So says Lucy Kellaway in an article today on FT.Com Management which draws on a “…standing on a burning platform..” memo, sent to all Nokia staff by CEO Stephen Elop, to make this point:
Fear of death is motivating; so is the truth. Most employees are fed on a never-ending diet of flannel, so when they are dished up a helping of stark truth, the effect can be invigorating.
When I first read the leaked memo at the end of last week what struck me was the CEO’s use of a story at a critical time in the organisation’s evolution or potential demise; it was as stark as that. Through the imagery of a burning oil platform it presented staff with a choice: jump into the freezing waters and potentially drown or remain onboard the platform as it is today and perish.
Seemingly part of a well orchestrated internal communications programme the memo was followed a few days later by an announcement of a strategic development tie up with Microsoft in response to Apple’s competitive edge in the smartphone and apps arena.
Lucy’s take (and I am paraphrasing) is that the use of fear is a powerful tool to cause a shift in approach.
It’s a technique we’ve used before to try and bring to life topics that normally switch off most senior managers when raised. I’m referring here to records management.
A couple of years back we used a picture (of the inside of a road tunnel) and asked the company’s management to look at the picture and estimate how much the remedial work about to be undertaken was going to cost.
The figure they gave reflected the fact that they had to strip down the tunnel walls to find out what was behind them; the records and plans were no longer to hand. Quite apart from the increased cost of the project there was a significant loss of productivity caused by the unecessariy lengthy tunnel closure.
The picture and the supporting story were catalysts for a change in approach and the adoption of a new records management policy contributed to improved effeciency.
It remains to be seen whether the ‘burning platform’ memo will have a more dramatic effect at Nokia; its safe to assume the image is planted firmly in the minds of most employees and stakeholders. I wonder if the next chapter in this unfolding story will be the release of a story based in the future?