Deceptively Simple Questions

Where do you work? What are you working on? Who do you work with?

These questions are often bandied about at cocktail parties as simple conversation-starters. Yet, they’re really rather probing. How often have you stopped to reflect and really consider: Where DO I work? What AM I working on?

Similarly, Patrick Lencioni writes about six critical but deceptively simple questions in his latest book, The Advantage. The exercise is part of a model that includes four disciplines to achieve organizational health.

1. Why do we exist?
   The answer to this question will yield a core purpose.
2. How do we behave?
   This question examines behaviors and values required for success.
3. What do we do?
   This answer provides a simple, direct explanation of the company.
4. How will we succeed?
   This question requires the team members to develop a strategy.
5. What is most important, right now?
   The answer to this question is the establishment of a unifying thematic goal and action plan.
6. Who must do what?
   This question addresses roles and responsibilities.

Next comes the task of communication. Steps 3 and 4 in Lencioni’s Healthy Organization model are to over-communicate the clarity created from answering the six critical questions and then to reinforce the clarity/communication. Lencioni says the sign of a good parent is if their kids can do an impression of them when they’re not around, “Don’t stay out after midnight, nothing good can happen.” The same is true for good leaders. Unless your line managers, your junior contributors and your executive VPs can all mimic you, “We have to get XX right, we can not get it wrong.” then you’re not yet doing your job.

We often hear, “Do what you say, and say what you do.” But if nobody’s paying attention or unable to mimic your language and behaviors, then you best change how you’re saying it or change how you’re doing it.

So what are you saying? What are you doing? And to bring it full circle, where do you work? And what are you working on? Here is a quick look at how fellow Juniper colleagues in Engineering took on those deceptively simple questions: