Tuesday, April 20, 2004 – A few months ago, David gave me a copy of The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni, and I’ve been talking up this leadership fable ever since. Published in 2000 as the follow-up to The Five Temptations of a CEO, the author’s business fiction debut, The Four Obsessions is a timeless classic, an incredibly relevant blueprint for any organization, large or small. Which is why David first shared it with me, and more recently asked our entire staff to read it. He recognizes the value of a healthy (read: no politics or confusion) work environment. It’s what he — and this book — espouses. For starters: If everything is important, then nothing is. That’s Lencioni’s opening proposition — that sustained well-being is dependent on identifying “a reasonable number of issues that will have the greatest possible impact on the success of your organization.” And then spending “most of your time thinking about, talking about, and working on those issues.” That’s David’s vision for Yellowfin — that all of us here are the embodiment of not just a smart organization, but also a healthy organization (which, Lencioni alludes, makes us far less susceptible to ordinary problems and far more likely to become even smarter down the road). By now (if you haven’t already read the book), you’re probably wondering if I’m ever going to get to the actual four obsessions. So without further ado, I’ll spell them out for you — verbatim (with, of course, all due credit to Patrick Lencioni):
I – Build and Maintain a Cohesive Leadership Team
Cohesive teams build trust, eliminate politics and increase efficiency by…
• Knowing one another’s unique strengths and weaknesses
• Openly engaging in constructive ideological conflict
• Holding one another accountable for behaviors and actions
• Committing to group decisions
II – Create Organizational Clarity
A healthy organization minimizes the potential for confusion by clarifying…
• Why the organization exists
• Which behavioral values are fundamental
• What specific business it is in
• Who its competitors are
• How it is unique
• What it plans to achieve
• Who is responsible for what
III – Over-Communicate Organizational Clarity
Healthy organizations align their employees around organizational clarity by communicating key messages through…
• Repetition: Don’t be afraid to repeat the same message, again and again.
• Simplicity: The more complicated the message, the more potential for confusion and inconsistency.
• Multiple Mediums: People react to information in many ways; use a variety of mediums.
• Cascading Messages: Leaders communicate key messages to direct reports; the cycle repeats itself until the message is heard by all.
IV – Reinforce Organizational Clarity Through Human Systems
Organizations sustain their health by ensuring consistency in…
• Hiring
• Managing performance
• Rewards and recognition
• Employee dismissal
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