Why Viva Goals is always the first module to implement

Carefully consider where success comes from - because that is what we need to enable FIRST.

Years ago, one of my mentors shared a metaphor that I have used and love. He has since passed, but his message to me was powerful and stuck with me over many years*.

It starts with a question.

Who is the most important person on a ship?  (It doesn’t matter what ship, any ship).

The responses often are ‘The captain, the engineers, the support crew, etc. all roles.

The answer that was given to me by my mentor was ‘The architect.’  

Every vessel has a purpose, and it is the architect(s) who design the vessel fit for purpose.

It does not matter how good the people are (captain, etc.) if the ship is designed wrong - the best crew cannot fix a bad ship.

Once the ship’s design is right, you can then focus on the journey by developing the people and processes. *

Viva Goals is the specialized Microsoft tool to capture your Account’s architected strategy. Once captured, you can then choose their next step for their success:

  • Monitor performance (Goals),
  • Capture entity relationships (Graph),
  • Monitor activities (Insights)
  • Communicate (Engage, Amplify),
  • Build the skills (Skills, Learning, Topics),
  • Assess engagement (Glint, Pulse)

(Each account’s sequencing of these will be based on their need, current capabilities, and logical sequencing).

 

Without capturing the architecture, as Plato points out, the true captain—the man who knows the craft of navigation—would be called a useless stargazer.

At pm2, we are happy to talk you through the right sequence for each of your Accounts.

Implementing Goals is always step 1.

 

 

*NOTE: This metaphor come from Plato’s book “The Republic.”

Brett Knowles

Brett Knowles is a thought leader in the Strategy Execution space for high-tech organizations. His client work has been published in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fortune, and many other business publications.