Gung Ho ! – Turn On The People In Any Organization
By Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles
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Gung Ho! is a story happened at an Iron plant in United States, which was in deep trouble and about to be closed. It is also a story of how Andy Longclaw helped his new boss Peggy Sinclair to come out of this crisis using the three principles taught by his grand father.
The three principles of Gung Ho are – The spirit of the Squirrel, The Way of the Beaver and The Gift of the Goose. Instead of the whole story, I’ll just describe these principles in brief.
1) The Spirit of the Squirrel : Worthwhile Work
If squirrels don’t do their part to collect nuts, they will die. They have purposeful work with shared goals and values.
Worthwhile means more than important. Every employee should know why there work is important and to do so, Goal setting is must. There should be two types of goals –
a) Result goals – which is measurable and accountable.
b) Value goals – Impact on the lives of the stakeholders
Values are more management’s unique responsibility than goal setting. And hence Worthwhile Work means three things:
Important, Leading to Shared Goals and Value-Driven.
2) The Way of the Beaver: In Control of Achieving the Goal
Beavers don’t have bosses. They are in control of achieving their goals. It means everyone should plan their work and should respect each other.
Remember: People who are truly in control work for organizations that value them as persons.
Management should respect, listen and act upon their thoughts, feelings, needs and dreams.
3) The Gift of the Goose: Cheering Others ON
Lastly, the gift of the goose, is about cheering each other on. When geese fly in formation, they are constantly honking, cheering each other on. Receiving feedback is vital for people – especially praise. Employees need to be rewarded and congratulated for their efforts. Enthusiasm can be built in the employee when you have a mission accompanied with cash and congratulations. ( E = m*C 2 )
Congratulations should be true, genuine (TRUE = Timely Responsive Unconditional Enthisiastic)
Spontaneous, individual, specific and unique congratulations were always better than programmed, blanket, general and traditional ones.
Gung Ho!
Mahesh Masurkar, PMP
