‘Is there a Gorilla on your table?’

That might sound a strange way to start an article on improving your performance, I admit! However, I have lost count as to how many Gorillas I have encountered on board tables. Let me explain, if I may.

As successful organisations, you have essentially got into a way that works for you. You and the other members of the executive have written and unwritten rules of working together – some probably work better than others. However, during the months of setting these up, there were one or two really, really difficult areas that none of you knew how to resolve. Or worse – between you, you may have decided that in fact they were too hard to resolve, so you learn to work around them. After a while, you have all become so expert at working around the issue that you no longer notice that it is there! For someone new coming into your environment, they may appear huge, as big as a Gorilla, and are amazed at how you just no longer notice it – but this really does happen in most companies somewhere. Now it is commendable to say the least, to be able to work around such a large ‘issue’, but my question to you is ‘How much more would you all be able to achieve if the Gorilla was removed?’

As an extreme example, I have spent some time living and working in Central America, where many Companies have ‘Gorillas’, which are usually in the shape of a distant family member of the owner (not literally you understand!). They are often totally inappropriately positioned in the company, but it is deemed too politically sensitive to even mention this to the owner, so the Board learn to work with (or more often, around) the individual. However, it is not effective for either the individual nor the company in the long run. This type of issue is seemed to be too difficult to resolve, but can be with diplomacy, thought and discretion, for the good of all in the longer term.

So – ask yourself the questions
• If I brought in an ‘Outsider’ into our board meetings, such as a new member of the team, or a Graduate on work experience, what Gorilla would they spot?
• Is the ‘Gorilla’ a person, a rule, or a process perhaps?
• If it was not there, what would we be able to achieve?
• How does this weigh up with the process of removing it?

For many of us, the short term hassle of resolving it may put us off. However, just listen to your subconscious thinking when asking the questions. It will soon let you know if you are putting off the inevitable and actually reducing your chances of succeeding in the long run.

Don’t forget that the Gorilla may also be very obvious to the rest of the organisation, and are confused as to why it has not been removed. They many not understand the nuances of the political balance of keeping the person, or the process in place – but does that matter? They may have a point, and just think of what positive impact you will have on their morale too, if the Gorilla issue is resolved.

For many years, I worked in a large retail organisation, which had its headquarters in a typical 70’s style office block. The time came to give it a ‘revamp’ and I was on the project for designing and implementing. When asking the office staff for their ideas for change, by far the greatest feedback was for more informal break-out and meeting space. Now, there was a huge atrium in this building, which has remained empty since we moved in. We all walked through it everyday and had got completely used to the cathedral style entrance. It suddenly dawned on us that the Atrium would be a fantastic place for informal meetings etc., by putting in a variety of sofas, chairs and tables etc. However, on asking the Safety Officer his views, he immediate answer was; “Can’t do that – we asked the Fire Department years ago and they said it was a fire risk”. So years, literally, had gone by with this empty space that we had got used to. I cheekily asked “Have we asked them recently?” .. well no we hadn’t – not for fifteen years! Sure enough, the Fire department were duly invited up and asked the question “How could we make this space usable?”. Within 2 hours, we had some fantastic ideas, combined with extra fire doors etc., that could completely transform the atrium, with no increase in safety risk. Once implemented, the transformation of the entire atmosphere of the building was phenomenal – and all because we challenged one Gorilla.

So why not go ‘Office Gorilla Hunting’ today and see what transformations you can make!

Until next week!

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk