The action cycle begins when the trigger is pulled.

As a leader, you can ensure that the people involved have the information that they need, when they need it.

Enabling them to get it themselves allows for the most flexibility and versatility within the company.

If the people doing the work can observe things for themselves, make sure that they can get what they need, when they need it and in the most quickly digestible form, this starts the ball rolling efficiently.

People also need feedback about how they’re doing in relation to goals, which is another form of information.

This is a requirement for sustaining high-powered performance, whether on an individual or team basis.

In a general sense, people can make adjustments and modifications to improve their performance if they have appropriate, timely feedback.

In situations that require solutions to some current triggering event, feedback enables the person or team to remain aligned with the company’s goals and strategic intents.

Reading The Signs:

The triggering signal may be received, but it then has to be correctly understood.

For a group or a team to work with best efficiency, critical information has to be accurately interpreted.

Different individuals tend to interpret the same information differently, due to the differing perspectives that come from their roles and responsibilities, to say nothing of their own personal value systems and goals.

To ensure a common frame of reference, a leader has to create a shared context for people to use in making sense out of information that is seen from different perspectives.

In the business setting, this is most effectively done through the use of the game plan and the brand promise.

These ideas provide a comprehensive set of reference points for making sense out of developments, and for setting priorities.

Once again, the more familiar the workers are with the plans and promises, the more intimately they’ll be able to think, problem solve and collaborate within those contexts.

On the other hand, when someone else has figured it out---whatever “it” is---and simply dictates or presents it to the people who are expected to use it, things are guaranteed to fall through the cracks.

Have your people talk through the ideas and assumptions in the game plan, and then translate their understandings into operating tactics and priorities.

The deeper their understanding the more ready they will be to deliver extraordinary performances.

Thinking Things Through:

Once people have understood the implications of some particular information within their business context, they need to be able to think things through, whether alone or in a group or team.

It goes without saying, the better thinkers and decision-makers they are, the more effective they are going to be at working together and delivering results.

There is an important consideration here. Bright people may or may not be effective collaborators or performers. Some of the most dysfunctional, ineffective work places on the planet are filled with brilliant prima donna's.

The issue is how effectively the “smarts” are applied.

Groups and teams need to demonstrate that they can think well together, work resourcefully without loosing focus, and deliver good decisions in a timely manner.

Individuals also need to think effectively based on available information, have confidence in their decision making and know when to draw in resources to generate the right value.

To sustain high-powered action cycles workers need to be able to brainstorm and imagine options and alternatives, think through relevant, appropriate issues, and make competent decisions.

They need to be equipped to collaborate and partner together to generate valued results.

Rapid, Measured Action:

Once a clear intention has been formed, and a decision has been made, people need to act to make “it” happen.

Leaders need to ensure that the people deployed have the necessary skills and talents. They have to have sufficient resources, including the necessary time and information.

The action of a team or group, whose members often are separated from each other by space and time, will only stay coordinated if those involved share a common, or compatible, definition of success.

When companies foster competition or rivalries between functions, they are usually trying to generate the best performance within each unit. That does not translate, however, into the best results possible for the company as a whole.