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Yet, one simple "rule of business" remains constant. Your organization's ability to execute is the ultimate determinant of your success. And, when it comes to effective execution your potential roadblocks are many.
At Ford Business Consulting, our specialty is helping organizations overcome obstacles to superior execution by tuning the human system to support the business strategy.read more...
At Ford Business Consulting, our specialty is helping organizations overcome obstacles to superior execution by tuning the human system to support the business strategy.read more...
Strategy isn't enough
If you haven't read Blue Ocean Strategy (by Kim and Mauborgne), put it on your New Year's reading list. The authors have created an analytical framework for discovering and evaluating opportunities for discontinuous change. A careful read of this book is likely to cause you to ask some new questions about your business. And that's a great start toward finding new answers.
The only complaint I have is the authors' neglect of - you guessed - culture. They devote a chapter to the topic of building execution into strategy. Good start - that's a vital area. However that chapter focuses only on "three E principles of fair process." These are engagement, explanation, and expectation clarity. Again a good start. Fair process is key. But it's not enough.
Getting your culture (the 800 Pound Gorilla) to support your strategy requires more than fair process. Expectation clarity is the beginning, not the end. As a leader, you need to model the new expectations, actively examining your own actions to ensure alignment with the strategy at the deepest level. Learn more about this in my free e-book. Then look at all of your systems and processes (both formal and informal) to be sure they support the kind of culture that you need to successfully execute your strategy.
Speaking of execution, that's our topic for the January, 2007 teleseminar - "Top 10 Ways the Gorilla Blocks Execution (and how to overcome them)." If you have a favorite for this list, drop me a note (Linda@FordBusinessConsulting.com). Then tune in to see if it makes my Top 10 list.
Get started with your Gorilla today. Identify three day-to-day behaviors that are essential to the success of your strategy. Get specific here - not "good customer support" but "proactively communicating customer issues." Now look at your systems - organization structure, performance appraisals, and staff meeting agendas for starters. Are those systems designed to create the behaviors you need to make your strategy work? If not, your Gorilla likely won't get the message. This represents a significant risk to your strategy!
Linda Ford, PhD
The only complaint I have is the authors' neglect of - you guessed - culture. They devote a chapter to the topic of building execution into strategy. Good start - that's a vital area. However that chapter focuses only on "three E principles of fair process." These are engagement, explanation, and expectation clarity. Again a good start. Fair process is key. But it's not enough.
Getting your culture (the 800 Pound Gorilla) to support your strategy requires more than fair process. Expectation clarity is the beginning, not the end. As a leader, you need to model the new expectations, actively examining your own actions to ensure alignment with the strategy at the deepest level. Learn more about this in my free e-book. Then look at all of your systems and processes (both formal and informal) to be sure they support the kind of culture that you need to successfully execute your strategy.
Speaking of execution, that's our topic for the January, 2007 teleseminar - "Top 10 Ways the Gorilla Blocks Execution (and how to overcome them)." If you have a favorite for this list, drop me a note (Linda@FordBusinessConsulting.com). Then tune in to see if it makes my Top 10 list.
Get started with your Gorilla today. Identify three day-to-day behaviors that are essential to the success of your strategy. Get specific here - not "good customer support" but "proactively communicating customer issues." Now look at your systems - organization structure, performance appraisals, and staff meeting agendas for starters. Are those systems designed to create the behaviors you need to make your strategy work? If not, your Gorilla likely won't get the message. This represents a significant risk to your strategy!
Linda Ford, PhD
Labels: corporate culture, execution, strategy