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Oren Harari

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Article: Adapted from BEEP! BEEP!Competing in...

Adapted from
BEEP! BEEP!
Competing in the Age of the Road Runner

We enter a vastly new era of enterprise. Many of the rules that guided business organization and operation in the past are no longer relevant as guiding principles. Most organization were formerly organized around time (as in 9-5, M-F), place (as in corporate vs. field), power (as in size, resources, secrets), and organization (as in boss, top management, front line). What happens when all these guiding principles are completely obsolete or totally reframed? It calls for new rules of engagement.

The difference between the old and the new reminds us of the familiar Road Runner versus Wile E. Coyote cartoon characters. Watch a few Road Runner cartoons while thinking about your team or organization. You will discover the Road Runner is as different from Wile E. as the old paradigm of business is different from the new. Here are a few of the differences we noticed.

  • Wile E. Coyote is earnest; the Road Runner is passionate
  • Wile E. Coyote relies on a sole source supplier; the Road Runner relies on no one, and everyone#depending on need
  • Wile E. Coyote relies on instructions; the Road Runner relies on ingenuity
  • Wile E. Coyote never learns from his mistakes; the Road Runner never stop learning-on-the-run
  • Wile E. Coyote uses myopia and greed; the Road Runner uses "big picture" vision and win-win values
  • Wile E. Coyote follows procedure; the Road Runner experiments
  • Wile E. Coyote is resilient; the Road Runner is resourceful
  • Wile E. Coyote is shrewd; the Road Runner is wise
  • Wile E. Coyote looks back; the Road Runner looks ahead
  • Wile E. Coyote is always grim; the Road Runner is always joyful.

Can you see the implications of these differences? It is not that Wile E. is without merit. We admire his endurance and tenacity. But, which character would you bet the farm on? Which character is the best model for successful teams and organizations of the future? We have crafted seven new rules of the road grounded in Road Runner thinking.

  1. Everyone is a full player. Winning organizations use open-book management, and make sure every employee, supplier and partner is connected, wired, in the know and trained to think like owners. These organizations do away with rank and pecking orders. They borrow (rather than own) the best talent from around the world.

  2. All boundaries are permeable. Winning organizations allow information, resources and people to flow freely. They strip away the walls to create a smaller, faster body and a bigger, more innovative brain. They encourage employees to be boundary hunters. They think in terms of wholes, webs, networks and multi-everything.

  3. Mastery is the magic. Winning organizations create a curious enterprise. They seek to become the fastest learners in their industry. They value wonder, vitality and boldness. They seek interesting mistakes and share wonderful errors. They apply learning continuously and encourage leaders to be sponge growers.

  4. Honorable cultures are powerful. A power-full work environment is one from which people draw strength and focus from a clear vision and obvious values. They continually raise the bar on their expectations of ethics. They eliminate drag by maintaining full-time, beak-to-tail integrity.

  5. All enterprise is virtual. Winning organizations accept that nothing lasts, nothing is static, and nothing stays put. They know all business is fashion; all products experiments. They challenge anything that is fixed and everything that bogs them down or unnecessarily ties them to allegiance#to place, policy, asset or tradition.

  6. Breakthrough is the road to prosperity. Winning organizations race on the lunatic fringe. They work to be first, be exceptional, and be unique. They go in a different direction from the masses. They challenge processes and break rules. They know incrementalism is a path to extinction. Winners are bold mavericks willing to redefine the game.

  7. The last word is laughter. Winning organizations see the connections between smiles and discipline, laughs and focus, giggles and results, hee-haws and high performance. They continually battle the corporate diseases of grimness, intimidation, secrecy and anxiety. They view giggling as a strategic priority#and they laugh all the way to the bank!

If the Road Runner embodies the characteristics of the winning organization of the future, and the new rules replace the old ways, is your team or organization a roadrunner or a coyote? Take the test below to find out.

  • Do you frequently invite (internal and external) customers and vendors to attend your staff meetings?
  • Are all employees and associates encouraged to partner and problem solve with any one, anytime, at any level and anywhere in the organization to accomplish results?
  • Are employees encouraged to make interesting mistakes and fascinating errors?
  • Have you ever deceived an employee, customer, supplier, or partner?
  • If your customers and associates gave you a grade on how much you helped them learn and grow, what grade would you get?
  • How would you fare if all your products and services became completely obsolete every six months?
  • Would your internal and external customers describe your unit, team or organization with words like "zany," "wild," "almost out of control," "provocative," "crazy," or "loose cannons?"
  • Do you invite unusual people#magicians, inventors, philosophers, and artists#to present to your unit, team or organization?
  • Are you regularly searching for ways to make your associates, employees, customers and suppliers giggle a lot?
  • If your children observed your actions at work (assume you have children if you do not), what conclusions would they draw about your character?


© 2000 by Chip Bell and Oren Harari