An experiment by the French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre demonstrated the rigidity of the processionary caterpillars’ behavior when he enticed the leader to start circling the edge of the large flower pot. The other caterpillars followed suit in a tight process, forming a closed circle in which the distinctions between leader and follower became totally blurred, and the path had no beginning and no ending. Instead of soon getting bored with the nonproductive activity, the caterpillars kept up their mindless search for several days and nights until they dropped off the edge of the flowerpot from exhaustion and starvation. Relying totally on instinct, past experience, custom, and tradition, the caterpillars achieve nothing because they mistook activity for achievement.

I believe that employees can fall into the trap of blindly following their leader easily. Innovation and creativity, risk taking, and strategy is lost when they act like a drone rather than an individual leader of themselves and an example to others. While the business may not suffer if an individual contributor’s behaviors are automatic and without direction, the business may see drastic performance improvement if they have their “eyes wide open.”

If you find your employees are “circling the pot,” here are a few helpful tips for leaders to increase their motivation and hold them accountable for higher performance.

• Delegate assignments that are especially interesting to an employee and empower them to take the lead and own the assignment.

• Recognize and reward good displays of individual leadership (innovation and creativity, risk taking, strategy).

• Teach team members about being accountable.  Help them understand what it means to be accountable and the power and freedom that comes from doing your best.

• When a team member fails to act as an individual leader, debrief the experience and discuss better behaviors, attitudes, and actions for future situations.

• Talk openly about the importance of fulfilling responsibilities, as well as exceeding expectations.

A strategy, on the other hand, is a blueprint, layout, design, or idea used to accomplish a specific goal. A strategy is very flexible and open for adaptation and change when needed.

I recently heard a great example of the difference between a plan and a strategy, using sports. This example serves to illustrate the difference between a soccer team’s plan or strategy to score a goal.

A soccer team with a plan to score a goal might begin with a throw-in to another specific player. The ball would then be passed to a designated offensive player who would then be responsible for shooting the ball into the goal. The succession of moves would be deliberate and would not be adjusted when risks or obstacles to the plan were presented.

A soccer team with a strategy to score a goal might also begin a play with a throw-in one of a few different teammates. The main idea would then be to move the ball forward and pass to open offensive players who would then shoot the ball at the goal. The succession of moves would be open for adaptation and change if the ball were intercepted or if other players were open for receiving the ball.

When planning for the future, which is undeniably unknown, it helps to strategize and consider the various scenarios you might be faced with and be prepared to modify your strategy so you can keep moving forward, rather than starting over at the beginning.