Is Your Strategic Vision A Puzzle? | 3 Key Elements To Solve The Puzzle

By Tyler Head

During the holidays at my house, my wife and I always enjoy breaking out a big puzzle. We tend to work on it sporadically through the holiday season, typically starting around Thanksgiving Day. However, it never fails that both she and I go about the actual process of “puzzling” quite differently. However, over time, we have come to an agreement on the most essential elements.

Element 1—Set the Box Up For a Visual Reference

The statement mentioned above may sound like a no-brainer, especially when doing puzzles. Because well, of course, you set the box up to view the finished product of the 1,000-piece puzzle. Running a business is much more complicated than putting together a puzzle. However, we often neglect to paint a clear picture of what success looks like in our business for the next year. Without a clear picture of success, our people are trying to construct a puzzle without looking at the box top.

After the proper placement of the box lid—for continual visual reference and the constant reminder of where we are headed, we jump into the 2^nd element.

Element 2—Quickly Build Momentum

We always want to start the journey quickly, to build a bit of momentum—it makes coming back to the puzzle a lot easier and more exciting. Some like to start the process by flipping all the pieces over to see colors, then coordinating in a similar fashion. Some like to start with corner pieces and build around in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion. Whatever you prefer, it matters most that you start and build a bit of momentum—because how you get to that final image printed on the top of the box will take time, effort, and much trial and error. This brings us to the 3^rd element of successful puzzling.

Element 3—Keep Taking Action and Adjust

Once momentum has been built, and we are moving along, there comes a time period that what we at DRYVE Leadership Group like to call “staying in it with a smile.” It’s much like it sounds, but not a part of the process to be overlooked or skipped over. In the construction of a 1,000-piece puzzle, there are many times pieces may look right yet fail to fit their counter-part—so back to searching for the right next step. Often, in the tizzy of the holidays, pieces get put in pockets, knocked off the table, and misplaced, so searching, scrounging, and hard-pressed sleuthing is also a part of this part. Nevertheless, staying in it literally means doing just that long enough to figure it out…whatever it is.

By this time in the season, my wife and I usually are well over halfway and rounding the corner on completing this year’s 1,000-piece puzzle. With a clear picture of success at the end of the table i.e., the puzzle box, we are confident that the end is near for this year’s puzzle. However, we both know from past experience, it’s imperative we don’t cut corners to make the last few pieces fit and or take shortcuts to get done quicker. How we finish the puzzle is just as important as how we started it.

Often, in the chaos of the season, we neglect a purposeful approach to the following year. We fail to cast a vision and construct a clear picture of where we’d like to be as an organization at the close of the following year. When doing puzzles at our house, we always start with a clear vision. Do you?

At DRYVE Leadership Group, we genuinely love helping CEOs like you approach the next year with intention and the creation of clarity around what winning looks like for your organization. WE—Our Team and Your Team—do this through strategic planning, and honestly, we have a blast doing it.

If you would like a clear box top picture of your best future, schedule a free strategy session, and we can discuss more what that would look like.

Click Here to see how strategic planning helped the Academy of Hair Design visualize their own puzzle box top by building a clear picture of their ideal future.

MERRY CHRISTMAS friends of DRYVE. We believe it to be such a gift to work with incredible people like you!