The Primes: How any Group can Solve any Problem

Chapter 6

Taking Coordinated Action

How do you get the group to do everything persistently about a few critical things versus doing a few things about everything?

I raised six kids in the Washington, DC, area and got to watch a fair amount of soccer from elementary through high school. Initially, the kids all ran to the ball in a clump. Invariably, over time, as roles became clear and discipline became a shared value, I watched the most beautiful game emerge from the chaos. The key to this heightened performance was the overall coordination of individuals' actions.

Mastering the three PRIMES revealed in Chapter 6 will allow you to help your groups achieve this same level of performance and coordination. First and foremost, you will ensure that the group agrees fully about the point from which it is starting, where it is going, and how it is going to get there. Second, you will understand how to organize the effort to ensure that everything happens as it should and how to deal with surprises quickly when they arise. Finally, you will be equipped to recognize and minimize any energy the group is wasting on non-value-added activity.

Coordinated action represents the third and final corner of the POWER PRIME. The other two corners—shared perspective and shared intent—are essential but worthless if the group fails to act and produce real and intended outcomes. You create lasting value in coordinated action.

Cohesion, n.

1. The act of sticking together.

American Dictionary of the English ...