I came across an interesting post (Original post here for reference) sometime back and conversing with a friend about it made me put down my thoughts below. In particular the question that we dweleved on was “Should a business have a pinch hitter in sales or marketing or supply chain or mfg, what could the person do to alter results”
Before I get to that particular question, when reading through that particular post, the one topic that kept coming back and fit well into the sports analogy was transformation. You can roll your eyes and say “Not again” but let’s face it we are in that situation right now where every organisation, department or process is being pushed to transform, adopt new practices or new ways of working to survive and thrive and it would make a perfect setting to apply a sport analogy too!!!
So bear with me as I make my case. If nothing else, it did make a great conversation over a coffee (actually two)
The first parallel that came to my mind was how organisations approach transformations can be equated to how teams plan for a game. The most common approach would be to build the innings and ensure there is a steady flow of runs. Nothing overly fancy but making sure that you play sensibily and keep the scoreboard ticking. This is not very different to a continuous and ongoing improvement model where organisations keep picking up and knocking off initiatives. This could be a process improvement, systems improvement or product improvements etc. While this is steady and moving it is not random and is aligned to a bigger plan based on where you want to get to at the end of the inning.
But then ever so often there is a need to shake things up. Without realising we get into a rut. The pace at which we were moving, had gradually been dropping but just enough to not be noticed or we had underestimated the pitch and our competition is starting to look more ominous. This is when there is a need for that pinch hitter who can give that short burst or impetus to get us going and pick up the pace.
So that brings us to the question “Should a business have a pinch hitter in sales or marketing or supply chain or mfg, what could the person do to alter results”
Let’s define a pinch hitter
Let’s start by looking at a few key aspects about a pinch hitter’s role
To define a pinch hitter in cricket, this is someone who is brought into disrupt things and give a sudden thrust to momentum which can then be taken forward by the rest of the line up to achieve the optimal result.
- A pinch hitter is almost always someone who is brought into disrupt things and create an upward swing in the run rate
- The role of a pinch hitter is to provide that impetuous boost to the innings without worrying about the risk of failure.
- Failure should not be considered as a bad thing, provided they fail early. You don’t want the pinch hitter to eat up too many overs as they struggle at the pitch
- While it is ok to accept failure as an outcome, it would be unwise to bring in a pinch hitter when the failure is almost certain. The risk needs to be a measured and calculated one. At times stabilising the innings is more important than trying to boost the run rate.
- While a pinch hitter can help create that upward momentum, it is then for the regular batting order to sustain the momentum and build on it
Right, so coming back to, should the business have a pinch hitter, who would that be and what could they do to alter results?
How do we decide when we need to bring in a pinch hitter?
From an organisation perspective, like with a batting order in a team, there is a set role to play for every person in the value chain. Depending on how well they perform the role individually and collectively, the value is accelerated across the chain. Lot of times these organisations or departments are tuned to work within their comfort zone and the process and operating models are built around their strengths and flaws. This causes them to become monotonous and need to transform or drive disruption before they can be disrupted.
Like in sport or an organisation or a department or team there needs to be consensus on the outcome and decisions. Be it a decision to bat or field first, agree on what a good score looks like or the line up, there should be an alignment from the senior management to the junior most team member.
This needs to be driven by a top down approach where in there is an agreement on the outcome and that is then translated to smaller initiatives and key results that are expected out of these initiatives.
Now this need not be a massive organisational change. It can be small / large initiatives driven to purpose. Sometimes these initiatives may succeed or sometimes they may fail. so it is important to assess the scale of this initiative with the potential of return.
It is also important to ensure this assessment is ongoing. Like how one would assess the situation after every over or session or innings and adapt we need to do the same with these initiatives. Build an agile methodology and drive these as sprints. At the end of each of the sprints reassess the backlog, scope and replan the next one
Who is the pinch hitter in the organisation?
Not everyone can be a pinch hitter. At times this role can be played by the regular batsman but given the habits, training and the role definition they may find it challenging to adapt.
What is important is that they are provided an environment to explore and experiment. This needs a platform or space which allows them to
- Identify the problem. Given the overall objectives are we on track. What measures and KPIs are available to assess and identify the problem. Are these data points accessible
- Innovative freedom is provided to come up with options and solutions
- Authority to implement the solution and have the tools to measure outcomes quickly
- Lastly based on outcomes to be able to either pivot and go back to ideation or iterate with adjustments
Sometimes it is not possible to do all this within the team either due to a subconscious bias to the status quo, fear of stepping out of comfort zone, lack of skills or information. Sometimes it could just be a lack of resources or time to move away from their day jobs. Hence in such cases it helps to get an outsider view to help push the boundaries. Typically a transformation lead or Chief Transformation Officer.
In my opinion, these people can be the most ideal pinch hitter for an organisation as they are not part of the department or team and don’t carry any bias towards the status quo and can be objective throughout the process.
However they do need to come with a curious mindset. Ask questions, open to learn, willing to experiment, willing to fail and restart quickly
Wrapping up
The disruptions that are going on around us have taken a toll on lot of the organisations. Some are still struggling to align to these, and make a shift while some have thrived as they evolved.
Staying true to the topic on pinch hitting, I cannot but correlate to the ‘96 cricket World Cup where Sri Lanka changed the way teams looked at the power play (while it was not called that then). It was brought about by a consensus across the team to make a change, strong leadership, identifying the right people to do it and lastly keeping the faith and navigating through the failures to make it a sustainable model. In doing so they changed the way the game was played.
These principles are true inside and outside the field
As I write this I am taken back to that morning coffee and I thoroughly enjoyed that conversation. I hope you found this as interesting.
I would be keen to hear from you on your thoughts on the topic, what sports analogies come to your mind and what unique transformation stories you have that can be shared with the rest of the community.
Transforming Supply Chains 