The XF-50
tom peters
50 Ways to Enhance Cross-Functional
12.05.2007
Effectiveness and Deliver Speed,
"Service Excellence" and "Value-added
Customer 'Solutions'"*
2007 letter from John Hennessy, president of Stanford University, to alumni laid
A out his long- term vision for that esteemed institution. he core of the vision's
promise was more multi-disciplinary research, aimed at solving some of the world's
complex systemic problems. he chief of GlaxoSmithKline, a few years ago, announced
a revolutionary new drug discovery processcenters of interdisciplinary excellence.
(It worked.) Likewise, amidst a study of organization efectiveness in the oil industry's
exploration sector, I came across a particularly successful irmone key to that success
was their physical and organization mingling of formerly warring (two sets of prima
donnas) geologists and geophysicists. he cover story in DartmouthhMedicine, the
Dartmouth med school magazine, featured a revolutionary approach, microsystems,
as the big idea that [might] save U.S. healthcare. he nub is providing successful case
outcomes in hospitals by forming multi-function patient-care teams, including docs,
nurses, labtechs, and others. (Cooperating doc may top the oxymoron scale.) One
of the central responses to 9/11 is an efort to get intelligence services, home to some
of the world's most viscous turf wars, talking to one another–we may have seen
some of the fruits of that efort in the recently released National Intelligence Estimate.
And in the military, inter-service cooperation has increased by an order of magnitude
since Gulf War One–some of the services' communication systems can actually be linked
to those of other services, a miracle the equal of the Christmas miracle in my book!
All this, and much more, amounts to a "revolution" (the latest revolution?) called
" working together. Web-based tools certainly abet this latest attempt, but the story at
the end of the day is timeless: attitude, relationships (investment therein), protecting
powerbases-turf, "corporate cultures," and the like. I.e., dealing with human nature
itself. But if anything helps this eternal-intractable problem it is simply "keeping it
on the agenda." Relentlessly! In Re-imagine I tried to do just that with a full chapter
titled "Welcome to XF/Cross-functional World." he main idea was-is that in order
to provide the "value-added" solutions to customer problems that are necessary to
move beyond commodities and compete with India, China et al., we have no choice
but to deliver the "integrated" "goods" from every nook and cranny of the organiza-
tion and its supply chain. XF wars are a killer, now much more than ever. Alas, no
one paid the slightest bit of attention to this chapter–which I thought was one of the
most important in the book.The XF-50 But I refuse to give up. he Re-imagine chapter was organized around a list of 50
2 ideas. I have herein resurrected that listand modiied it signiicantly in the process.
Hence this holiday giftof sorts. In short, nothing (n-o-t-h-i-n-g!) is more important
than getting the bits of the organization, or organizations (most project teams extend
beyond our borders), in synch. In synch and more, much moreXF work at its
best is not merely about reducing organizational friction, as important as that is.
It is about fundamental revision of the breadth and depth of the product the company
ofers. If the chef doesn't get along with two of our four waiters–the clientele is
screwed, and the restaurant evaporates. Intellectually that's the same story, writ small,
as development of the Airbus A380 or intelligence services cooperation.
Enough of my introduction. What follows is my latest efort to get you to pay "strategic
attention to what has always been Issue #1 in organizational efectiveness, from
Airbus to the Army, from Napoleon to the man on the moon:
1. Its our organization to make workor not. It's not them, the outside
world that's the problem. Tehenemyhishus. Period.
2. Friction-free! Dump 90% of middle managersmost are advertent or
inadvertent power freaks. We are allevery one of usin the Friction Removal
Business, one moment at a time, now and forevermore.
3. No stovepipes! Stove-piping, Silo-ing is anhAutomatichFiringhO
Period. No appeals. (Within the limits of civility, somewhat public irings are not
out of the questionthat is, make one and all aware why the axe fell.)
4. Everything on the Web. his helps. A lot. (Everything = Big word.)
5. Open access. All available to all. Transparency, beyond a level that's sensible,
is a de facto imperative in a Burn-the-Silos strategy.
6. Project managers rule!! Project managers running XF (cross-functional)
projects are the Elite of the organization, and seen as such and treated as such.
(he likes of construction companies have practiced this more or less forever.)
7. Value-added Proposition= Application of integrated resources.
(From the entire supply-chain.) To deliver on our emergent business raison d'être,
and compete with the likes of our Chinese and Indian brethren, we must cooperate
with anybody and everybody 24/7. IBM, UPS and many, many others are selling
far more than a product or service that works–the new it is pure and simple a
product of XF cooperation; the product is the cooperation is not much of a stretch.
8. XF work is the direct work of leaders!
9. Integrated solutions = Our Culture. (herefore: XF = Our culture.)
10. Partner with best-in-class only. heir pursuit of Excellence helps us
get beyond petty bickering. An all-star team has little time for anything other than
delivering on the (big) Client promise.
11. All functions are created equal! All functions contribute equally! All = All.The XF-50 12. All functions are PSFs, Professional Service Firms.
3 Pr ofessionalism is the watchwordand true Professionalism rises above turf wars.
You are your projects, your legacy is your projectsand the legacy will be skimpy
indeed unless you pass, with ying colors, the works well with others exam!
13. We are all in sales! We all (a-l-l) sell those Integrated Client Solutions.
Good salespeople don't blame others for screw-ups–the Client doesn't care.
Good salespeople are quarterbacks who make the system work-deliver.
14. We all invest in wiring the Client organization–we develop
comprehensive relationships in every part (function, level) of the Client's organization.
