5 Frogs on a Stone, Thinking About Jumping: How Many Are Left?
3 Crucial Success Factors for Transformation: Aspirational Target Setting, Fast Bold Decision-Making, and Relentless Execution
August 3rd, 2024
Well, folks, today’s tale is about frogs, stones, and that tricky business of making a jump. Yeah, you heard me right. We’re talking about how corporations often find themselves stuck in a swamp of indecision. I call it the “5 Frogs on a Stone” dilemma.
You see, in my line of work with big and mid-sized companies on transformation programs, there’s a pattern. A transformation has typically three phases. Phase one: sizing the prize. This is where we figure out the potential improvements over the next 24 months. This phase is like a crime scene investigation—lots of interviews with clients, experts, number-crunching, and getting to the bottom of what went wrong and what needs fixing.
Then comes the ideas phase. We toss around suggestions, and almost every time, the response is, “Great idea! We’ve been thinking about it.” Folks, thinking about it ain’t enough. It’s like five frogs sitting on a stone, thinking about jumping. How many are left? Five. Because thinking ain’t doing.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The people I work with know their stuff. They’ve been in the trenches for years, while I’m just parachuting in for a few weeks. But here’s the kicker: my job isn’t to be the smartest guy in the room. My job is to get things moving. I take those ideas, hand them to their rightful owners, and make sure they get done. I make heroes out of them.
What these organizations often lack is the ability to make decisions and execute them relentlessly. Decision-making is like trying to get a cat to fetch a stick—painfully slow and often pointless. Too much red tape, too much fear of getting fired, and not enough guts to make bold moves. It takes courage to leap, and in transformation, we call it taking calculated risks.
After the initial phase, we dive into an eight-week sprint to build initiatives from the ground up. And here’s where my frog analogy comes back into play. I teach teams that thinking isn’t enough. We need to jump, to take action. It’s about making fast decisions and executing them without mercy.
Transformation is about working through countless ideas, making quick decisions on which ones to pursue, and then going after them with everything we’ve got. Not all initiatives will succeed, and that’s okay. We pivot and find another. There’s always room for improvement.
So, what’s the big takeaway? Organizations that embrace this approach outperform their competitors and often surprise themselves with what’s possible. Transformation is a rinse-and-repeat process, you never stop you always transforming.
I’ll be sharing more about these transformations and the battle-tested recipes that have led to astonishing results, including millions, if not billions, in bottom-line improvements for big corporations. Subscribe to my newsletter, and remember—don’t just think about it. Jump.
So long, and do jump.
Walter
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Current Books in Parallel Reading:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Pyramid of Success by Coach Wooden
Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Habits I’m Working On:
• Fitness & Health: More sports, healthy eating, no junk food, lots of veggies, and less sugar. Aim: Sports 4 times a week (weights and running).
Mindset: I’m a runner and I’m healthy.
Status: 4k run at the beach, super windy, tough, this run counts
• Dental Health: Flossing daily to avoid crowns and root canals.
Mindset: I have healthy teeth and I don’t hear the drill sound anymore
Status: no joy the 5th
• Writing: Practice, practice, practice—daily diary entries, no excuses.
Mindset: Peter’s Law
• Weight: 112 kg (still still no scale)
Mindset: Will go on the scale tomorrow
Consecutive Days Posting on Walter’s Diary:
Twenty-Five (25)