Download - Scaling up Excellence
Scaling up Excellence
Robert Sutton &
Huggy Rao
2014
3/7/2015 1© Sachidananda
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About the Authors
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• Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior and
Human Resources Professor of Sociology (by courtesy)
• At Stanford University since 2005
• Prior - Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern
University; Emory University Goizueta Business School
• PhD, Case Western Reserve University, 1989
• Post-Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management and
Industrial Relations, XLRI, India, 1980
• BA, Andhra University, India, 1978
• Has one other book
Src: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/hayagreeva-rao
•Professor of Management science at the Stanford
Engineering School
•He is an IDEO Fellow and a Professor of Organizational
Behavior, by courtesy, at Stanford Graduate School of
Business
•Researcher in the field of Evidence-based management,
the links (and gaps) between managerial knowledge and
organizational action, innovation, and organizational
performance.
•PhD, Univesity of Michigan, 1984
•MA, University of Michigan, 1981
•BA, University of California at Berkeley, 1977
•Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral
Sciences during the 1986-87, 1994–95, and 2002–03
academic years
•5 other books other than this
Src: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/robert-i-sutton
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Huggy Rao Robert I Sutton
The Authors’ Thesis
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The book tackles a challenge that confronts
every leader and organization – spreading
constructive beliefs and behavior from the
few to the many.
What does it take to build and uncover
pockets of exemplar performance, spread
those splendid deeds and as an organization
grows bigger and older – rather than slipping
towards mediocrity or worse – recharge it
with better ways of doing the work at hand.
1
• Although the details and daily dramas vary widely from place to place, the similarities among scaling challenges are more important than the differences
2• Scaling entails more than the problem of more
3• People who are adept at scaling excellence talk and act
as if they are knee-deep in manageable mess
4
• Scaling starts and ends with individuals – success depends on the will and skill of people at every level of the organization
Lessons
learnt along
the way
The Authors’ Thesis
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Its a Ground war, Not just an Air War
Buddhism versus Catholicism
SETTING THE
STAGE
Hot Causes, Cool Solutions
Cut Cognitive Load
The People who propel scaling
Connect People and Cascade
Excellence
Bad is stronger than good
SCALING
PRINCIPLES
Did this, not ThatPARTING POINTS
The Authors’ Thesis
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Its a Ground war, Not just an Air War Buddhism versus Catholicism
SETTING THE STAGE
The 7 Mantras
1. Spread a Mindset, not just a foot print
2. Engage all the senses
3. Link short-term realities to long-term
dreams
4. Accelerate accountability
5. Fear the clusterfug
6. Scaling requires both addition and
subtraction
7. Slow down to scale faster - and better -
down the road
Navigating the Continuum
• Do you suffer from the delusion of
uniqueness?
• Do you have a successful template to
use as a prototype?
• Will bolstering Buddhism generate
crucial understanding, commitment and
innovation?
Alone vs Together
More vs Better
Using the guardrails strategy
The Authors’ Thesis
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Hot Causes, Cool Solutions Cut Cognitive Load
The People who propel scaling Connect People and Cascade
Excellence
Bad is stronger than good
SCALING PRINCIPLES
The job of the hierarchy is to defeat the
hierarchy
a. Subtraction as a way of life
b. Make people squirm
c. Bring on the Load Busters: Subtraction
by addition
d. Divide and Conquer
e. Bolster collective brainpower - increase
cognitive capacity instead of adding
more people
Stoking the Virtuous Circle
a. Name the problem
b. Name the enemy
c. Do it where all can see
d. Breach Assumptions
e. Create Gateway experiences and on-ramps
f. New Rituals, Better rituals
g. Lean on people who can't leave well enough alone
Poetry, Plumbing - James March
The Authors’ Thesis
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Hot Causes, Cool Solutions Cut Cognitive Load
The People who propel scaling Connect People and Cascade
Excellence
Bad is stronger than good
SCALING PRINCIPLES
The Goal: Domino Chains of Goodness
Whom do you connect?
a. Its about diversity, not just numbers
b. Look for master multipliers
c. Bring on the Energizers
d. Activate Dormant Connections
e. Connect Everybody: Turn work into a game that
people like to play
Making nets work:
i. The Top-down Approach
ii. Broadcast your message out to one and all
iii. Surround them: Have the many teach the
few
iv. One to One: The Power of pairs
v. From the few to the many
vi. Brokers: Bridging disconnected islands
vii. Create Crossroads where people connect
Accountability: I own the place and the place owns me
Talent x Accountability = Scaling Capacity
a. Squelch free riding
b. Inject Pride and Righteous Anger
c. Bring in Guilt-Prone Leaders
d. "I'll be watching you": Use subtle cues to prime
accountability
e. Create the right "Gene Pool“
f. Use other organizations as your HR Department
g. Hire People prewired to fit your mindset
The Authors’ Thesis
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Hot Causes, Cool Solutions Cut Cognitive Load
The People who propel scaling Connect People and Cascade
Excellence
Bad is stronger than good
SCALING PRINCIPLES
Breaking Bad:
a. Nip it in the bud
b. Get rid of the bad apples
c. Plumbing before Poetry
d. Adequacy before excellence
e. Use the Cool kids(and adults) to define and
squelch bad behavior
f. Kill the thrill
g. Time Shifting: From current to future selves
h. Focus on the best times, the worst times and the
end
Warning Signs :
i. Fear of taking responsibility
ii. Fear of being ostracized
iii. Anonymity
iv. Feeling of injustice
v. Helplessness
The Authors’ Thesis
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Look Back from the future
a. We started where we were, not where we hoped to arrive
b. We did scaling, not just swarming
c. We used our mindset as a guide, not as the answer to every
question and problem
d. We used constraints that channelled, rather than derailed, ingenuity
and effort
e. Our hierarchy squelched unnecessary friction, rather than creating
and spreading it
f. We worked with people we respected, not necessarily our friends
g. Accountability prevailed, free riding and other bad behavior failed
Did this, not That
PARTING POINTS
QUESTIONSTHANK YOU
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