One of the most appealing and different feature of this book is that it not based on the realms of choking statistical research as one would expect to find in any other research and theory related books. It is also something that makes the book “The Advantage” a lot more different from the other theory books; one would have possibly read before. In this book, Patrick has used his extensive consulting experiences and various other theories to reaffirm 4 main steps which are essential for sustainable success in the long-term. The 4 disciplines on which the writer has mainly focused on includes building cohesive leadership team, create clarity, over-communicate clarity, and reinforce clarity.
The first focus of this book was on building a strong and cohesive leadership team. The first step in achieving this is by, ensuring that the right kinds of people are at the top of the hierarchy and to ensure that these people are not too unmanageable. Apart from this, the members should also be very committed towards achieving the overall goals of the organization. In addition to carrying out their own work, they must also try to help each other out in fulfilling their duties. This would also lead to the creation of a high performing team. After the creation of that commitment team members must then shift their focus to 5 prime behaviors to ensure that a successful top level management is created. These 5 behaviors include; building trust, mastering conflict, achieving commitment, embracing accountability and focusing on results.
The second important area of focus is considered to be creating some clarity by answering 6 questions. The first question tends to clarify the very existence of the company and the second question intends to showcase the behavior of the people. The third question tends to explain the business itself in very simple language. The fourth one, talks about the how the team members should develop a strategy. In the fifth question, they shall create a common goal and purpose which is to be achieved by them. In the very last question, the team should be able to allocate the specific tasks and goals amongst themselves.
The third discipline which Patrick has focused on is to over-communicate clarity. This comes after the team has established cohesiveness and clarity after answering the 6 questions mentioned in the 2nd phase of this book. During this phase, they need to communicate their answers to the employees of the organization over and over again. This was done because, it was found out that the employees only take their boss’s message seriously after they have heard it continuously for a lot of time. The number may vary anywhere between five and fifty times, but the important point is in ensuring that the employee has heard it several times at a stretch. For ensuring that the message has been communicated for a sufficient number of times, four steps may be taken. These include; commitment clarification, cascading clarification, top-down communication and lateral as well as upward communication.
The fourth component which has been discussed in the book is called reinforcing clarity and it is strongly based on the theme that they hire employees who will work closely with the overall goals and objectives of the company. After they bring in new people, they must and should teach them thoroughly about the overall objectives of the organization. In order to reinforce clarity the managers also need to have a consistent, simple and non-bureaucratic approach to the overall process of setting goals as well as reviewing the process and also the progress of their employees. As part of this approach, employees who do not perform well as are also driven out of the organization eventually. In addition, all the reward as well as the compensation related systems are also created by keeping the long-term and also the short-term goals of the business organization in mind.
An example of these processes would be for example carrying out a recruitment drive. For instance, a company XYZ believes that they must give their employees some breaks and allow them to do something more natural; such as, taking a short walk or even a coffee break. Form the employees perspective, he/she need to carry out some research and find out how they fit into the company, irrespective of the technical skills they have, they should be able to fit into and adapt to the core values o the company in order to succeed.
Overall, the book purports that if any business organization wants to be successful they need to work as a one united company which is consistently working towards achieving its goals. Any successful business is separated from the other ones through the management practices which it follows. This book has compiled some of the most easily accessible and also applicable models which are crucial for the success of any type of business organization.
References
- Lencioni, P. The Advantage. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012.
