How - Dov Seidman [7]
Clearly, while the PowerPoint presentation may stand as a testament to your superior research and computer presentation skills, it lacks something in its ability to inspire 60,000 people. Even if this were a baseball game, which, let’s face it, can be as slow as molasses, a well-made PowerPoint slide is less interesting than the peanut guy every time.
Clearly, how you communicate your vision—how you connect with those around you—directly affects the outcome, so all these approaches miss the point. The essence of a Wave, what makes it such a forceful expression of human desire, is that it is powered by a common passion to help the home team win. That value lives larger than any individual’s actions and unites all the fans in the stadium. No one followed Krazy George’s idea because they thought it was about George ; a Wave is leadership, but the most important thing about a Wave is that you forget where it started—Section 32? 64? 132? The fans followed because he got everybody enlisted, and when you get everybody enlisted, it doesn’t matter where your Wave starts. It just goes. And no one followed Krazy George’s idea because people booed (that was just a good-natured way of getting attention in a big stadium). They followed because they liked what he stood for and the way he banged his drum for it.
To start one, then, you need to reach out to those around you, to share your vision with them, to enlist them in a common purpose. You must lead this Wave not by wielding formal authority, punitive power, or the threat of a small thermonuclear device under the stands, but with a touch of charisma. To get them to join you, you must be earnest and transparent, hold nothing back, and earn their trust. “Hey!” you might yell, charged with passion and commitment, filled with the unbridled emotion that you want to uncork in others. “I’ve got this idea! If we all stand up, wave our arms, and yell, I think it might help us win!”
Who doesn’t want to win?
I like the Wave as metaphor because it is about what a diverse group of people can accomplish when united by a common vision. It illustrates the power that moves through a group of people when they perform at their best, their most unbridled and passionate. People often don’t realize that there’s a powerful way of accomplishing something—a HOW—that incorporates being transparent, being revelatory, declaring your intentions, and being very open about everything it means to you; and that HOW affects the Wave you create. The best HOWs make a Wave continue long after it has moved beyond your reach. I’ve found that anyone willing to do so can understand, focus, and unleash that power in business (if not in all aspects of life) regardless of position, status, or authority. This is the first point of this book.
Individuals start Waves by acting powerfully and effectively on those around them. For the Wave to take off and go, however, the conditions in the stadium must be such that the energy generated by the few can flow easily to the many. Studies show that Waves begin more easily and travel further in circular or oval stadiums than they do in lineal ones. Crowds at a high school football game, where crosstown rivals sit on opposite sides of the field according to fan loyalty, are less likely to cooperate, even though they all live in the same town. Not so in oval soccer stadiums, despite equally intense partisan feelings. Organizations can build stadiums that allow Waves to happen. Teams can create environments that allow Waves to happen. This is the book’s second point.
Recently, I ordered a bracelet for my wife from a New York jeweler for our upcoming wedding anniversary. The jeweler shipped it to me in Los Angeles via UPS overnight so that I would be sure to have it on the day (missing your anniversary, as we all know, may be an even greater screwup than not delivering for your customer’s just-in-time supply chain). I met our UPS delivery guy, Angel Zamora, in my office lobby the next morning,