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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...
Friendly Skies? It's not in the culture.
Today's Wall Street Journal (Aug. 28, 2007) ran an interesting piece about Capt. Flanagan who "goes to bat for his harried passengers." I was struck by how ordinary his actions would be if he worked for Southwest Airlines. Why is his behavior front page news? Only because it's not the norm at United. The difference? Culture.
At Southwest, friendliness and creativity are just part of the job. Flight attendants, pilots, baggage handlers, gate agents. They all "get it" that these things matter. There is a box of "Fun-LUVing MINTality" mints sitting on my desk. I happened to be flying from Dallas to Austin on Friday over a holiday weekend and a Southwest employee was bouncing through the terminal, handing out these mints. It made me smile. Smiles matter at Southwest.
Capt. Flanagan is flying in the face of a different culture. He's decided that no matter what the norms are, he wants his job to be fun and his passengers to be happy. He cracks jokes and goes out of his way to meet his passengers' needs. He seems to have some nominal support from management. They pay for some of the goodies he gives away. The "Chief Customer Officer" commends his efforts. But when the WSJ article talks about what the CSO is doing to "boost customer service," the main item mentioned is technology improvements to give employees more information about delays and problems.
Nice idea but it won't change the culture. The 800 pound Gorilla at UAL knows that smiles don't matter. Until that changes, the technology won't help much. Leaders must truly value customer relations. When leaders at UAL (both formal and informal) are telling the stories of how great Capt. Flanagan is, bonuses and raises are based on customer satisfaction, senior executive meetings start with a discussion of customer relations, hiring is based on customer focus and people skills --- then UAL might get back to being the Friendly Skies.
Does your company have a Fun-LUVing Mintality? Or is there something else distinctively wonderful about your culture that provides a competitive edge? I'd love to hear what you're doing to maintain that.
Linda Ford
read more...
At Southwest, friendliness and creativity are just part of the job. Flight attendants, pilots, baggage handlers, gate agents. They all "get it" that these things matter. There is a box of "Fun-LUVing MINTality" mints sitting on my desk. I happened to be flying from Dallas to Austin on Friday over a holiday weekend and a Southwest employee was bouncing through the terminal, handing out these mints. It made me smile. Smiles matter at Southwest.
Capt. Flanagan is flying in the face of a different culture. He's decided that no matter what the norms are, he wants his job to be fun and his passengers to be happy. He cracks jokes and goes out of his way to meet his passengers' needs. He seems to have some nominal support from management. They pay for some of the goodies he gives away. The "Chief Customer Officer" commends his efforts. But when the WSJ article talks about what the CSO is doing to "boost customer service," the main item mentioned is technology improvements to give employees more information about delays and problems.
Nice idea but it won't change the culture. The 800 pound Gorilla at UAL knows that smiles don't matter. Until that changes, the technology won't help much. Leaders must truly value customer relations. When leaders at UAL (both formal and informal) are telling the stories of how great Capt. Flanagan is, bonuses and raises are based on customer satisfaction, senior executive meetings start with a discussion of customer relations, hiring is based on customer focus and people skills --- then UAL might get back to being the Friendly Skies.
Does your company have a Fun-LUVing Mintality? Or is there something else distinctively wonderful about your culture that provides a competitive edge? I'd love to hear what you're doing to maintain that.
Linda Ford
Labels: change, corporate culture, leadership, strategy
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Strategic planning vs. Strategic agililty
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Bob Becker (Product Development Advantage Group) about the concept of Strategic Agility. He has some interesting thoughts about the problems with planning in a fast-paced business environment. Here are the nuggets from Bob. (If you’d like to learn more about this key concept, register for the teleseminar with Bob on July 19.)
1. What is strategic agility?
The pace of change in the business world continues to accelerate. Since all competitive advantages are really temporary, organizations need to be able to adjust their strategies, competencies, and capabilities with sufficient speed and effectiveness to take advantage of new opportunities that present themselves if they want to grow, or even survive over an extended period.
2. What got you interested in this subject?
Several of the high-tech firms I worked for fell off the mountain top really dramatically because they stuck with what used to work, way too long. They couldn’t overcome their own inertia to change quickly enough to succeed. I figured out why that is and learned from others that successfully steered their firms to new places. In a world where the clockspeed of your environment is only increasing, this capability is imperative.
