the prime minister has admitted that the Office of Disaster Prevention and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is struggling. He recently complained that it lacks talent – a problem that took years to develop. In other words, over time, its leadership shot itself in the foot.

Chances are that this was no secret. Some staff and board members probably foresaw the issue and prayed that this day of reckoning would never come.

What could the organisation have done differently?

New Category Design

Arguably, the ODPEM needed to design a shift from the category of “disaster response” to one of “community resilience architecture”.

Category design, as defined by the Category Pirates newsletter, is a method used to achieve breakthroughs versus incremental improvements. The approach calls for creating and dominating brand-new business categories, in contrast to existing ones. In seeking to make a bigger difference, a new category unlocks fresh value for customers and beneficiaries.

In many cases, organisations are forced into new categories. Think of Cable and Wireless’ painful transition after Digicel revolutionised mobile telephony in 2001.

But a tiny few don’t wait for a crisis. Instead, they proactively design fresh categories, forcing themselves into long-term transitions. Taking pre-emptive actions, they craft a new landscape.

Perpetual Category Design

However, there is a tendency for companies to overfocus on single innovations, treating a competitive advantage as if it were a one-time occurrence. The best businesses are different.

By contrast, they always have a 15- to 30-year vision and strategy in play. But it sits behind the scenes, invisible to outsiders. Yet it is never stale. Upon the accomplishment of a major milestone, they launch a revision.

This is the only way to move beyond the human tendency for organisations to leap big hurdles, only to lose the ability to foresee further obstacles. In this scenario, they unwittingly fall back on prior successes. Often, their persistent, boastful chest beating blinds them to emerging challenges.

To help your organisation avoid this trap, follow these steps.

1. Name the category you and your competitors currently occupy.

2. Dive deep to define your customers’ or beneficiaries’ unmet needs.

3. Frame a novel point of view and name a new category.

4. Build a long-term vision and strategy.

You may not be able to replicate the high energy of a hurricane response. Few can.

But you will have defined a sustainable, renewable level of motivation. Do it well, and this approach will spur immediate action. There will be a tone of urgency, without requiring a disaster.

Takeaway: Crisis creates urgency by making the present unbearable. Category design creates urgency by making the future irresistible.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To search his prior columns on productivity, strategy, engagement and business processes, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com.