Unless you collaborate, have open dialogue and slow down to learn together, complex challenges will continue to be addressed with a strictly technical "fix-it fast" mentality.Īt KONE Americas, it took the executive team only a few days to commit to developing a slow-down-to-power-up mindset and a few more days to agree on core beliefs. If you don't change your response to the pressures of complexity, you can't expect that others will either. The leader then asked, "Do you believe that accidents are inevitable, or are you willing to believe in complete safety for everyone all the time?" The mechanics and the front-line team jumped into discussion about the effect the two different attitudes have on real-world decisions and actions, and how a culture of safety for everyone is at the core of customer-centered service.Ĭhange yourself, change the culture. The executives are hands-on, engaging all employees in the quest for industry leadership.Īt a recent meeting, for example, a regional leader literally repeated the maxim "Beliefs drive decisions, decisions drive behaviors, behaviors become practices." A group of seasoned elevator mechanics nodded their heads. These were not abstract or soft concepts. ![]() The KONE Americas executive team identified key beliefs that would help them advance a more collaborative, interdependent, customer-driven culture. What beliefs are required to drive your business strategy in the right direction? What beliefs get in the way? In the executive suite, out in the field or in the trenches of the business, our actions are the result of our beliefs. Complexity takes on a new hue.īeliefs drive decisions decisions drive behaviors behaviors become practices. You can find multiple right answers and integrate them for better decisions and sustainable solutions. Slowing down helps you see information, patterns and issues that were previously overlooked or unclear. Instead of focusing on speed, they can focus on learning, exploration and collaboration. When leaders hit the pause button on action and decision making, they can have different and deeper conversations. When we don't slow down, we run the risk of spending time and money reacting to symptoms. To resolve a significant issue, you must first understand whether you are looking at a problem to solve or a dilemma with which to cope. Here's how slowing down works to foster collaboration and confront complexity:Ĭomplex challenges require 90% inquiry and 10% decision making. Time lost at the front end has translated into clarity, speed and strength further along in the process. Slowing down at key times to use dialogue for deep diagnosis has allowed the business as a whole to power up. ![]() This is where the phrase Slow down to power up came in. With the help of a learning partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership, KONE Americas' executives realized that to deal with the company's expanding challenges and emerge as an industry leader, they would need to move to an interdependent, collaborative leadership culture. Organizational leadership, it turned out, was what was missing. Five CEOs were appointed in seven years, so company leaders learned to be reactive, solving one problem at a time. But its highly technical and independent management team had to struggle to sort out competing demands within the organization and among its customers. KONE Americas, a leader in the elevator and escalator industry, seemed comfortable as a market follower just a few years ago. That's the lesson that began a powerful transformation at KONE Americas. Slow down now and you will move faster, further and with greater purpose later-even when, or especially when, you are staring down the triple threat of complexity, speed and uncertainty. There is a way to break the stranglehold of complexity: Slow down to power up.
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