Hear more of what Bob has learned in the teleseminar Thursday, July 19.
3. What's the biggest mess you've ever seen that strategic agility could have prevented?
Hmm, there are so many “great” messes! One that’s close to home was at PictureTel, then world leader in videoconferencing, where I was VP of Engineering. In the late ‘90s we faced a number of strategic changes: telephony to internet; proprietary to standards; and customers focused on ease of use, not performance. These things weren’t news, but we had the problem of sticking with what made us successful - too long. We peaked at almost $500 million in revenue a little before I left. Three years later the firm was acquired with a $200 million run rate. Our management systems made it hard to change anything except on an annual cadence - which was way too slow - and when dramatic interventions were tried, the remedies were so traumatic and change management skills so unpracticed it didn’t work. A great company wound up as baitfish.
4. What have you learned about strategic agility that everyone should know?
It’s possible for almost every firm to move faster, and with far less overhead, to turn their agility into a competitive advantage. To do it, you must be willing to examine aspects of your firm that have been accepted as ‘the way it always is’. Annual budgeting and planning, how functional versus cross-functional activities are managed, how information flows, and what gets rewarded, to name a few things.
read more...
1. What is strategic agility?
The pace of change in the business world continues to accelerate. Since all competitive advantages are really temporary, organizations need to be able to adjust their strategies, competencies, and capabilities with sufficient speed and effectiveness to take advantage of new opportunities that present themselves if they want to grow, or even survive over an extended period.
2. What got you interested in this subject?
Several of the high-tech firms I worked for fell off the mountain top really dramatically because they stuck with what used to work, way too long. They couldn’t overcome their own inertia to change quickly enough to succeed. I figured out why that is and learned from others that successfully steered their firms to new places. In a world where the clockspeed of your environment is only increasing, this capability is imperative.
Hear more of what Bob has learned in the teleseminar Thursday, July 19.
3. What's the biggest mess you've ever seen that strategic agility could have prevented?
Hmm, there are so many “great” messes! One that’s close to home was at PictureTel, then world leader in videoconferencing, where I was VP of Engineering. In the late ‘90s we faced a number of strategic changes: telephony to internet; proprietary to standards; and customers focused on ease of use, not performance. These things weren’t news, but we had the problem of sticking with what made us successful - too long. We peaked at almost $500 million in revenue a little before I left. Three years later the firm was acquired with a $200 million run rate. Our management systems made it hard to change anything except on an annual cadence - which was way too slow - and when dramatic interventions were tried, the remedies were so traumatic and change management skills so unpracticed it didn’t work. A great company wound up as baitfish.
4. What have you learned about strategic agility that everyone should know?
It’s possible for almost every firm to move faster, and with far less overhead, to turn their agility into a competitive advantage. To do it, you must be willing to examine aspects of your firm that have been accepted as ‘the way it always is’. Annual budgeting and planning, how functional versus cross-functional activities are managed, how information flows, and what gets rewarded, to name a few things.
Labels: strategy
read more...
Spring cleaning - Focus on Your Priorities
It's that time again. Spring is here. Easter has come and gone. Now it's time for spring cleaning in your business. No, I'm not talking about those piles of paperwork or spare parts. I'm talking about the priorities that have piled up. They're diffusing your energy and distracting you.
Let's assume for the moment that at some point you had a clear plan with two or three top priorities. Members of your organization knew what to do, where to focus their energy. There was a consistency and coherence that provided energy for execution.
Then something came up that you hadn't planned on. It was important; it provided a unique marketing opportunity or a potential for extraordinary collaboration or… This process is natural and in fact, desirable. It sets the stage for what Henry Mintzberg referred to as "emergent strategy." An emergent strategy results from the interaction of the organization with its environment instead of from the mind of the strategist. It's a sign that your strategy is alive, not a dead document. The problem is that your laser-like coherent execution may become a flurry of disconnected actions. Before this goes too far, it's time for spring cleaning!
At Vignette, Ross Garber (co-founder) was fond of reminding people that there can only be one most important thing. Many things may be important, but only one can be the most important.
