Tom Peruzzi's thoughts on digital, innovation, IT and operations

It’s been a while ago since I last wrote an article. I started joining a board in 2017 and was quite busy till then. Today I want to share my main lesson I have learned in the last 3 years – frame it to win it.

What is framing?

We all have different or nearly the same opinions and we all want to find “the north star”. But the way how to get there may be different and the way the north star looks like too and whether it is north or south 😉

Framing means getting everyone on board regarding the frame , the boarder and the limitations and the applicability of the one thing you want to achieve. Having done so you have made a huge step forward. This does not necessary mean that the road to success is now free to ride but having framed it correctly means you have achieved a certain type of alignment and you can go forward and avoid fruitless discussion during the kickoff meeting.

When is framing necessary?

Anytime, every time, every meeting is a chance to frame correctly. Generally saying: the larger the organization the more you have to frame or the higher you are in hierarchy the more framing effort is needed (As a fan of flat hierarchies or even hierarchy-less organisations I recommend not building too much hierarchy). You can set the tone, you can set the frame but having framed it correctly with all your colleagues and peers is much more satisfying and has a higher chance to succeed.

Why is it needed?

We are all humans, we want to interact, win, bring our best in. The more purpose driven, the more strategy driven the less effort may be needed. But as we are humans willing to interact and engage framing will always be necessary. Get your brains on board, show what is possible, achievable and what we should avoid. Kick the shit off and make it working. The more alignment, the better the initiative is framed, the clearer the direction.

What comes next?

There is never an end. There exist framing technologies and tooling and some do bring in their own skills and have some kind of natural behavior regarding framing. My personal tip is to strengthen your framing skills if you want to achieve something good or great.