Module 4
Double Productivity & Impact
VIDEO 1: The Structure Game
The Questions that Guide Smart Structure
Designing organizational structures is ultimately and expression of how power and people are arranged. In this video we explore the most important questions that guide the creation of any intelligent structure.
VIDEO 2: Who’s On First?
Getting Clear on the Ground Rules of the Structure Game
Words like “authority,” “accountability,” and “responsibility” are often conflated and used interchangeably. But understanding their distinction is critical to understanding how to design structures that work better. In this video we explore the underlying principles and ground rules of structure.
VIDEO 3: Creating Swim Lanes
Introducing the R.A.C.I. Chart to Organize Authority
Often the biggest problems between people are not personality conflicts or ill will, but rather poorly differentiated swim lanes. In this video, we look at a very simple tool designed to help create clear lanes of authority.
VIDEO 4: R.A.C.I. Done Right
How to Change Power Dynamics More Easily
It’s one thing to articulate and design a new structure but something very different to actually implement that new structure. Remember you are playing with power and people’s sense of agency when you mess with structure. This video introduces the best way to have these conversations
VIDEO 5: Engaging Meetings
The Principles That Make Meetings Work
Meetings are the operating room to surgeons, the playing field to athletes. This is where the actual work happens, and yet most people dislike meetings and feel they take away from work. In this video we begin the path of designing more engaging and effective meetings.
VIDEO 6: Parking Lot, Monkeys, & Tensions
The 3 Key Elements You Search for in Meetings
When you know exactly what you’re searching for it’s a lot easier to find. Meetings that lack a clear direction are often caused by not knowing what to look for or how to capture it. In this video we focus on the three elements every meeting should be revealing for greater efficiency and accountability.
VIDEO 7: Leader, Monkey Handler, Hourglass
The 3 Most Important Roles in Meetings
Meetings can drag on or be really meandering when you don’t make use of a couple of key roles. Very few people know about this, but when you create these roles in a meeting, everything starts to change for the better. In this video we introduce and describe 3 key roles every tactical meeting should have.
VIDEO 8: Real Time Agendas
Running A Smart Tactical Meeting
Most meetings become mushy because the leader doesn’t create clear stages and gates along the way. In this video, we show you exactly what format will get you the best results in a meeting.
VIDEO 9: Troubleshooting Meetings
When Things Still Aren’t Working Right
When things go wrong in a meeting, it’s often tricky to know what needs to be done about it. In this video, we explore a few simple troubleshooting tricks that can make your meetings run even better.
VIDEO 10: Offer and Ask
The Hidden Dynamics of Negotiating Agreements
Alignment between diverse people is one of the toughest things to achieve. Forming agreements is one of the best ways to create this. In this video, we explore the subtle dynamics of making requests and offers so that you can wisely manage expectations.
VIDEO 11: The Pencil Process
How to Form Better Agreements
Some agreements are highly informal or even unspoken, others are legally binding documents. But there has to be space for something in between if we are ever going to get people moving in the same direction. In this video, we introduce the “Pencil Agreement Process” to solve that problem and clean up differences between people.
VIDEO 12: Power Imbalance
How to Run the Pencil Process in a Team
Forming agreements between equal partners is one thing, but the game changes when you do it between a leader and her team. In this video, we explore the best way to honor the power imbalance in a team while still using the “Pencil Process.”
VIDEO 13: The Zipper Conversation
The 6 Coaching Questions to Create Alignment
When it comes to manager and direct report, misunderstanding and misalignment is often the rule rather than the exception. In this video, I introduce the “Zipper Conversation” — 6 simple questions to ask any direct report in order to achieve maximum alignment and impact.