From Annette Simmons' Territorial Games comes this inspiring story:
During World War II, destroyers had a maximum speed of 20 knots — except for one destroyer commanded by Admiral Arleigh Burke. Burke's destroyer sped 5 knots over the maximum limit. There was much speculation about how his engine room squeezed out 5 more knots.
While the topside crew could see planes fighting, hear artillery and experience the battle with all 5 senses, the engine room staff could see nothing and felt left out of the action. To remedy this, Admiral Burke wired the ship with a PA system that broadcast a blow-by-blow sports cast of everything that happened topside, complete with live sound effects. Now, requests for more power were met with added vigor, because the men understood why more speed was needed and felt part of the action.
In business, we can use the concept of making the map larger by including feedback that touches the five senses or magnifies the map. In software development, for example, you could magnify the project schedule by creating a milestone schedule, a schedule that shows only the key milestones.
I did this for one project and added a twist by printing the milestone schedule on extra large paper and taping the printout to a common wall. This made it a breeze for managers and developers to see at a glance the state of the project.
Tip: Use the milestone schedule for stakeholder meetings. Pay special attention to missed milestones, for those missed dates may mean the project is at risk.
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