Show Me The Way!

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Show Me The Way!

Mike Griffiths

November 9, 2009






A good project vision does more than unite the team toward a common objective--it also helps with group decision-making when faced with difficult choices.
 
Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors of The Leadership Challenge, describe a good project vision as being able to “Reveal a beckoning summit towards which others can chart their own course.” I like this description because the “reveal” invokes images of clouds parting and the end goal becoming visible. This is often what we need on projects--for the confusion to lift and the end state to be illuminated for everyone to see. The “chart their own course” part is important, too. The route team members take might vary from role to role, and we don’t want to dictate their every step. Instead, encourage local problem solving toward a common goal.
 
Here’s an example from Toyota--its lean manufacturing approach shares many philosophies with agile methods.



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