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Strategic Thinking And The Art Of Barbecue Assembly

Strategic Thinking And The Art Of Barbecue Assembly*
(*with apologies to Robert Pirsig, author of “Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance”)

Have you ever tried to put together, from ‘scratch’, an unassembled barbecue? It has literally thousands of parts. Each of these parts has a function; some of the functions are obvious (e.g., the grilling grates, the propane tanks and hoses, the grill cover, etc.), and some are not at all obvious (such as the hundreds of small screws, braces, nuts and bolts). As you spread them out all over the garage floor, while it is not at all clear how they go together, you know that when you figure it out, you will have a working barbecue grill. All you need is a picture of the final product, and a plan that shows you what each part does, and how it fits together with the other parts to create a working whole. For your barbecue grill, that plan is your assembly instructions.

Now think about your business. It, too, has literally thousands of ‘parts’. You have all of the various functions, all of the processes, all of the skillsets. Then there are all of your personnel and the various levels and specialties connected to them. Next, you have all of your products and services, all of your policies and procedures, all of your physical and intellectual assets, and so on. And, that is just your organization. Now you have to think strategically about everything external to your company—all of your customers, your competitors, your regulatory agencies, competitive products and services, etc., etc.

By the way, if you are an individual entrepreneur doing business on the Internet, you face the same issues. You still have to account for all the various activities connected with making your business successful. Activities such as your blog; your website(s); your newsletters; your products; your JVs and Affiliates; your outsourcing partners; your market analysis, etc., etc.

Just like that barbecue grill, in order for it all to come together and function as you intend, you require a ‘future picture’ and a plan. For organizations, that is your strategy. Organizations without strategy are doomed to failure, or, at best, they will never realize their full potential. To engage the whole organization in creating and executing winning plans, you need a common framework for strategic thinking.

Let me introduce you to Prometheus. Now Prometheus was an interesting guy! He was the wisest of the Titans in Greek mythology. The old Greek gods assigned two brothers the responsibility of putting life on earth—Epimetheus, whose name means “hindsight”, and Prometheus, whose name means “forethought”. Epimetheus went first and populated the earth with all the animals. Then it fell to Prometheus to create humankind.

In order to prevail against the bigger, stronger and faster animals, Prometheus gave to humankind the ability to think ahead. He also stole fire from the gods. Today, forethought and fire (passion) fuel high-performing organizations. Those companies and leaders who think strategically and execute passionately have the ultimate competitive advantage—the power to spark their own success, illuminate the future, and ignite the energy of all of their stakeholders.

The Prometheus Strategic Planning System (www.prometheusstrategy.com) is a methodology for envisioning and creating your future, and igniting the passion and energy in your organization to make it happen. Once Prometheus is accepted and incorporated by the organization, everyone can move forward together. Most importantly, people will no longer be thinking like bricklayers. Bricklayers are specialists, but are usually not thinking about the larger strategic issues, such as how a community should be organized, or what the purpose of the buildings should be. They are primarily concerned about the details of construction: How many bricks will we need? How high should this wall be?

The Prometheus Process helps people “think like an architect rather than a bricklayer.” It engages as many people as possible in the process of answering four strategic questions:
1. What future do we want to create?
2. What system change is necessary for that future to become reality?
3. Which leverage points in the system will move it in the desired direction?
4. How will we know when we’re finished, and what is the exit plan?
When these questions are answered for the overall organization, the result is an overarching Grand Strategy. The process then becomes fractal—the same kinds of questions are answered at ever lower levels until every unit of the organization has its own sub-strategy. This fractal approach builds a deep level of understanding, commitment, and alignment.
Over time, we have found that using the Prometheus Process leads to a new strategic mind-set in an organization. The day-to-day dialogue is no longer confined to tactical details, but begins to encompass larger, longer-term issues. Groups within the organization find new ways to connect with one another. Just like the screws, nuts and bolts of a barbecue, people who, on the surface, appear to have little in common, begin to work together like teams of architects planning a new community.
The tools and techniques contained within the Prometheus Process, if followed carefully, will substantially improve your probability of success in business and government—no matter the size of your company—whether you are an individual, a sole proprietor, a manager, or the chairman of a global enterprise.