Accomplishing Your Impossible Mission

Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it…

These words kicked off one of the best action TV shows ever produced.  Each week, Jim Phelps, leader of the Impossible Missions Force, somehow found a way to accomplish what so many around him thought was impossible.  You know, it says a lot about what people consider to be “impossible” when some people routinely find a way to accomplish the mission while others are content to say it just can’t be done.

We face the same issue today in the utilities industry.  We have a seemingly impossible mission ahead of us today.  Run a successful utility operation in the face of ever expanding regulations, a troubled economy that has dramatically cut our revenues, increasing maintenance cost on an aging infrastructure, a disengaged workforce, a customer base not receptive to rate increases…it certainly looks impossible.  Yet, somehow, there are utility managers that find a way to accomplish this mission while others satisfy themselves by saying it can’t be done.  How do they do it and, more importantly, how can we all learn from their example?

Mission: Impossible was certainly an entertaining show but it was so much more than that.  It actually contains a wealth of management lessons that can be applied equally well to accomplishing our impossible missions we face here in the utility industry.  Let’s look at a few of these lessons over the next few weeks:

First, every mission started out the same way:  Jim Phelps finding out his team’s mission from some sort of recording device hidden all over the city.  One of the first questions put to him was this one, “Your mission, should you decide to accept it…”   Did Jim Phelps have a choice whether to accept the mission or not?  Of course he did!  He could have said, “No”…but could he have done so and still been the leader of the IMF? Not at all!  This is a key concept not only for you but for everyone on your team.  We all have choices, but what we choose opens and closes doors.  As IMF team Leader, Jim Phelps did not have to accept the mission…but he could not be the IMF leader unless he did.

As utility managers, you don’t have to make the tough choices that come with management… but you can’t be a manager unless you do.  As utility workers, you don’t have to be drug free or care about our customers…but you cannot work for our utility unless you make the right choice.  Instilling these lessons into your people is what will set you apart as a success in this or any business. 

Are YOU ready to accept your mission?

Build Momentum

Running a great company is a lot like paddling a canoe upstream: when you stop paddling, you don’t just stay right where you are.  You are quickly washed back downstream where you were.  The best way to keep from losing ground is to constantly paddle hard and fast against the currents of mediocrity.

Remarkable companies never stop improving. They never stop pushing forward. Regardless of what achievement or milestone they just obtained, they never consider themselves “there” or rest on their laurels.  Keep the momentum going by constantly raising standards. As you achieve your goals, set new, even higher ones.

Remember that the challenge only means something if it is a tough one.  No one would be impressed if the top NFL football team beat a high school junior varsity squad.  When you are lining up challenges for your people, look for ones that you are not sure you can attain.  The best challenges seem to be just out of reach of our fingertips.  You want ones that make you stretch and reach and strive.  This stretching is where your staff gains strength and confidence. 

As you gain victories, take the time to celebrate them with your people.  This is an important step because winning is extremely fun and will motivate your people to work even harder at the next challenge set before them.  Winning against tough odds is rewarding even in the most difficult of times.   It’s hard to get tired of winning.  That is, it’s hard to get tired of winning as long as the challenge was tough!  Finding the challenge that will keep people motivated is the key challenge for managers today. 

Row, row, row your company to a GREAT future!