I get to observe and work with a lot of programmes designed to promote an enterprise culture.\u00a0 Broadly speaking they fall into two types – the pinball machine and contract bridge table.<\/p>\n
In Enterprise Pinball there is a glittering array of products and services, buzzers and bells, many of which come with a bouncy castle, a free lunch and the possibility of cheap finance.\u00a0 Clients are recruited and fired into the pinball machine and aimed at the most appropriate target – pre-pre start, pre-start, start-up etc.\u00a0 Each buzzer and bell, every service provider is implored to play their part in a seamless system of support for clients – to refer them on to other service providers who can help – until eventually they hit the jackpot – the star prize.\u00a0 Occasionally the ball might get held in a pocket for a while, racking up points, but all too soon it is pinged back out into the vagaries of the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sometimes there is no-one playing enterprise pinball.\u00a0 The flippers are un-manned and stand impassively by as the shiny balls that have missed targets, or have been referred in the wrong direction lose their momentum and sink down the table into the gutter.\u00a0 Over time some of the bright lights go out, the rubber bands lose their ping and the whole setup becomes a little under par.\u00a0 Sometimes there aren’t even many balls in play.\u00a0 Or if there is a player they don’t see the potential of the\u00a0flippers.\u00a0 They think in terms of just needing to commission another buzzer or bell.\u00a0 Another workshop, marketing campaign or a change of provider might just make the difference.\u00a0 Perhaps it will – one day.\u00a0 Or maybe we just need a clever piece of CRM software that will help us to recognise which buzzers and bells are not helping to keep balls in play.<\/p>\n
The enterpise pinball machine needs skillful players.\u00a0 Players who can watch every ball, understand their dynamics and goals, and when they lose momentum and drop\u00a0down the table are able to intercept them and with an almost magical sense of timing, urgency and power flip them cleverly back into play.\u00a0 Players who really understand the clients and are able to help them to manage their own game of enterprise pinball.<\/p>\n
Other projects look a bit more like a game of contract bridge.\u00a0 Coach and client form a contract for what they want to achieve, and both parties agree to play by the rules.\u00a0 They build trust and understanding, establishing a relationship that provdes the basis for real achievement and change.\u00a0 The players are committed to work together until the game is over.\u00a0 And usually the enterprise game is run over months and\u00a0years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps the very best enterprise services have both the impressive pinball table of products and services and the contract bridge team working with every client to help them navigate the available support infrastructure.<\/p>\n
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