The famous quote from Henry Ford “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses” tells us a great deal about leadership.
Ford identified that the problem was not one of horse speed but of transportation. Not one of efficiency or productivity of the horse. Managers look to produce faster and more efficient horses, leaders seek out solutions which move us toward the objective.
I have nothing against electric cars but they are just a better horse. The problem is not one of transportation, we solved that with the car and the aeroplane. The problem is one of resources and emissions. Managers produce better and better electric cars which emit less and use fewer resources but don’t solve the real problem. Leaders look at how to solve the real problem which is why so many people need to move so far in so many numbers consuming vast amounts of resources along the way. Solve that and you don’t need cars electric or otherwise.
At a more localised level we can lead in the same way. We need to look at issues within our own lives and organisations and ask “do we need a faster horse or a more radical solution?” That way, not only will we stand a much better chance of achieving our objective but we will be ahead of the curve. Do we really need to produce faster, cheaper and greater quantities or do we want to do things in a different way?
There is always someone who will be more productive and efficient than you, but will they be better?
Effectiveness is about achieving the objective not just improving what we currently have.
Leaders always remember the only person who needs a faster horse is a racing jockey. The rest of us have a different problem to solve.
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