12 • April 2026 • Powersports Business

Identify. Inspire. Influence. Implement. Improve. I.

BY MAX MATERNE CONTRIBUTOR

Last month, I shared the DREAM framework. Five filters every idea has to pass through before you roll it to the team: Direction, Responsibility, Expectation, Accountability, Motivation. And then I left you with a cliffhanger. Because knowing what to change is only half the battle. The other half is how you present it without losing the room to an extreme case of the IDGAFs.( If you don’ t know that acronym, Google it.)

I realized a long time ago that once I fully understand what I’ m going to say, I need to spend just as much time on how I’ m going to say it. That’ s where the 6Is come in.

IDENTIFY Before you pitch anything, get the room to agree the current situation isn’ t working. I like to start with a good old-fashioned complaint session.“ What sucks about your day?”

If I can get a service advisor to tell me he hates getting yelled at by customers, I’ m going to validate that. Because it’ s true. It sucks getting yelled at by anyone. With that validation comes trust. And with trust comes an open door: What makes customers angry? What could we do about it? What steps would need to be in place?

Identify isn’ t about dragging your team toward what you want. It’ s about amplifying the current reality they don’ t want.

INSPIRE Once you’ ve roused them with reality, hand them creative control.“ What if we could do it totally different? No idea too big or too small. What would perfect look like?”

Give everyone a few minutes to write down five ideas. Then go around the room so each person shares at least one. They may suggest things you’ ve already thought of. They might even describe something that’ s already in their job description but they aren’ t doing. Don’ t get frustrated. Celebrate it.“ That’ s a great idea!”

Because the moment they feel ownership over an idea, it stops being your change and starts being theirs.

See Materne, Page 15