Bedrock

In all of our years in working for and with organizations, we have always talked about the “foundation” on which the entity is to build upon. That foundation usually includes the mission and vision of the organization. In some cases it goes a bit deeper and includes a bit more of its DNA if you will.

Growing up in an athletically focused household, the term foundation was common coach speak. Heck, even into my time as an athlete and a coach myself, that term was used daily. Today, the concept of building blocks for the foundation is still prevalent in the world of sports, as well as business. You can’t go a day without someone on television saying something like, “That is the foundation we built our company on,” or “The culture of our team is built on the foundation of (insert favorite cliché here).”

While making my way through another summer reading, the author offered up a new concept in this area. He basically said that the foundation isn’t what we build upon. There is an entirely different level beneath that. That layer he calls the “bedrock.”

In this context, the term bedrock is the stabilizing surface the foundation itself is built upon. The author was saying that the foundation is what we do and why we do it, however that is built on top of the bedrock. The bedrock, in his mind, includes the core values and beliefs that supports everything else. The bedrock is what we turn to when things may or may not be on the right track. These are things that are non-negotiable. Things that provide the structure and stability to pursue the actions we (or our organizations) take each day.

While I had never thought of things in this way, it’s really pretty clear honestly. Above the surface we have missions and visions, and above that goals and aspirations. However, underneath it all is the value infrastructure that guides all the rest.

In our case at Huddle Up Group, we have the “Three Fs” – Faith, Family, and Flexibility. Everyone on our team (and those that know us well) knows that these are our core values. These are the elements of our bedrock. We have foundational type beliefs on top of that. Then our goals, KPIs, and all that other activity stuff are a result of the bedrock and the foundation.

If you take a step back, this theory is pretty solid, and in my case, a bit disruptive to the way we have thought of things for years. Disruptive in a good way. In my mind, separating our 3Fs away from our mission, vision, and goals makes things a lot more clear…..

The bedrock elements are non-negotiable. We accept and understand them and we build on those.

The foundational items are relatively consistent from one year to the next (example: make the industry a better place every day, a rising tide raises all boats).

The goals and activity above that can be fluid and change regularly.

There are probably more than three levels. Those that know us know that we like the “Powers of Three” concept. Three primary focus areas or concepts, no more. Keep it simple. So we will pause here are three main elements that any organization or individual can easily define and work through.

If you don’t know what your bedrock, foundational, and/or activity levels look like, take a moment and think it through. Whiteboard it if that is the way your mind works best. If everyone on the team knows what the three levels include and what that recipe for success looks like, “victory” will become more achievable.

Last item here…..

No matter how you conceptualize this stuff, know that the best organizations (or teams or families) know what success looks like from the top down. The best of the best can see what victory looks like at the highest levels, and the definition of success cascades down and through everyone in the organization.

After all, if everyone doesn’t know what success looks like, how do we know when we get there?