Instructions:
Clicking on various parts of the illustration will link you to some of the main themes of Square Wheels. Clicking on "back" will take you back to the illustration for more answers.
See if you can generate ideas before going to the answers.
The illustration links to a variety of organizational improvement issues. These include leadership, motivation, change management, missions and visions, systems thinking, productivity, process improvement, continuous improvement of quality, productivity, communications, and many others.
In delivering the program, we allow teams of people about 5 minutes to generate as many ideas as they can about the illustration. This gets them in an interactive, creative and fun mode and also generates ownership of their ideas and their active involvement in the discovery process. Another very interesting aspect of this is their tendency to project their beliefs onto the organization -- it functions like a Rorschach or Inkblot Test and can give you some insight into morale and beliefs about the way things work.
There are critical themes of communication, leadership, motivation, perspective, managing and leading change, quality and productivity that must be addressed to make real progress forward. Don't Just DO Something, Stand There!
"Those who lead miss the need!" There can be real isolation between the front and the back
The illustration raises questions about perception of the vision of the future - looking forward?
Issues of communications between the front and the back of the wagon
Focus on next steps and making progress is important, but there is a Big Picture here!
Promoted for good wagon pushing (years ago?)
Has been successful in the past at meeting goals
Focused on distance, manpower, cost
Motivated to succeed: "Hard work produces success in my estimation."
"He can't do it without us wagon pushers!"
Meeting current goals and objectives
Does our leader have any idea of what the journey looks like?
The journey has always been like this.
Steering this operation is a real difficult task that must involve ALL of us.
We improved productivity based on last year's results doing it this way. It works!
If it didn't go "Thump Thump," it would be hard to know about progress
It is hard to make changes in direction once we get rolling
Issues of trust and support: "Are the people at the back pushing or pulling?"
The rope is an efficient way to put one's energy into pulling forward. But the rope can also insulate and isolate leadership from the hands-on reality of the journey forward. The rope can also choke or break and is not the optimal system for steering.
Practical and low cost way of efficient wagon pulling
Easy to grip and straightforward to pull
Ergonomically efficient technique for making progress
Complies with Safety Standards and Job Specs
May be about to break or come undone
Serves to isolate the Puller from the reality of the journey forward
Makes distance and communications more difficult
Often is MUCH longer that it appears, isolating leadership
The people pushing at the back are critical. They have hands-on reality and know the thumps and bumps of the journey. But the view at the back is different than the view at the front and motivating and engaging these people to make improvements is difficult when all that seems to happen is that they are told to push. They need to be involved and engaged.
"Those who do have no clue!"
Limited vision of the journey and the future
View of Boards and Hands - not very engaging vision of the future
Very little long-term motivation to push hard
Required to work together as a team
May not be coordinating efforts
Not much fun - career options appear limited
Issue of TRUST in leadership - "What are they doing up there? Is he pulling forward?"
Puller may wonder: "Are they pushing or pulling"
They feel the Thump Thump of the journey forward:
It has always worked that way
There may be some better way to accomplish all this
They need perspective and distance:
Don't Just DO something, Stand There!
They work, but they do not work smoothly. They cause the wagon to thump and bump, wearing out people and processes. The paradox is that they have worked before and they will work now.
Represent the way things have always worked
They DO work, but better alternatives might be available
The bumps and thumps are normal to making progress
Things have always worked with a bunch of thumping and bumping
The corners will round themselves out over time
Not working in synch - may or may not be better
"Purchasing always gets the cheapest wheels they can find!"
The delivered design met the specifications of the initial order and we've been ordering things this way for a long time. (Wooden wheels postdated stone ones and predated rubber tires).
The ideas for improvement already exist in the wagon. Failure to implement may be a great demotivator. They are more obvious to the pushers than to the puller and perspective and a focus on continuous continuous improvement is an important aspect of leading and managing.
The round wheels already exist in the wagon
Would be a better alternative
Not all are immediately useful (no rims, no air, etc). but represent the potential for improvement
Not stacked efficiently
Represent unused ideas that build up the burden over time
Might be used by a competitor for a competitive advantage
Would increase productivity, quality, speed and effectiveness while reducing cost
Could be a competitive advantage if they were used properly
Not all the wheels are implementable now because some don't have rims. Some may not have air pressure inside. But others might!
Might not all be implemented at one time but could be tried - there are two axles and four places for testing and trial
Requires that the organization stop pulling and pushing:
Don't Just DO Something, Stand There!
Designed to do a job that it can do
Heavy but sturdy. can last a good while longer
Might be replaced by lighter and stronger materials, but at great immediate cost
No provision for a steering mechanism but the original specifications did not allow for that costly item and it was not deemed important
Can hold more cargo if things were slightly restructured - has the capability and capacity
Generally represents the body of the organization and the general structure and assets
It is a difficult journey forward and the people involved may or may not understand the task at hand
On the apparent lack of women or minorities:Ask people how many people are involved in the journey and the answers will differ (3 or 4) so it is only the perception that there are no women involved. This is just a cartoon.
True Story:
A man stood up in a session and said, "The Square Wheels were obviously invented by a woman."
A woman in the same session stood up and said, "But the men are stupid enough to push it that way."
Square Wheels are better for going down steep grades and they are biodegradable; they are also better for cooking hot dogs and marshmallows
"Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy."from The Eagles, "Take It Easy"
Don't Just DO Something, Stand There!
Perspective and objectivity are essential for process improvement
"The Round Wheels of Today are the Square Wheels of Tomorrow."
We're not exactly like this:We push our wagon uphill
We're up to our axles in mud and alligators
"If you always do what you have always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten."
It's about Continuous Continuous Improvementfrom the Department of Redundancy Department
"We cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are."Max DePree, Leadership is an Art