Wehpayhspecialhattentionhtohthehso-calledhlowerhlevels,hshorthonhglamour,hlonghonhh
thehabilityhtohmakehthingshhappenhaththehcoalface."
15. We all live the Brand–which is Delivery of Matchless Integrated
Solutions that transform the Client's organization. To live the brand is to become
a raving fan of XF cooperation.
16. We use the word partner until we want to barf! (Words matter! A lot!)
17. We use the word team until we want to barf. (Words matter! A lot!)
18. We use the word us until we want to barf. (Words matter! A lot!)
19. We obsessively seek Inclusionand abhor exclusion.
We want more people from more places (internal, externalthe whole supply
chain) aboard in order to maximize systemic beneits.
20. Buttons & Badges matter–we work relentlessly at team (XF team) identity
and solidarity. (Corny? Get over it.)
21. All (almost all) rewards are team rewards.
22. We keep base pay rather lowand give whopping bonuses for excellent
team delivery of seriously cool cross-functional Client beneits.
23. WE NEVER BLAME OTHER PARTS OF THE ORGANIZATION
FOR SCREW-UPS.
24. WE TAKE THE HEATTHE WHOLE TEAM.
(For anything and everything.) (Losing, like winning, is a team afair.)
25. BLAMING IS AN AUTOMATIC FIRING OFFENSE.
26. Women rule–women are simply better at the XF communications stuf–
less power obsessed, less hierarchically inclined, more group-team oriented.
27. Every member of our team is an honored contributor.
X F project Excellence is an all hands afair.
28. We are our XF Teams! XF project teams are how we get things done.
29. Wow Projects rule, large or small–Wow projects demand by
deinition XF Excellence.The XF-50 30. We routinely attempt to unearth and then reward small
4 gestures of XF cooperation.
31. We invite Functional Bigwigs to our XF project team reviews.
32. We insist on Client team participationfrom all functions of the
Client organization.
33. An Open talent market helps make the projects silo-free.
People want in on the project because of the opportunity to do something
memorableno one will tolerate delays based on traditional functional squabbling.
34. Flat! Flat = Flattened Silos. Flat = Excellence based on XF project
outcomes, not power-hoarding within functional boundaries.
35. New C-level? WehmorehorhlesshneedhahC-levelhjobhtitledhChiefhBullshith
RemovalhOcer.hhat is, some kind of formal watchdog whose role in life is to make
cross-functionality work, and I.D. those who don't get with the program.
36. Huge (H-U-G-E) cooperation bonuses. Senior team members who
conspicuously shine in the working together bit are rewarded Big Time. (A million
bucks in one case I knowand a non-cooperating very senior was sacked.)
37. Get physical!! Co-locationhishthehmosthpowerfulhculturehchanger.h
Physical X-functional proximity is almost a guarantee (yup!) of remarkably improved
cooperationto aid this, one needs exible workspaces that can be mobilized for
a team in a ash.
38. Ad hoc. To improve the new X-functional Culture, little XF teams should
be formed on the spot to deal with an urgent issuethey may live for but ten days,
but it helps the XF habit, making it normal to be working the XF way."
39. Deep dip. Dive three levels down in the organization to ill a senior role
with someone who has been proactive on the XF dimension.
40. Formal evaluations. Everyone, starting with the receptionist, should have
an important XF rating component in their evaluation.
41. Demand XF experience for, especially, senior jobs. he military
requires all would-be generals and admirals to have served a full tour in a job whose
only goals were cross-functional. Great idea!
42. Early project management experience. Within days, literally, of
coming aboard folks should be "running" some bit of a project, working with folks
from other functionshence, all this (XF stuf) becomes as natural as breathing.
43. Get em out with the customer. Rarely does the accountant or bench
scientist call on the customer. Reverse that. Give everyone more or less regular
" customer-facing experiences. One learns quickly that the customer is not interested
in our in-house turf battles!The XF-50 44. Put it on theevery agenda. XF issues to be resolved should be
5 on every agendamorning project team review, weekly exec team meeting, etc.
A next step within 24 hours (4?) ought to be part of the resolution.
45. XF honest broker or ombudsman. he ombudsman examines
XF friction events and acts as Conict Resolution Counselor. (Perhaps a formal
conict resolution agreement?)
46. Lock it in! XF cooperation, central to any value-added mission, should be
an explicit part of the Vision Statement."
47. Promotions. Everyhpromotion,hnohexceptions,hshouldhputhXFhExcellencehinhh
thehtoph5h(3?)hevaluationhcriteria.
48. Pick partners based on their cooperation proclivity.
Everyone must be on board if this thing is going to work; hence every vendor,
among others, should be formally evaluated on their commitment to XF
transparencye.g., can we access anyone at any level in any function of their
organization without bureaucratic barriers?
49. Fire vendors who dont get itmore than get it, welcome it
with open arms.
50. Jaw. Jaw. Jaw. Talk XF cooperation-value-added at every opportunity.
Become a relentless bore!
51. Excellence! here is a state of XF Excellence. Pursue it. Talk about it.
Good luck!
Possible Application:
1. Pick one of these items that you can start on by yourself in the next 2448 hours.
2. Do it!
3. Use the list as the trigger for an ongoing discussion.
4. Come to a consensus on the topic of whether this stuf is a good set of action
itemsor the essence of the way we do things around here.
5. Regardless of the answer to #4 above, as a team, pick two long-term and three
short-term ideas.
6. Construct an implementation program for the above.
7. Review, regularly–what works and why, what didn't work and why.
8. Measure progress–develop a formal "Report Card," issued semi-annually or annually.
9. Pick a few more items.
10. On a semi-annual basis, review the list as a wholeparticulars
and the spirit of the list."