Be Different or be dead

December 16, 2019

Why executing your business plan is more important than the plan

Why executing your business plan is more important than the plan.

Too much planning

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 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 said over and over forever it seems yet organizations toil on believing the essence of their strategy will ‘deliver them from evil’; the pursuit of the perfect plan leaves little or no room to toil at implementation.

Not enough execution

The fact is, the perfect plan is worthless unless execution gets recognition as the true driver of success. And as long as the plan is given the priority we will continue to witness the underperformance businesses.

Results are a function of execution and that requires a disproportionate amount of time be spent on this element of the business planning process.

Spend 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.

Execution hero

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.
And make sure the person you select has a high tolerance for pain because they’re going to need it!

Make it the most important item in their performance plan and hold them accountable to deliver the results expected of the strategic plan.

And communicate openly and regularly on progress made. Recognize execution heroes — find the people in the organization who are truly committed to execution; lavish praise on them. Hold them up to the rest of the organization as examples to be aspired to.

‘Head west’

Get your plan just about right and execute it with tenacity and perseverance through the hearts and souls of turned-on people.

Perfection is an illusion and heading west is a valid direction to take.

Winning is more than the brilliant idea, it’s about doing stuff and keeping your feet moving in the face of unrelenting change.

That’s change leadership.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.16.19 at 06:49 am by Roy Osing
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