Focus on what matters

How one question can help managers bring teams together

FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2009

Greg Brenneman

Transforming an organization as large and complex as Kaiser Permanente is a daunting challenge—especially for team leaders and managers who are accountable for day-to-day results as well as long-term change. But a business leader known for large-scale performance improvement recently told the New York Times how he’s approached similar challenges at other organizations: Treat people with respect, have humility and clarify your team’s priorities in a simple form.

The executive, Greg Brenneman, knows about managing a 24/7, operations-driven company where lives are at stake. He led the turnaround of Continental Airlines in the 1990s, engaging frontline, union workers in the change effort. He’s also led consulting, food service and investment firms and taught at Harvard Business School.

In a world of information overload, he says, it’s important to “step back and say, 'What are the two or three things that really matter?’ Managers don’t really do that often. They just dive into all this detail and start using acronyms and buzzwords.”

He has a simple way to focus himself and his teams on the essentials:

"I’m constantly asking the question,'What are the two or three levers that, if pulled correctly, will really turn the business?' Then I take those levers and bake them into a one-page plan."

And such a plan can help focus unit-based teams across Kaiser Permanente on the performance-improvement opportunities that will make the most difference to KP members and contribute the most to their region’s goals.