The Path of Ascent - Juan Riboldi - March 2012

[Jacob]

This is the official discussion thread for our March 2012 book

[Jacob]

Juan, As I have gone through the first 2 chapters I been thinking a little about the context. At first glance this material brings me back to the big corporate changes at big companies. I'm sure this would apply to simple changes at a smaller company or even in the home as you reference... but can you give me some examples of that type of context? How can I think of these principles in such a way that they change my world on a daily basis.

Jacob

[Kathy]

I'm about half-way through the book and enjoying it so far. I find it interesting that so many organizations I have worked with want to do strategic planning but have not articulated their vision. It's hard to do strategic planning without that vision...how do you know what you're planning for?

[Juan]

Jacob wrote: "Juan, As I have gone through the first 2 chapters I been thinking a little about the context. At first glance this material brings me back to the big corporate changes at big companies. I'm sure th..."

Jacob, I found that the same principles that helped large organizations implement successful changes apply to smaller companies, departments, teams and individuals. While the context for the book is the world of business, the principles apply to other settings. Within most chapters, I included examples from other settings including personal change stories that are based on the same principles.

[Juan]

Kathy wrote: "I'm about half-way through the book and enjoying it so far. I find it interesting that so many organizations I have worked with want to do strategic planning but have not articulated their vision. ..."

Kathy, I'm glad that you are enjoying reading the book. Just like you said, I have found that the power of vision is often underestimated. Planning without a vision is like attempting to define the "What" and the "How" without knowing the "Why." Conversely, with a clear vision of the future, strategic plans are grounded on a solid foundation that defines who we are and what we stand for.

[Henrik]

I had a 10-day break or so, but i just completed Chapter 8, and this got me thinking...

The question in this regards is, that as far as i read and understand one of the main points of the book is the importance of incremental improvement. And i sort of wondered:

Is radical change sometimes an option (or is it more a sort of a gamble)?
Can radical change be useful (in business for instance turnarounds just before bankruptcy might require radical actions instead of incremental improvement)

I hope i have been clear enough in my question.

It is a great book and i enjoy the combination of stories, quotes and description of the concepts.

Henrik

[Juan]

Henrik wrote: "I had a 10-day break or so, but i just completed Chapter 8, and this got me thinking...

The question in this regards is, that as far as i read and understand one of the main points of the book is ..."

Henrik,

I appreciate that you are taking time during your 10-day break to read The Path of Ascent. I hope you are enjoying it.

Your question is very important. All of the companies I studied went through radical changes during that period of time. About two thirds of these organizations had to change or they were going to be out of business. So they had to turnaround. Others, about a third, transformed themselves under more favorable circumstances. Their growth came as a positive upward climb on an already good foundation.

The difference between the successful and unsuccessful changes is in HOW they went about changing. As shown in the Path of Ascent, the successful approach followed a steady, incremental, and sustainable course.

The unsuccessful process depicted by the Roller Coaster ride is ridden with big-bang starts, abrupt decisions, lots of volatility, and sudden break downs.

What can we learn from this? Sometimes we all have to make big, drastic changes, while other times we can simply continue to build on existing success. In all cases, however, the best way to go about it is through a steady learning process. we can make the most of even drastic changes by relying on proven principles, following a process, and improving incrementally as we go.

I hope this makes sense and helps you. Thank you for your comment.

Juan

[Henrik]

Great feedback. Thank you.

[Jacob]

Juan can you tell me more about mission statements. I have often wondered if I should have a unique mission for each role in my life or if ultimately everything is about a single propose and this a single mission for my life should encompass all. Does that make sense?

[Juan]

Jacob wrote: "Juan can you tell me more about mission statements. I have often wondered if I should have a unique mission for each role in my life or if ultimately everything is about a single propose and this a..."

Jacob,

That is a very good question. I advocate for a single personal mission statement. Given the long-term focus, and guiding value of a mission statement, I think that mission is holistic by nature. Trying to break our lives into compartments we can manage separately, seem more like setting personal strategic goals and plans. Such personal strategic objectives need to be aligned with our overall vision and mission in life.

Juan

[Kara]

This book was fantastic. I was pleased to find that our company's VP of HR endorsed it and even more pleased once I dove in to discover that the book ties very nicely into the philosophy at my company. This really resonated with me. I wish I had read it before I started managing and made some of the big mistakes around change management that I did, but hey, it's never too late.

I have two questions. (Juan, I know I missed the month for the discussion, so I won't be offended if it's too late for me to receive an answer here.)

1. In the "Facilitating the Transition" section, you mention Ann and Mike: Ann embraces change and uses it to her advantage while Mike lets change be the end of him. How would you advise a manager who had a Mike on her team? You get into it in the "Inspire Commitment" chapter, but if someone's need is they want to be reassured that the change won't cause them to be let go (when that could be a very real possibility as it was for Mike), how do you get them to embrace the change anyway? If the fear is grounded, how do you build that trust and get them to act more like Ann? I understand the concept but would love insight into the "how."

2. You state in your "Achieve Results" chapter that it's important for a project to deliver real results in a short period of time; however, that seems to fly in the face of traditional project management theory that you must spend most of the time discovering and planning before executing. Can the two theories be reconciled? I'm a project manager, and this is of especial interest to me.

Once again, thank you for this wonderful book! I will definitely be checking out the tools on your website mentioned.