When we talk about goals, change, values, and missions we need to understand what our ‘end-game’ is. That becomes our vision. Having a vision may seem out of reach as you struggle to come up with some grandiose plan, idea, or winning formula. Do you need to be grandiose to be impactful, or innovative? From the perspective of a very simple thinker, I think not.
I am not in their same stratosphere, and will never be able to reach for such lofty visions as some of the great leaders throughout history. Every one of them had not only a vision, but were able to get others to buy in. Presidents Ronald Reagan, and John F. Kennedy were outstanding communicators and men who appeared larger than life. Reagan changed my view of the world, our country, and our economy more than any individual I have ever known. I really ‘got’ his vision and still follow it today. Mahatma Gandhi and Sister Teresa were meek individuals by most accounts, but powerful, committed and incredibly effective in their efforts. Their visions continue to speak to me today. As time passes the courage of Martin Luther King Jr. has a more profound effect on my life. Today, he remains a light on the hill; a beacon showing our country the way. I am very thankful for these heroic people. These are mere individuals who had great visions, and led others to rise up and seize them.
In the shadows of these giants, can we have an impactful vision, and get others to follow? My answer to both questions is an emphatic yes! It goes back to my own simplistic approach to setting goals, and developing our own step-by-step approach to attain them.
I learned some years ago that if I didn’t simplify my approach I would become confused, overwhelmed and helpless to finish the job. Getting to the ‘root cause’ of a situation is the first step I always try to take. It’s not always possible when dealing with super complex situations, but in most business scenarios you can find it. Along that same thought process, determining the root of an inspiration can help formulate a vision.
An example of that from my business career occurred at GE Healthcare. I led the Technology Sales Group, responsible for; you guessed it – selling technology. I was asked to do something about the high cost of hardware to support a particular software platform that we sold. A couple of far reaching options existed for us; I could get the hardware suppliers to give me a discount far greater than anyone else, thus lose money selling to us, or maybe I could devise a silver bullet process that enabled us to quickly and inexpensively rewrite all the software to run more efficiently and swiftly convert several thousand customers to that new version. If I was able to accomplish either of those, I would be spring skiing in Argentina and golfing in New Zealand rather than working for a living.
Instead, I was realistic and gave it some thought, determined the ‘root cause’ and then looked for alternatives to reduce those daunting hardware costs. When I formulated my vision (simplify, standardize and reduce footprint/cost) I went to work devising a communication strategy, and building a plan to seize my vision. It took a little over a year to herd the sheep, get them to buy into the concept, and put together options to analyze to find the solution. At the end of the project we had reduced cost by up to 70 – 80% with some configurations. We also came up with the idea for near instant delivery, enabling fast revenue recognition and timely implementation. We had developed an ‘ahead-of-time’ manufacturing process of sorts. Rather innovative, don’t you think?
It wasn’t Disney World, putting a man on the moon or feeding millions of hungry in India, but it was a vision we were able to execute to achieve measured success. It surely wasn’t Rocket Science, but it all began with an innate desire to ‘figure it out.’ That inner spirit provided me with the passion, push and persistence to get the job completed. I remain thankful and humbled that such an event occurred in my life. It was one of those ‘get in the game’ situations where one thing led to another until we seized our vision.
Anyone, with the desire to ‘figure it out’ can do what I did and a whole lot more…. See something and seize it!