GET THE RIGHT STUFF DONE!
The proof is everywhere: companies are better at talking than doing. They know strategy is important, but just can’t get the right things done. For all their action lists, KPIs, KRAs, compacts, dashboards, and scorecards, their wheels keep spinning.
Tom Peters says 90% of strategies don’t get implemented. A study from Ernst & Young, cited in the December 2004 issue of Harvard Management Update, says it’s 66%. Research by Marakon Associates says firms lose about 37% of the financial potential of their strategies.
Whichever number is right, the fact is that there’s a yawning gap between good intentions and hard action. And closing it must be a priority for any firm wanting to get ahead and stay there. The best ideas are worth nothing if you can’t turn them into reality. The costs of slippage are colossal.
Because strategy execution is so hard, it’s tempting to look for short cuts and formulas to help do it effectively.
The bad news – there aren’t any. This is real work. It demands a sound and systematic approach, the involvement of key people, and enormous commitment.
The good news is that by using common sense and proven principles rather than fads and flashy answers, you can dramatically improve your organization’s ability to turn plans into action.
The wheels usually start to spin when you make strategy. So that’s the time to start thinking about how you’ll turn it into action … and who you need to make it happen.
We all know that strategy is an intellectual process, involving logic, analysis, decisions, and trade-offs. But that’s just part of the story. It is to a far greater degree a social process, involving people with all their strengths and weaknesses.
Without their insight and imagination, you’ll never get the best strategy. Without their spirit and commitment, you’ll never execute your strategy.
Fortunately, there are relatively easy ways to win their hearts and minds. By focusing your attention here, you can sharpen your competitive edge and give your firm new advantages for the future.
Only by involving the right people up front, and in the right way, can you hope to execute effectively. For this is when your strategic conversation begins.
Key questions:
1. Who do we need to be involved, in our strategy meetings?
2. How should we frame those conversations (i.e., what must we talk about)?
3. What should the quality of that conversation be?
4. How will we take it further?
5. How will we monitor and measure our progress?
I help large organizations make things happen, and I’ll help you too. Let’s talk about your needs and my approach.
To read more, click here.