Early last year I was coaching a CEO and his team of directors. The directors were overwhelmed with the number of projects they were trying to deliver. Across the team, it was something in the region of 150 different projects, ranging in size from some pretty minor changes to several that were total transformations.
Frustration was high. Progress was low. And everyone felt stuck.
The CEO acknowledged the problem, agreed things needed to change and asked the team to select which projects they’d stop. He wasn’t playing a game. It was genuine commitment to change.
But – guess what!
Not one director could identify any projects to take off the list. They knew the sheer number of projects was killing progress and they agreed something needed to give. But they couldn’t turn knowledge and agreement into action.
This was a competent, intelligent team of experienced leaders. They didn’t have particularly big egos. This wasn’t about protecting their own patch at all costs.
So, what was going on? Why couldn’t they just stop some of the projects, which they knew weren’t going to be delivered anyway, because delivering everything was impossible?
We narrowed it down to three illusions.
- The illusion of progress – only a minority of projects were actually progressing and, truthfully, narrowing the list to these would have led to faster delivery. But, somehow, as long as all the other projects were on the list, it felt like something was happening. It wasn’t. The system was clogged up with distractions and wasted effort.
- The illusion of rational decision-making – every project on the list could be justified as essential or value-adding so the leaders believed that there must have been a rational decision as to why and how it was added to the list. But asked what that rational decision process might be, and they scratched their heads. In truth, no one really knew how a project became a project, or how it stopped being one, either.
- The illusion of possibility – underpinning all of this was the illusion that, somehow, if only they – and everyone across the organisation – could just get better at managing their workload, all the projects could be delivered. Nothing could have been further from the truth. This wasn’t a people problem, it was an impossible workload problem. But because it felt like it should be possible to do it all, it must be a fault in the people.
Once the team identified the illusions that were underpinning their behaviour, we working together to challenge these, and take the steps that led to practical and focussed action. They were finally able to rationalise the list.
It’s easy to fall foul of illusions like these, which is why we often take on too much in our personal and business lives.
But if something isn’t working today, it won’t suddenly start working tomorrow.
– What illusions are driving your behaviour?
– How are these leading to the constant overwhelm so many leaders are suffering today?
If you’re struggling to identify what’s causing your overwhelm, I can help you get things back in control. Contact me today – I’d love to speak to you.
And, whatever you’re working on today, always remember to observe yourself and others with interest and learning, not with criticism and judgement.