“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Peter Drucker
Recently I was able to travel to California with my son on his senior trip. While there our main means of travel was a tour bus. This thing was incredible!
I was only familiar with my old yellow school bus I road growing up. For those of you who have had the privilege of riding on one of these, you know it was quite an underwhelming, uncomfortable experience.
The tour bus however was like riding on a cloud. It had deep, padded reclining seats, with a foot rest, and individual climate control. Huge windows that you could look out and see the passing scenery unobstructed.
What Type of Bus Are You On?
Jim Collins in his book Good to Great made famous the principle of companies getting the right people on the bus. His theory was in order for companies to take the next step to greatness they had to ensure that they had the right people.
Employees are now switching buses at a record number.
Suddenly bus drivers who thought that their bus was the best and no one would ever want to leave are finding themselves struggling to find passengers.
Excellent employees want to share their talents, but no one wants to ride on a broken down school bus with worn out shocks, no air conditioning and uncomfortable seats. They want to ride on a luxury bus with nice padded seats that recline, climate controlled, with individualized entertainment systems.
The best laid strategic plans are useless unless you have the culture to support it. If the wheels are coming off the bus, where you are going doesn’t really matter.
What are some signs of a bad bus?
The Bus is getting Cluttered
The driver is often so focused on the road ahead, he fails to realize the condition of the bus. If you find your bus becoming cluttered with empty pizza boxes, trinkets, t-shirts this could be a sign that your bus is being neglected
Employers remember that having the right people on the bus is crucial. However you need to ensure that you have the best bus to retain your stars and allow your strategy to flourish.
Employees remember that the bus driver may actually not realize that there is a problem, so don’t agitate the other passengers by talking about how bad the bus is. Speak up about how the bus driver can make the ride better.
The bus is self-driving
With all the advancements in vehicles it is often easy to be on a bus that is self-driving. If the passengers never see the driver it can lead to loss of trust and dissatisfaction.
If the driver is absent and a sweeping strategy is rolled out to the entire bus it will most likely fail. Passengers need to see the driver to know that he is connected to the road.
The bus has too many drivers
Passengers get nervous as the number of riders starts to dwindle, but the number of bus drivers increases. Usually they are given titles like associate bus driver, senior steering wheel turner or chief gas pedal presser. Often there is a whole layer of vice-bus drivers, who the passengers are often confused about what exactly they do.
The passengers only see one steering wheel and wonder why it takes so many people to steer it. Particularly when the back of the bus is falling apart and there are not enough people to keep the bus running.
If you are on a bad bus….
If you find yourself on a bad bus the easiest advice is to change buses. This certainly is not feasible for a lot of passengers. While there are probably more opportunities now than ever to do this , there may be other barriers that prevent you from doing this.
Consider Switching Seats
Maybe it’s just your section of the bus that is a mess. Looking around you see other sections of the bus that seem to be operating well. It may be a chance for you to inquire about an open seat in another section.
Look for ways you can learn some new skills that will give you the latitude to switch seats. Most good buses value developing their passengers so this may be a good opportunity to take advantage of on the job training or classes at work.
Be a good passenger
If you are a good passenger most bus drivers will want to try to keep you. So if the bus starts to fail, don’t fall into the trap of talking bad about the bus. Try to find ways to make the bus better and take those to the driver. I don’t think a bus driver would mind a well thought out solution from one of the passengers.
Become a driver
Sometimes passengers who have been in the seats have different perspectives and experiences that makes them a good potential driver.
For some bus drivers it has been awhile since they have been in the passenger seat, other drivers have never sat in a passenger seat.
Start looking for ways to become a driver.
In the end it requires cooperation between the bus driver & the passengers to ensure the best ride. By working together a rare case of a win/win propositions exists.
Passengers get the luxury bus they wanted and the driver is able to take the passengers further down the road to greater places than they ever imagined.