Before you begin your spring cleaning, ask yourself -- what is the most important thing for our team to accomplish in this timeframe? Keep working with that question until you have one and only one answer. Whether you manage an organization of ten thousand, a team of ten, or just yourself, there can only be One Most Important Thing. Let's call it your O-MIT. Each unit or person within the organization will be addressing some aspect of the O-MIT and will have its own O-MIT. But any given unit or person has only one O-MIT. It gives your organization focus and allows you to accomplish more with your resources. Identifying your O-MIT is a key to your spring cleaning and to your organization's ability to execute.
Once you have your O-MIT, the problem is much like what you face when you decide to clean out your garage or closets. First, there are things that should be thrown out, given away, or sold. Then you've got to organize the things you want to keep.
Begin your sorting process by taking an honest inventory of all the things your organization is working on. Get your team together and create a comprehensive list. Don’t let anyone skate by with "But that will be finished next month." Or "It's only a couple of hours of her time each week." It's important to be able to see what you're really dealing with. Each of these project or priorities is either supporting your O-MIT or is a distraction from your O-MIT.
Creating a comprehensive list of everything that's on your team's radar will allow you to realistically assess which of the many projects and priorities support your O-MIT and which do not. For those that don't, you must look carefully at the resources they pull away from the O-MIT. If you redeployed those resources, would you achieve the O-MIT more quickly or with more certainty of success? If your answer is "yes," consider eliminating that project as part of your spring cleaning.
When you've cleaned out the projects that aren't crucial to success, organize what remains. Identify two or three key goals in support of your O-MIT. Group the projects or tasks under those goals. If there are "strays" that don't fit under a goal, consider eliminating those. Are they really crucial or are they distractions? When you've done this, your team will be more focused and you'll get more accomplished.
This spring cleaning process is essential to successful execution. It's natural that your plan evolves as you seize opportunities and respond to changes in the market. The question is not whether that will happen but how you will manage it. Spring cleaning with an O-MIT at the core allows your plan to be emergent and yet continually regain its focus.
Linda Ford, PhD
read more...
Let's assume for the moment that at some point you had a clear plan with two or three top priorities. Members of your organization knew what to do, where to focus their energy. There was a consistency and coherence that provided energy for execution.
Then something came up that you hadn't planned on. It was important; it provided a unique marketing opportunity or a potential for extraordinary collaboration or… This process is natural and in fact, desirable. It sets the stage for what Henry Mintzberg referred to as "emergent strategy." An emergent strategy results from the interaction of the organization with its environment instead of from the mind of the strategist. It's a sign that your strategy is alive, not a dead document. The problem is that your laser-like coherent execution may become a flurry of disconnected actions. Before this goes too far, it's time for spring cleaning!
At Vignette, Ross Garber (co-founder) was fond of reminding people that there can only be one most important thing. Many things may be important, but only one can be the most important.
Before you begin your spring cleaning, ask yourself -- what is the most important thing for our team to accomplish in this timeframe? Keep working with that question until you have one and only one answer. Whether you manage an organization of ten thousand, a team of ten, or just yourself, there can only be One Most Important Thing. Let's call it your O-MIT. Each unit or person within the organization will be addressing some aspect of the O-MIT and will have its own O-MIT. But any given unit or person has only one O-MIT. It gives your organization focus and allows you to accomplish more with your resources. Identifying your O-MIT is a key to your spring cleaning and to your organization's ability to execute.
Once you have your O-MIT, the problem is much like what you face when you decide to clean out your garage or closets. First, there are things that should be thrown out, given away, or sold. Then you've got to organize the things you want to keep.
Begin your sorting process by taking an honest inventory of all the things your organization is working on. Get your team together and create a comprehensive list. Don’t let anyone skate by with "But that will be finished next month." Or "It's only a couple of hours of her time each week." It's important to be able to see what you're really dealing with. Each of these project or priorities is either supporting your O-MIT or is a distraction from your O-MIT.
Creating a comprehensive list of everything that's on your team's radar will allow you to realistically assess which of the many projects and priorities support your O-MIT and which do not. For those that don't, you must look carefully at the resources they pull away from the O-MIT. If you redeployed those resources, would you achieve the O-MIT more quickly or with more certainty of success? If your answer is "yes," consider eliminating that project as part of your spring cleaning.
