How can a Formula 1 team innovate at lightning speed, while many large companies get stuck in sluggishness and politics?
The secret lies in avoiding what Gary Hamel calls the seven blocks that make organizations slow and inefficient:
1️⃣ Overweight: Too many managers who exercise control instead of adding value.
2️⃣ Friction: Spending too much time on reports and processes, rather than taking action.
3️⃣ Insularity: Internal focus that makes you lose sight of customers or the competition.
4️⃣ Disempowerment: Employees lack the autonomy to make decisions for themselves.
5️⃣ Risk aversion: A culture that discourages change and experimentation.
6️⃣ Slowness: Barriers to rapid adaptation.
7️⃣ Politics: Wasting energy on power games.
Compare that to a Formula 1 team: mistakes are seen as learning points, and blame culture is simply unacceptable.
As Max also says. "We had a lot of conversations in the factory."
For organizations, it is better to have often short meetings than occasionally very long ones.
And "Be as consistent as you can be". In other words, being conscientious about growth results in growth.
Did you know that a blame culture causes people to put 60-90% of their energy into hiding mistakes? Any negative reaction to a mistake is a missed opportunity for improvement.
👉 The challenge for companies: What can you do to become faster, more agile and more innovative?
*) Create autonomy: Give employees space to make their own decisions.
*)Embrace mistakes: Consider them fuel for innovation.
*)Speed up processes: Automate where possible and eliminate redundant layers.
*) Stimulate curiosity: Ask questions, test ideas and keep learning. And make use of coaching and training.
Just as Red Bull Racing makes improvements every week, you can also transform your organization into an agile powerhouse.
What would you do differently tomorrow if you knew your team could be as efficient as a 2-second pit stop?
The finish line is just the beginning. Take the first step today.
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