Navigate the Swirl

CHAPTER 14Conversation 2: Driving Focus

Are team members focused on a shared transformational journey?

Is the destination clear?

Have gaps and primary constraints been identified?

Are next steps, and priorities clear?

Whereas Activating Purpose is all about the structure, format, and shared vision of the team, Driving Focus is about getting clarity around priorities, visualizing the team's work together, and energizing around the goals of the team. In this crucial conversation, we are still in the first domain of change—Leadership and Culture. And developing a shared sense of being “in it together” should be one of the outcomes of this crucial conversation, especially as the team priorities come more into focus. This is also a conversation in which it can be helpful to work with constraints as the team tackles its shared work. But perhaps the most significant element of the culture we are building when it comes to the Driving Focus conversation is the willingness to engage in a shared transformational journey.

A Shared Transformational Journey

The Driving Focus conversation is about the team's overall commitment to a journey of continuous improvement. We have spoken a lot about transformational journeys in this book, but this is where that set of ideas takes root at the team level. Are team members up for that? This is not something to simply give lip service to. Is the team ready to step together into the unknown?

There is a delicate dance of leadership that is required ...