When you've cleaned out the projects that aren't crucial to success, organize what remains. Identify two or three key goals in support of your O-MIT. Group the projects or tasks under those goals. If there are "strays" that don't fit under a goal, consider eliminating those. Are they really crucial or are they distractions? When you've done this, your team will be more focused and you'll get more accomplished.
This spring cleaning process is essential to successful execution. It's natural that your plan evolves as you seize opportunities and respond to changes in the market. The question is not whether that will happen but how you will manage it. Spring cleaning with an O-MIT at the core allows your plan to be emergent and yet continually regain its focus.
Linda Ford, PhD
Labels: 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
read more...
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
read more...
McDonald's focus on better not bigger
Kudo's to Jim Skinner (McDonald's CEO) for tackling an issue that many CEO's just won't touch - what Skinner calls "the growth story." (See Wall Street Journal article.) He has gotten a number of things right in his approach to this issue.
(1) Skinner recognizes that change in an organization of this size will take time.
(2) He is clear that McDonald's needs to remember its core business - "We have to remember who we are … a hamburger company."
(3) In his "Tips for managing a turnaround," Skinner puts a focus on people at the top of the list.
And still he has missed the 800 pound Gorilla - corporate culture. There are two aspects to Skinner's turnaround that will require significant culture change in the organization.
First, he is intent on shifting the focus from bigger to better. When an organization has focused on bigger for many decades, getting attention for better takes more than just a plan and new metrics. Skinner will have to embed the focus on better in every aspect of culture. Of course metrics, plans, and policies are a part of that. But culture shapes behavior more than policy and structure shape behavior. Just saying it is so doesn't make it so. When culture and policy are in conflict, culture wins every time. If Skinner doesn't work as diligently on the informal drivers of culture as he does on policies and metrics, the Gorilla just may sink his plan.
Second, Skinner is shifting the focus from burger to choice. The McDonald's menu and marketing messages have been driving this shift for several years. And yet I have to ask whether the managers and executives all over the organization really live and breathe choice or whether they still think in terms of "4 billion burgers served?" It's one thing to change the marketing message and yet another thing to get everyone inside the organization to wake up thinking about choices for consumers.
So, Mr. Skinner, you've clearly taken on the Gorilla at McDonald's. And as you've pointed out, this is a very large organization so its Gorilla will be very large too. Don't forget to tame the Gorilla while you're working the plan.
By Linda Ford, PhD
read more...
(1) Skinner recognizes that change in an organization of this size will take time.
(2) He is clear that McDonald's needs to remember its core business - "We have to remember who we are … a hamburger company."
(3) In his "Tips for managing a turnaround," Skinner puts a focus on people at the top of the list.
And still he has missed the 800 pound Gorilla - corporate culture. There are two aspects to Skinner's turnaround that will require significant culture change in the organization.
First, he is intent on shifting the focus from bigger to better. When an organization has focused on bigger for many decades, getting attention for better takes more than just a plan and new metrics. Skinner will have to embed the focus on better in every aspect of culture. Of course metrics, plans, and policies are a part of that. But culture shapes behavior more than policy and structure shape behavior. Just saying it is so doesn't make it so. When culture and policy are in conflict, culture wins every time. If Skinner doesn't work as diligently on the informal drivers of culture as he does on policies and metrics, the Gorilla just may sink his plan.
Second, Skinner is shifting the focus from burger to choice. The McDonald's menu and marketing messages have been driving this shift for several years. And yet I have to ask whether the managers and executives all over the organization really live and breathe choice or whether they still think in terms of "4 billion burgers served?" It's one thing to change the marketing message and yet another thing to get everyone inside the organization to wake up thinking about choices for consumers.
So, Mr. Skinner, you've clearly taken on the Gorilla at McDonald's. And as you've pointed out, this is a very large organization so its Gorilla will be very large too. Don't forget to tame the Gorilla while you're working the plan.
By Linda Ford, PhD
Labels: change, corporate culture, growth, McDonald's, strategy
read more...