Do the bees know the plan?
Do the bees know the plan?
I was watching the Piglet movie with my kids the other day. I love the characters and how they are depicted. I want to share a bit about the movie’s start and my thoughts on how it relates to many common themes we hear in teams we work with. Sit back and enjoy!
In the movie the characters of the 100-acre woods, all except little Piglet had devised a plan. Not an ordinary plan may I add – a BIG plan. The plan was aimed at getting the honey from the beehive. Little Piglet stumbles across Rabbit sitting in the tree, Eeyore dressed up as a giant bee, and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger dressed up as a tree holding up a new hive for the bees. Piglet asks them what they are doing, they tell little Piglet about their “BIG plan” and then tell him it’s all there on the papers. Piglet pages through the plan and then asks: “But do the bees know the plan?”
I laughed and reflected on how often the bees don’t know the plan. How often don’t we share our expectations or plans with the people who need to help us implement them and then end up upset because they don’t work out the way we wanted them to? This applies to our personal and work lives. We assume people understand the plan. We assume they get it and buy in. We assume they know what their roles are in the plan and how they impact the outcome of said plan.
After receiving no clear answer Piglet asks them whether he can help them, to which they respond: “Maybe next time when we are working on a smaller plan”. Piglet is a little disheartened and watches as they implement the plan. This is another very common theme we find when working with leaders and teams. We think that only a select few people are capable of executing the plan. We exclude, discredit or avoid letting people who we think are too “small” in their status, experience or age. We often go as far as thinking only I can do it. I cannot tell you how often people say “If you want anything done do it yourself”. We don’t trust others to help us think, plan, and execute and as a result, we become overworked, overwhelmed and often resentful.
Everything that can possibly go wrong does. Long story short: Little Piglet swoops in to save the day. After Piglet traps the bees so that the clan can get to the honey everyone celebrates “their success of the big plan”. Piglet is not acknowledged for his contribution or invited in to celebrate. This is the third theme that I believe is probably the most damaging to teams and culture. We fail to celebrate the people who help us get to where we want to be. We don’t acknowledge their contributions. Or we do lip service without the accompanying recognition. We end up coming across as inauthentic and we end up having valuable contributors and members of our teams become disengaged and leave them feeling unvalued.
If you are in a position where you need to lead or make important changes, how can you be sure your “big plans” lead to great outcomes?
- Listen at least half as much as you talk, even to the “little” people
- Invite input from anyone with a vested interest in the plan
- Be clear about what the outcome is that you want to achieve. What does done and dusted look like?
- Learn what the strengths of your teammates are and utilise them to help you implement the plan
- Acknowledge that the “smaller” players sometimes bring a different and valuable perspective. Be open to listening and using potentially “dumb” ideas.
- Trust people to help you execute. Give away some control. You cannot do it alone.
- Acknowledge the contributions of others, along the way and when you get to the finish line.
It’s great how a movie for kids can remind us of the important things we should be doing anyway!
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