The PlayBook™
Leveraging the Compelling Journey™ – Part 1

• Introducing the “Why” of the PlayBook™, a major communication vehicle
• First Section Focuses on the Strategic
• Second Section Ties the Annual Tactical to the Strategic

Following previous tough times, airlines made difficult decisions to survive, sometimes at the expense of customer service, United Airlines won’t be following that same playbook as we come out of this crisis. Instead, we’re taking a completely different approach — and looking at new ways to serve our customers better.

                                                            Scott Kirby

Sticking with that playbook of owning this market (North America) and expanding in this market is how we get to deliver to our public shareholders and the long-term expectations that we set.

                                                            Sean Aggarwal

Vince Lombardi brought in this playbook that was straight from the NFL, our offensive plays, our defensive plays and, you know – I’m not as experienced as some of the other coaches — but they were all saying, “This is never gonna work. Never gonna work.” He proved everyone wrong.

                                                            Don Jorgenson

Welcome to Phase Two of TransFormX.  As we saw in Phase One, The Compelling Journey™ gives leaders the opportunity to take stock of their organization, determine a Call to Action and what they might attain when they fulfill it. It helped to create an architecture for pursuing their goals and ways to support that framework.

Leaders need to communicate the information that they developed during that planning phase to everyone on their teams in a way that facilitates execution.  Every organization confronts the challenge of establishing clarity in communication.  The PlayBook™ is a way of bringing goals and expectations into very sharp focus.  Properly handled, the PlayBook™ becomes a part of everyday execution, seamlessly interweaving the strategic with the tactical.

There are two primary components of the PlayBook™.  Following the introductory information, the first major section deals with the strategic component.  A second section follows with the tactical components, typically annual goals.  The importance is the connection between the two of them and tying the annual goals firmly to the longer view strategic pillars outlined in the Compelling Journey™.

One of the problems with creating these types of plans is that, upon their creation, coupled with a level of fanfare on their introduction, companies tend to declare victory, toss the document on a shelf and allow it to collect dust.  Good PlayBook™ execution requires that the information within be referred to on a consistent, regular basis and that the plans within are living documents, revised periodically throughout the year.  Only then can the TransFormX process deliver the rhythm and acuity of focus necessary to thrive.

Disseminating the PlayBook™ widely within the organization and referring to it often provides important reinforcement of key qualities leadership expects to see within its members.  Because of the contents of the strategic position, the members are regularly reminded of the organization’s purpose and how it intends to operate.  The tactical side enables all involved to remain clear on what is at stake in a given year, prompting and facilitating necessary mid-course corrections.

In our next post, we will discuss Phase I, the strategic part of the PlayBook™.  We will cover the contents and the “why” behind the approaches within.