LATERAL THINKING
MANAGEMENT
Good management means looking far off into the horizon and recognizing the signs of changewell before it happens.
GEORGE, the management consultant commissioned by the mayor to conduct a finding study into the attitudes of fire department members, addressed the small conference group. These chiefs, representing the top uniformed level of management in the fire department, had invited George back for a third meeting.
“When I was in the Navy during World War II,” George began, “I would occasionally get smoke-watch duty.”
He waited for a few moments before continuing to see if he had their attention. The previous meeting with the chiefs had turned out a lot better than George had expected. It seemed to him that they were softening up a bit after he had accused them of poor management and living up to (or down to) a system of management that he called vertical thinking. George felt that they were beginning to understand that the department’s capacity for change—indeed, the department’s survival in a complex, changing world —rested on their shoulders. Or was the management consultant just being overly optimistic?
“You see, I was in what was called the ‘black gang,’ ” George said. “We worked in the engine room, deep within the ship’s hull. It was awful. There was no sunshine, no fresh air, and—worst of all—it was crowded with greasy machinery and it was very’, very confined.”
“You don’t look that old,” John, the chief of department, remarked.
George smiled. “Smoke watch was like being set free. Just to breathe the fresh air— it was wonderful!”
He suddenly realized that most of the chiefs sitting around the conference table were probably born during the war. Not everyone understood what he was saying.
YOU SIMPLY WATCH FOR SMOKE
“Smoke watch,” George explained, “required climbing to the top of the ship’s superstructure. I was on a light cruiser, so it was a pretty high climb. Then you had to climb up a scries of small, steel struts welded to the ship’s forward smoke stack. Finally, you arrived at a small platform. And there you sat, equipped with what would now be considered a primitive communication device. Your job was simply to watch the smoke. If it was black, you communicated that fact to the boiler room. There, someone would force more air into the boilers, and the black smoke would disappear.”
“What’s the purpose?” asked Donald, chief in charge of fire prevention.
Frank, chief of the fire academy, quickly replied, “To keep the enemy from spotting you.”
George had sensed that Frank was older than the other chiefs, and now he was convinced. “That’s right,” he said. “If I remember correctly, at sea the horizon is about twenty miles off in any direction. Smoke could be detected by an enemy that was beyond the horizon, especially black smoke….”
“No!” It was Jack, chief of personnel, and he was wearing a slight grin. “I think Donald meant to ask what’s the purpose of your story, for us at this meeting.” He looked at the other chiefs. Donald was nodding in affirmation. The others seemed to agree.
Harold, chief of fire operations and the one who had stormed out of the first meeting to contact the union about George’s activities, spoke up. “This is all an interesting piece of ancient history, but from what I know about your parables, it’s not just a history lesson.”
It wasn’t the biting sarcasm from Harold that bothered George—he could expect no less from Harold; what did worry him was that the tone of Harold’s voice seemed to match the cold challenge in the eyes of the others.
He was confused by their rudeness. He had expected some friendliness. Good old Harold, with collective approval, went straight for the juggler and put that feeling to rest. But still, George was kind of surprised. Apparently, their request for a third meeting was not entirely based on a positive reaction to their last gathering and their discussion on the dangers of vertical thinking. There was something else. Maybe he had misjudged these chiefs. Maybe they weren’t as ready for lateral thinking as he had imagined.
SIT HIGH ON THE STACK, LOOKING OUT AT THE HORIZON
“I guess you’re right,” George finally replied, trying to ignore the two or three chiefs who were outwardly pleased that he had been rattled. “There is a special point to my smoke-watch story*. And I’ll get right to it.”
The picture of a calm, blue sea, stretching as far as the eye could see, flashed before him in his mind’s eye.
Holding onto the image, he said, “It’s really quite simple. A top manager should spend a large part of his or her time sitting high up on the stack and looking out at the horizon —l(X)king to see signs of the enemy and planning a course to successfully steer into the uncharted horizon.
“Charting the unknown requires trying to see over the horizon as only they may have the ability to do. Their job is not to look down, but out. You might say they have to look laterally and, just as important, interpret what they see.”
