yesterday i facilitated a workshop for the board of directors of a subsidiary, to help them see the line of sight from the corporate vision down to the the implementation strategies for one of their high-profile projects.

the project team that the board is overseeing is so bogged down with the operational matters in their project that the team cannot give a broader picture to the board. the team fails to show the forest; instead, it keeps telling about the trees. the board, staffed with people with project management experience who enjoy details, gets sucked into the spiral.

recently the board reached a point where they couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. the board of directors got lost. they didn't know where to head. they were overwhelmed by the trees. they screamed for help. my group came in to the rescue.

it is gratifying when i helped lift the board members out of the thick of the trees, bring them up to the level where they can see the forest, and give a sense of confidence to them to point the project team to some direction.

the board members now understand the intent (or objective) of the strategies the team chose that brought about all the issues. the breakthrough to go forward was achieved when the intent was questioned. this is one powerful application of double-loop learning which was theorized by chris argyris.