Billion dollar win changing the context to improve stakeholder engagement

'Billion dollar win' - managing challenging stakeholders
by shifting the context
Ian Sharpe MAIPM CPPD PMP 0403 113 035 ian.sharpe@uxcconsulting.com.au

©4-D Systems and UXC Consulting

Where we’re going today

• High performance in context
• Matching proposal team cultures
• Changing the context of a client relationship
• Questions


‘Team Social Context’...

… governs human behavior, and therefore team
performance

...it’s so powerful that it
drives performance ...

… 75% of the time
(Gilbert Model)

... like iron filings are driven by
magnetic force


...your behaviour would clearly be different
in these different social contexts


Flawed team social contexts drive major
failures...

Challenger

Columbia

Hubble

Korean Airlines


... Fukushima Daiichi – skills or context?

Final Failure Review
Board’s findings:
• Reflexive
obedience;
• Reluctance to
question
authority;
• Devotion to
‘sticking with the
program;’
• Groupism;
• Insularity


... however the right social team
context enables miracles
…“Failure is not an option”
Gene Kranz
Flight Director, Apollo 13


So how do we create the social context of a
high performing team?

Changing individuals
is hard and
‘one at a time’ ...

... so we manage the ‘force’, not the ‘filings’
to align and drive performance


How do we break the seemingly “mysterious and
immeasurable” core of high performance teams
and leaders into fundamental manageable parts?


First we need to understand what
underpins rational behaviour ...

INTUITED

EMOTIONAL LOGICAL

SENSED
Information
Deciding


... then we name the four dimensions (4-D) as
requirements to perform well ...
INTUITED

CULTIVATING VISIONING
We all need hopeful, realistic
We all need to feel appreciated
futures

EMOTIONAL LOGICAL

INCLUDING DIRECTING
We all need to feel we belong We all need the ability to meet
expectations

SENSED

A deep human need is at the core of each Dimension - you must
appropriately address all four in building any team

... define the context of a high
performance team for each dimension...
INTUITED

Mutual respect and enjoyable Grounded optimism
work Sustained, effective creativity
High trust Perceiving ‘magical’ solutions
Willing and energised
collaboration

EMOTIONAL LOGICAL

INCLUDING DIRECTING
Aligned efficient action No drama states in team
‘We’ not ‘I’ Everyone knows their part
High trustworthiness and Clear and achievable expectations
efficiency

SENSED


... then set 8 key behaviours that are the strongest
and simplest drivers of high performance
INTUITED

Mutual respect and enjoyable work Grounded optimism
High trust Sustained, effective creativity
Willing and energised collaboration
Perceiving ‘magical’ solutions

Expressing Expressing Being
Addressing
authentic reality-based Outcome
shared interests
appreciation optimism Focussed

EMOTIONAL LOGICAL

INCLUDING DIRECTING
Aligned efficient action No drama states in team
‘We’ not ‘I’ Everyone knows their part
High trustworthiness and efficiency Clear and achievable expectations

Appropriately Making and Clarifying roles,
Resist blaming
including keeping realistic accountability
and complaining
others agreements and authority

SENSED

Blue vs. Orange organisational cultures


Blue cultures meet experts’ needs

Values Vision

Diagonal Challenge
Inclusion Organization/Power


Orange cultures meet management’s needs

Diagonal Challenge
Values Vision

Inclusion Organization/Power


Which dominates your work culture?
1) We grant ultimate power to:
Our technical “wizards” Our (hierarchal) management
2) Our working processes are:
Unstructured and free Rigorous and disciplined
3) Ultimately
Performance trumps budget Budget trumps performance
4) Our management and admin processes are:
Poorly documented and ad-
Documented and disciplined
hoc
5) Our personal communications are:
Brutally frank Polite and tempered

Proposal team culture matches in
competitions
You Customer

=
You can win when your proposal team’s
culture matches your customer’s

You will not when you mismatch, if
≠ your competition matches them

If mismatched: under stress you will default
to the habits of your culture and lose sight
of your customer’s.


James Webb Space Telescope
Hubble’s Successor Telescope


Cultural sanity check
Mr. Customer wants an 8 meter telescope for $500M. Hubble Space Telescope was
2.4 meters and cost $3B!  (Visioning Dimension)
His team is populated by the “best and brightest” scientists with “intellectual air
superiority” in the Project.  (Visioning) Dimension)
You really want to win so you put Mr. Manager, who recently completed an
astronomical telescope on cost and schedule in charge. He selects experienced
engineers for his team.  (Directing Dimension)
Mr. Customer sees advanced technology as the only path to success. Conventional
designs are “backups.”  (Visioning Dimension)
You “know better.” Proven approaches will win.  (Directing Dimension)
Your team focuses in developing details that increasingly show the implausibility of
the customer’s vision.  (Directing Dimension)
Your competitor put a scientist with no hardware experience in charge. He is
promoting risky, high-promise solutions.  (Visioning)
You are sure that these will not appeal to the customer and that he will choose your
expensive conventional design.  (Directing Dimension)

Is there any possibility that you will win this competition?

The proposal team prepares for orals

• The proposal team was preparing for their final
presentation to their customer and the manager asked for
help
• More than $1Billion on the line
• Loss seemed likely – tough competition; incumbent

• Charlie found himself on a telco with 20 people, most with no
knowledge of 4-D Systems or the Context Shifting Worksheet
(CSW)
• He explained the basic idea and had them each create a rough
CSW
• They proceeded create competitive advantage by shifting the
context, as follows


Shifting the context towards success
We are in a tough $1B competition and must win
Situation you want to resolve:_______________________________________________________________________________________
• Outcome you are committed to realizing: To Win Good contract, happy customer, sanity
__________________________________________________________________________
Our competitor is cheating, it’s hopeless. Victim
• Your “Red” limiting Story-lines:______________________________________________________________________________________
Social context management  program success
• Your “Green” empowering Story-lines: ______________________________________________________________________________
Anxious (Scared-group)  Excited (Glad)
• Your experience & expression of emotions: _________________________________________________________________________

2: CULTIVATING DIMENSION 4: VISIONING DIMENSION
 Who needs to feel appreciated, and how can you  What uncomfortable reality must you confront to
ensure this? create the Outcome you want?
No one Their fair & open process ?? Weakness in thermal ability ++
 What do they want that you can want for them  How Committed (in %) are you to realizing the
also? above Outcome?
Science results. Program success 100% to Customer & Project success

3: INCLUDING DIMENSION 5: DIRECTING DIMENSION
 Who needs to feel included, and how can you  Any Drama-states you need to process and exit?
ensure this?
Just us Management, their sponsors Stop blaming the customer
 What implicit or explicit agreements have you  Any unclear Roles, Accountability, or Authority
broken that you must now process? statements or processes?
None Missed some deadlines Flow RAAs, to meet customer desires


What they then agreed to do:

1. Acknowledged about broken agreements in the past,
and what they were doing to avoid them re-occuring
2. Told the truth about the thermal shielding experience
challenge
3. Proposed a collaborative approach to address it
4. Defined what roles were seen as needed to ensure
accountability and to work together


... and the result?

By teaching us how to understand our customer's
mindset and then to authentically shape our offering in
response, he helped us win three major competitive
proposals worth $9 billion
Greg Davidson, Director of Capture and Proposal Operations,
Northrop Grumman Space Technology


I’d like to keep our conversation going
and hear more from you

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