Applied Strategy: Free Articles & Tools

Return to Free Articles & Tools Index

Even Tailwinds Can Be a Real Drag!
June 2009

I went for a bike ride the other day with two friends who, like me, used to fly airplanes and we reminisced about some of the things that we had learned along the way. Pilots tend to trade flying stories like old fisherman in Minnesota trade stories about Walleyes but we managed to keep the “bologna” to a minimum this particular day.

We were talking about wind and it reminded me that many years ago—as part of the first of what would become many flight tests—my examiner threw me a curveball that I whiffed on. I can’t remember the exact question, but I remember the lesson. It had to do with headwinds and tailwinds and how they affect your flight time. It was something like, “On an out-and-back trip your airplane has an indicated airspeed of 200 knots and there is a direct tailwind of 100 knots. You are traveling 100 miles. Your return flight-now with a headwind of 100 knots-takes twice as long, right?” Wrong. (I’ll let you do the math…)

I learned a bit about life while I was flying airplanes, (Ice Rocks and Airplanes) but only recently thought about how the amount of strategic alignment within a company is like the headwind/tailwind component in flying. If everything and everyone is perfectly aligned behind your strategy, you get maximum benefit, like a tailwind directly on the backside of your airplane. The further that systems and people are from perfect alignment with your strategy, the less benefit you get. Severe misalignment is more like a direct headwind in which case your progress can actually go to zero or worse.
When you have a headwind or tailwind that is not exactly aligned with your airplane’s direction of flight, you must “crab” the airplane into the direction of the wind which induces “drag” and that…well, that’s a drag! So those systems in your company that are not completely aligned with your strategy might be somewhat helpful, but they are not optimized.

For example, if your compensation and reward systems do not reward behavior that is completely consistent with your strategy, you’ll find that people will most often do what they are paid to do, not what the strategy requires. On Wall Street they call that “greed”. I tend to think of it mostly as “rational self-interest” and poorly designed systems.

Likewise, if your marketing people are positioning you as a market-focused/customer-intimate company while your real strategy is about being the low-cost producer, you’ll attract the wrong customers and disappoint the heck out of them, attract the wrong type of employees with the wrong skills, confuse your sales people and about 17 other bad things will happen.

I have had clients with people on their team who were either openly acting in opposition to the strategy or demonically trying to torpedo it behind closed doors. They must be “re-educated” or fired or once again, it’s a “real drag, man”. Debate is great during the decision process, but not during the execution phase.

When you are flying from point A to point B, you don’t adjust your course unless you encounter something unexpected like inclement weather, another airplane trying to occupy the same space as you (Ouch!) or you choose a new destination. When you do, your headwind or tailwind component changes. Adjusting course in a company is required on occasion too, but not daily. When you do make adjustments, you need to realign the company again or your people will be blowing in the wrong direction.

I am very pleased to let you know of our 5 year anniversary of successfully working as a thought-partner to CEOs and other executives. Working with talented business executives in developing winning strategies has been delightful, challenging and rewarding. We thank our clients for their support and trust.

My greatest reward, however, is seeing others succeed. As a client who is CEO of an international company said to me recently, “I am a much better CEO because of our conversations!” Hearing this and similar observations from other clients in the last 5 years reassures me of the value that we bring to our clients and inspires us to continue on our mission of helping leaders build profitable, successful companies. (read testimonials)

A successful coaching/consulting engagement depends upon finding great clients. We have found these great relationships, by far, come through word of mouth recommendations. If I can be of assistance to you or someone you know, I would be honored if you would contact me.

Please feel free to pass this newsletter along to others, or sign up to receive these infomational articles by email.

Todd Ordal helps CEOs and senior leaders connect the dots between current reality and a compelling vision of the future. He consults on strategy and serves as a thought partner for CEOs because he understands from his days as a CEO that it is lonely at the top. You can contact Todd at todd@appliedstrategy.info or call 303-527-0417.