Rekindling Blueprint

Controlled Burn Plan

Trim the deadweight, clear the chaos, make space for regrowth. Strategic pain with purpose.

Vision

The plan of attack must be wide in the open, understood by all and committed to by all; from an inspiring BHAG to the one-year plan over core values and focus. 

Many companies, I've been working with, have this part often hammered out - on paper, on their walls and on the website. Is the vision alive and well throughout the organization that is less often the case. From quarterly townhalls and department meetings to everyday decision making, communicate and over communicate the vision.

Fireline Strategy

This is the line that stops the spread. Boundary-setting. Ops discipline. Strategic containment.

People

Determine what it means to have good people, accountability and define the roles required for success. In the end the right people have to be in the right seat.

Right people, right seat.
Four Words, easily said.
Simple idea,  seldomly lived.
Whatever the vision for the organization, I help to distribute accountability, define roles, terms and conditions etc. to align with the vision all the way down to client analysis and sales understanding that they aren't just revenue producers but also a protector.

Smoke-Clearing Strategy

Not sexy, but real:
eliminate the noise, get visibility, breathe again, and restart.

Data

What gets measured gets done. Numbers create clarity, teamwork and accountability. Everyone has a number. The scorecard shows the pulse and predicts.

The data has to flow from top to bottom and bottom up. The numbers need to tell a helpful story to steer the crew into the right direction. I have observed that the root cause to "underperformance" often is in the wrong goal posts or no goal posts. Stop making your people guess and show them what really matters to the organization and how they matter.

Backburn Blueprint

Fight chaos with fire.
A tactical burn to take control before it all goes up in smoke.

Issues

It's normal to have issues. What's important is less discussion and more solving of the issues, especially the reoccurring ones.
Identify. Discuss. Solve.

Well facilitated weekly team meetings and 1:1s, areas of the greatest impact. Issues need to be in the open, resolved not by consensus, key personnel heard. Better decisions are data driven and made with egos & titles left at the door. Short-term suffering may be required for long-term gains. Radical candor applied, not loosing sight of the greater good.

Fuel Flow Framework

Where’s the energy going? What’s feeding the fire vs. draining it? Map the fuel flow, fix the leaks.

Process

With the business systemized, troubleshooting gets better and if all follow the core process, handovers from on department to the next become flawless.

Let's say the team hits the numbers but, how is the team doing? On the verge of burn-out, loosing trust that it will ever get better and work life balance becomes more than words tossed around by management? From documented core processes to terms & conditions and a playbook all the way to checklists. Is the organization clear on how it is all done?   

Heat Control Map

Identify where pressure is productive — and where it’s doing the opposite; torching the team.

Rocks

When everything is important, nothing is important. Focus on no more than three to seven priorities for 90 days over and over again. 

It is important to be decisive in choosing quarterly rocks. Preparation is key for planning meetings. Classic mistakes are too many rocks, not enough understanding and little follow through. I believe in weekly facilitated rock execution check-ins after the planning session to ensure enough time is spent working on the business rather than in the business.

The Ember Playbook

For when things aren’t dead, just dormant. This brings heat back to glowing potential.

Commitment

After gaining traction, numbers will rise again but remember, growth for growth's sake is a mistake. Stay aligned with the controlled burn plan.

Smart, repeatable choices lead to constant traction. The important part now is not to get distracted by the well known "new shiny object syndrome" and stick to the plan. Like a relationship, it's never one fix and then it's all rosy from here on out. It is constant work, constant improvement, constant is the the only constant in the game to success.

The Firewatch Plan

Constant vigilance. Systematic scanning and response — like a CEO’s radar during chaos.

Staging

Controlled burn plans are built in stages… once the fire pit is too small or the ceiling is hit again, it is time to level up to prevent another stalling of it all.

Mastered the operating model for a little while? Guess what? It's like a website - it's never done. Hitting the ceiling over and over again is normal and outgrowing processes and relationships is part of a growing & thriving business which is why it is important to understand the stages and the required configuration per stage of the journey.