November 24, 2009

Be Anal about Execution

Chapter 18 of my book, BE DiFFERENT, advances the notion that we spend far too much time planning what we intend to do as an organization and not enough time figuring out how we will get there. The challenge is expressed a number of ways but I think Peter Drucker nailed it when he said ‘The biggest challenge for most businesses is executing well - not devising helium-filled plans for reaching the next level.’ How true. But this has been aid over and over forever it seems yet organizations toil on believing the essence of their strategy will ‘deliver them from evil’. The fact is it won’t, and unless execution gets recognition as the true driver of success we will continue to witness the demise of businesses.

The BE DiFFERENT way of addressing this is to understand that results are a function of execution and that requires a disproportionate amount of time be spent on this element of the strategic planning process. I suggest that you devote 20% of your time to determining the essence of your plan and 80% of your time on the detailed implementation plan - who needs to do what by when to breathe life into what you want to achieve. Sooner or later your brave idea must degenerate into a number of crude deeds. Make it a cultural change objective.

In addition, assign a Strategy Hawk to lead the execution process. Select the most senior person with the most tenacity and currency in your organization to do the job. Make it the most
important item in his or her Performance Plan and hold them accountable to deliver the execution deliverables. And communicate openly and regularly on progress made. Execution heroes - find them and recognize them. Hold them up to the rest of the organization as examples to be aspired to.

Get your plan just about right and execute it with tenacity and perseverance through the hearts and souls of turned-on people. That’s BE DiFFERENT. That’s winning. That’s Change Leadership.

Cheers, Roy Osing

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Related Blogs
Roy’s Rule of Three
Strategy Hawk
Plan on the Run
Cut the Crap
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Role of Your Strategy Document 
BE DiFFERENT Quiz
Line of Sight Execution
Avoid Aspirational Intent

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Posted 11.24.09 at 05:47 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment