'Burn the Boats' ... the only way is forward

steverogerson3
Mar 23, 2022
2 min read

In the year 1519, Spaniard Hernan Cortes arrived in the New World with a force of six hundred men. His mission was to conquer the Aztec empire. He sailed from Cuba in a fleet of 11 ships and, upon arrival, gave what was to become a famous order. Cortes instructed his leaders to burn 10 of the 11 ships in the fleet.

Why would Cortes set fire to 10 perfectly good ships? Cortes was sending a clear message to his men: There is no turning back, the only way is forward. Two years later he succeeded, where others before him had failed, in conquering the Aztec empire.

So what can we learn from Cortes strategy when it comes to major system and process change?

In a project context 'Burning the Boats' is about removing exits or taking away the 'old ways' of doing things, such that the only way forward is to adopt the 'new ways'. A common example involves planning boards, spreadsheets and printouts.

If a business has scheduled and tracked production for many years using a combination of the above mechanisms, leaving them in place when a new ERP system is introduced will invariably result in one of 2 outcomes:

Staff will continue to use the old, familiar way of doing things (even if it is clunky or laborious);
Staff will duplicate transactions in both systems, often doing the minimum to be seen to be 'compliant'

The reasons WHY they do this are many and varied.

The reason they CAN is because the boats weren't burned!

One can only imagine that some, if not many, of Cortes men were not totally thrilled by his actions. The same response is likely in an organisational setting. Burning the boats means taking away a known quantity and comfortable 'security blanket' that many staff had become highly skilled at using. It takes more effort and energy to learn something new and change behaviour, than it does to travel a well-worn routine!

Taking away the capacity to do things the old way, means that the only way is forward ... even if the way forward is uncertain, unclear and challenging. It means confronting what must be confronted in order to become adept at the new way.

Is burning the boats enough?

Burning the Boats alone is not enough. AstuteOPS has seen examples where teams set out to rebuild the boats as part of a counter-offensive to undermine a new initiative!

Burning the Boats is a key step in focusing peoples attention. Leadership is required to listen for concerns, allay fears, remove roadblocks, encourage and support, and to create short-term wins.

Things to keep in mind when Burning the Boats:

> How and when you burn them are important;

> Not everyone will be happy about the flames and smoke!

> Be ready to provide considerable leadership energy as you light the fuse;

> Point the way forward clearly and repeatedly ... help people to avoid looking over their shoulder