THE WHEELS ON THE BUS

Many of you will have heard of the children’s rhyme by this name. Maybe you read it to your children or grandchildren, or maybe you had it read to you, or listened to the audio version. It was written sometime before 1939 by Verna Hills. I’ve included the lyrics below:

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
all through the town.

The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish,
all through the town.

The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep,
all through the town.

The doors on the bus go open and shut;
Open and shut;
Open and shut.
The doors on the bus go open and shut;
all through the town.

The Driver on the bus says “Move on back,
move on back, move on back;”
The Driver on the bus says “Move on back”,
all through the town.

The babies on the bus say “Wah, wah, wah;
Wah, wah, wah;
Wah, wah, wah”.
The babies on the bus say “Wah, wah, wah”,
all through the town.

The mommies on the bus say “Shush, shush, shush;
Shush, shush, shush;
Shush, shush, shush.”
The mommies on the bus say “Shush, shush, shush”
all through the town.

So, why did I include the lyrics? Well, I wanted to make it obvious that there are multiple functions represented by the buses components and its occupants. What do I mean? Let’s list them:

• The wheels (of course),
• The wipers,
• The horn,
• The doors,
• The Driver,
• The babies, and
• The mommies.

And your next question — what’s this got to do with business? Two things, really. Firstly, although not most importantly, funny isn’t it, how ‘bus’ is often used as a short-form of ‘business’. Secondly, businesses too have multiple functions.

But, it is actually even more than that. You will notice in the lyrics that each of these functions is very specific. It would be very Dr. Zeuss to have the mommies going round and round (although it might feel to them like they do!), the Driver going ‘swish, swish, swish’ and the babies going ‘beep, beep, beep’, and so on. But they don’t do this in this folk song, do they? Each has a defined function.

And, that’s my point. Yet, there’s more to this bus analogy, although there are some that dispute the analogy. Like all analogies, some parts are more applicable than others, and you need to take what works for you and apply it accordingly. (Sometimes, you will later find that there was more to it than you originally thought!)

Getting the Bus(iness) Going

In his book,Good to Great, Jim Collins puts it to the business owner/manager like this:

You are a bus driver. The bus, your company, is at a standstill, and it’s your job to get it going. You have to decide where you’re going, how you’re going to get there, and who’s going with you.

Most people assume that great bus drivers (read: business leaders) immediately start the journey by announcing to the people on the bus where they’re going — by setting a new direction or by articulating a fresh corporate vision.

In fact, leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with “where” but with “who.” They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. And they stick with that discipline — first the people, then the direction — no matter how dire the circumstances.

First, let’s look at some of what Jim says (let’s call those the “pro’s”), and some of what he doesn’t say (let’s call those the “con’s”). You will note that the latter is, perhaps, where those who dislike the analogy take issue.

Statement

Pro Comment

Con Comment

You are a bus driver.

There must be ‘someone in charge’, someone responsible for getting the bus to the destination, on time at that. The buck has to stop somewhere.

Your company is at a standstill

Unless the business is a startup or has failed, it cannot be at a standstill — there must be something happening, even if the business is only in cruise mode.

It’s your job to get it going

If the business is a startup, and you are the owner, nothing could be truer.

You have to decide where you’re going, how to get there, and who’s going with you

If the business is a startup, and you are the owner, nothing could be truer.

If the business is not a startup there is some spreading of this responsibility beyond just the driver. I.e. the business must decide this.

Great bus drivers immediately start the journey by announcing to the people on the bus where they’re going

If the business is a startup, and you are the owner, nothing could be truer.

Refer my comment regarding the business being at a standstill — i.e. the journey has already started — the driver/business, therefore, needs to plot the course beyond the present position.

Setting a new direction

As Jim says, later on, this is ideally a collective decision — thereby obtaining buy-in.

Unsaid here is that the business should already have a destination — it was set up for a purpose, after all. So, the new direction is the new way of getting to that destination. (*)

Articulating a fresh corporate vision

As Jim says, later on, this is ideally a collective decision — thereby obtaining buy-in.

To the extent that the vision encapsulates what the business will look like when it has reached the destination, this is correct. However, as discussed above, the destination should already have been fixed. (*)

Getting the right people on the bus

People are essential — after all, people (customers & suppliers) do business with people (employees).

Getting the wrong people off the bus

Care needs to be taken here — and I’m not referring to the need for adhering to the appropriate legal procedures. I mean ensuring that all possible training, systems, and support have been attempted first. After all, the cost of replacing employees is very high — so why evict someone who was simply lacking in training? That said no business can afford to have passengers.

Getting the right people in the right seats

The driver needs to look at not just the employee’s knowledge, but also their attitude and their capacity to grow within the business.

This also needs to be done carefully — a lot of people do not like change. In fact, some will fight it tooth and nail to the extent they may need to exit, even though they have the right knowledge — because they don’t have the right attitude or capacity to grow. That said, they may appear to be the ‘wrong people’ because they are, currently, in the wrong seat.

(*) We’re assuming here that the business will be continuing in the fields in which it already operates (so, retaining its current destination), and not dropping everything and starting out in a brand new venture (and, therefore, having a brand new destination).

Getting the bus(iness) to the Destination

So, let’s just assume we have the right people on the bus, in the right seats. What else do we need?

Well, as Jim Collins, we also need to know where we are going, and how we are going to get there. By ‘we’ I mean the business — i.e. everybody in the bus. Let’s extend the bus analogy a little further before explaining more.

Those who have been on a bus or a train or tram — for that matter — will know that they have timetables. Timetables which say when they will be at what point in the journey. This is part of what a business needs — measurable achievement markers along the way that will designate progress, and timeliness of that progress. I.e. the business will not only have an end-goal — the destination — but a whole raft of sub-goals that delineate points of achievement along the route to that destination.

Taking this another step — you will note that it’s not just the driver who will have access to the timetable. Those on the bus will have it too. So, both the destination and the route and progress markers have been communicated (and can be used to monitor that progress).

This is, arguably, even more important in a business. You see, it’s the people on the bus — the people accountable for the various functions (wherever they fall on the organization chart) — that make the wheels on the bus go round and round. If they don’t know where they are going, or at what pace they are going… well, as you can imagine, chaos could be the result, and the destination is unlikely to be reached.

How does a business achieve this? Well, there are multiple parts to it:

1. Articulate a vision for where the business is going, and what it will look like when it gets there.
2. Plan the route the business will take to get there and the markers that will represent progress.
3. Specify who will be accountable for each part of the above — each marker.
4. Cascade this down through the position guides of everyone on the bus — with the CEO (or whatever you call them) bearing the total range, and those supporting them bearing just those responsibilities that relate to their role(s).
5. Review the performance of each individual against their position guide — at least six-monthly.
6. Review the performance of the business regularly — at least monthly.

As you will appreciate the type position guide I am referring to is fairly comprehensive. It should specify:

• The prime purpose of the person’s role — which should align with the business’ vision.
• The key accountabilities of the role and the measures by which achievement of these will be judged — all of which should be able to be traced back to the route and markers in the plan.

It will also, at each review, include SMART objectives to assist the person in improving their performance in any accountabilities where that is deemed necessary.

And that’s how the wheels on the bus(iness) go round and round.