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Keeping his thoughts on target, George continued. “The smoke watch looks for the smoke of an approaching ship. A top manager looks for the future. He or she tries to read signs and quickly communicate with those down within their ship, with those who are so busy keeping their ship running that they can’t see beyond the steel of their tiny compartments—but who together with top management can make the necessary adjustments to cope with whatever the horizon may hold.”
“That’s the big message,” Donald blurted out. He looked around the table and smiled. “That’s what ‘lateral thinking’ is all about.”
“Another name for it,” George bravely offered, “is ‘strategic planning.’ “
LATERAL THINKING
He put his thoughts in order. Then he said, “Of course, strategic planning involves a bit more—contingency planning, for example. But essentially, that’s it. Books have been written on strategic planning, but when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, the smoke-watch mind-set, for top management, is about where it’s at.’’
John stirred uneasily in his chair. “I thought there would be something more definite.” Apparently, by asking George to a third conference, he was hoping to acquire a more substantial, concrete way of resolving the problem of vertical thinking in his department.
George smiled and replied, “No, I’m afraid there’s no magic formula. Strategic planning basically requires a thorough knowledge of your ship —its assets, weaknesses, strengths, and capabilities—and an equally thorough knowledge of the crew’s attributes. It all comes together, so to speak, in the mind of the smoke watch. It can happen as he or she scans the horizon, analyzes the data.”
HAVING THE COURAGE
“Well,” the chief of department said, “it certainly makes sense. Not too much that’s new. But it makes sense.”
George offered. “The new part may be having the courage to really start thinking laterally. It may take some time getting used to. Especially for a civil servant like yourself, it’s hard to see beyond the confines of your budget and the area that has been officially carved out for you. 1 know that for many business people it has been difficult.
“I think Robert Townsend, in his book. Up The Organization—How To Stop The Corporation From Stifling People And Strangling Profits, likened some American leaders to wooden images on the bows of sailing ships. It’s a sad picture of a leader, helplessly plowing into the sea fixed to a ship driven by a wind over which there is little or no control. ”
George hesitated before adding. “You’re right, John There’s nothing new about strategic planning. But it’s necessary. In my opinion, and in the opinion of others in management, because time isn’t given to lateral thinking, factories and other businesses are closing—in your case, firehouses. The sailing-ship image of blind leadership no longer can be afforded. That’s why the concept of strategic planning was developed, and why I pushed the idea of lateral thinking on you.”
“But how can a fire service manager, bound by unions and budgets, do it?” the chief of department sincerely asked. “I mean, no one really operates on his own.”
George thought for a few moments and answered, “Climb the stack. Search out the horizon. Try to see what is beyond. Seek out an area that must be addressed—one that has special significance, not only for you, but for the department. And then throw caution to the wind. Go to it. Get to those who operate your ship. Speak out and help them to plan. Reach a decision by purposefully staying aw-ay from the traditional guidelines of fire service management. And in the decision stage, try not to be helplessly driven by the ship or controlled by an indifferent wind.”
George looked at the chief. “I guess,” he said, “once you climb the stack you maystand out from the crowd. But how else can you really see where you should go or lead?”
KEEP THE FAITH
They were tidying up their papers. George knew that he had struck out. “One thing — ” he said. “I forgot to stress that in lateral thinking, especially as it is associated with strategic planning, it’s important to be at least a year or two ahead of yourself. The horizon for the smoke watch was twenty miles. In those days, twenty miles provided a margin of safety. A lot could be done before an enemy struck. But not today.”
Frank, after an uneasy silence, said, “Keep the faith, brothers.” Everyone laughed and seemed to relax gradually into a goodnatured mood.
George knew what the expression, “keep the faith,” meant. Roughly translated it meant “and this. too. will pass.” Uniformed civil servants use it to indicate that they will still be around long after the elected or politically appointed officials are history.
Foolishly. George had gone out of his way to convince the mayor’s office to give him the time out of a busy schedule to have this meeting. But he forced himself to say, “I would like to thank you for your patience. Take care of yourselves. Perhaps w-e will meet again.” Everyone smiled. As he left, some even shook his hand.
