Excellence in strategy execution can provide competitive advantage by ______.

Closing the Strategy Execution Gap - Recap

Getting Shit Done was written to tackle a common yet daunting question; Why do organizations struggle to achieve their plans on time and on budget, AND what needs to change to ensure we meet our goals?

The challenge is very real, and the rewards are also high.

Here's what we know- Each year, organizations go through the same ritual where executive teams design their strategy and then pass it down through their organizations (a la whisper-down-the-lane) to be translated and implemented by the workers. But we all see and know that something gets lost in the middle between creating the plan (strategy) and carrying it out (execution).

Most people don't plan to fail, but a lack of understanding finds organizations inevitably falling back into the same trap over and over again. Researchers have long acknowledged that even the most brilliant strategy is worthless if it isn't executed well.

"Companies, on average, only deliver 63% of the financial performance on their strategies promise."-Harvard Business Review

82% of Fortune 500 CEOs feel their organization is effective at strategic planning. Only 14% indicated to be effective at implementing the strategy."-Forbes Magazine

Executional Excellence is the number one challenge facing global corporate leaders."-Harvard Business Review

Slow strategy execution is the top challenge for 2019; 70% of executives say they had little confidence in their ability to solve the problem."-Gartner

50% of well-formulated strategies fail to deliver expected results because of poor execution."-Harvard Business Review

"Only 2% of leaders feel confident that 80-100% of their goals will be executed."- Bridges Business Consultancy

Table of Contents

• Closing the strategy - execution gap

• Strategy-Execution Questions

• What causes the strategy-execution gap?

• THE STRATEGY-EXECUTION GAP

• Strategy Execution Questions

• Why Doesn't Strategy Execution Get Done on Tim

• Strategically Push Down the Power: Autonomy, Empowerment, and Decentralization

• Ownership & Accountability in Strategy Execution

• Communicating for Strategic Effectiveness

• Instill a Strategy Execution Culture

• Learning Like a Strategy Execution Leader

• Thinking Like a Strategic Leader

• Executing Like a Strategic Leader

• The Keys to Strategy Execution Success

Although organizations and industries can identify what needs to change, most strategy-execution efforts aren't successful. Those strategy executions that don't fail outright limp forward until the plug is pulled. Staggering price tags, incomplete deliverables, and a demoralized workforce usually lie in the wake of many change efforts.

Not that strategy-execution is a new problem, but the pace of competition and innovation today has substantially raised the stakes of the game. What worked yesterday may not work today, and an organization needs to be dynamic enough to choose new courses of action and make them a reality.

Enough already! Let's each take ownership of our roles, our teams, and our organizations so we thoroughly understand the strategy-execution gap, define what must change, and then make it happen.

Closing the strategy - execution gap

1.0

Once the right strategy is in place, the focus shifts entirely to execution. 

More than mere tactics, execution is the fundamental bridge between strategy and performance. It must be approached as a systematic process for rigorously reviewing and challenging strategic imperatives, operational directives, underlying capabilities, accountabilities, and performance outcomes.

Closing the strategy execution gap starts by acknowledging that execution is a distinctive discipline and skill set built over time. By learning how to set better targets, align resources, lead at all levels, deliver results, and build controls around processes, we learn to build a system that ensures what gets done, stays done.

When managed as a disciplined process, strategy-execution is an iterative, adaptive, and robust method for running a business. Without this discipline — this systematic process — the strategy-execution lessons might remain only good ideas left sitting on a bookshelf.

While many managers and professionals may think of improving strategy-execution as identifying and removing the few, big, identifiable roadblocks like filling in a pothole in the middle of a highway, there is way more to it. Working towards strategy-execution is a multi-faceted process.

Like any discipline, strategy-execution depends on an earnest and wholehearted adoption, not choosing sections a la carte that fits best into your worldview. Each block builds upon the others to create a lasting structure.

Closing the strategy-execution gap is hard; really, really hard. Building a great organization, attracting, and retaining the right people, and building and maintaining excellence throughout an organization are challenges that can't be solved quickly. There is no simple color-by-numbers solution to fill in structural gaps for a prize so large in our organizations' health, profitability, and economies.

It is fair to go so far as to say that a lack of execution is one of the most significant problems facing businesses today. With it, you can overcome many deficiencies; without it, you're dead. Understanding and bridging the strategy-execution gap up to this point has been an ambiguous and murky exercise.

It isn't one thing or three things that we must get right once. Strategy-Execution is about all of us, executives, directors, managers, and employees, getting the critical elements right all the time.

Strategy-Execution Questions

2.0

Getting Shit Done was written around exploring 12 key questions.

The three core questions of Strategy-Execution:

2.1

1. Who will do the work?

2. What work needs to be done?

3. When will the work be done?

Supporting questions of Strategy-Execution:

2.2

4.       Who owns the problem, and who owns the solution?

5.       Why isn't the work getting done?

6.       Why isn't the work getting done on time?

7.       Does each person in the organization understand What needs to be done?

8.       Does each person understand How the work will be done?

9.       Are we communicating as effectively and efficiently as possible to facilitate excellence?

10.   Are you learning like a leader?

11.   Are you thinking like a leader?

12.   Are you executing like a leader?

However, the journey does not stop here. We must continue to ask, assess, understand, improve, and repeat until the gap is closed.

This book greatly expands on the questions and the reflections at the end of each original chapter to assess where you and your organization stand concerning these principles.

257 Strategy-Execution Questions has been written to reinforce the critical points and consideration from each chapter of Getting Shit Done you can use to improve your skill set, team, function, and organization.

What causes the strategy-execution gap?

3.0

Years of compounded neglect and unintentionality in an organization often drives the strategy-execution gap. Organizational decay is like sand caught in many gears, which eventually causes a machine to sputter out of control. Unless you specifically look for the damage, the destruction can almost be unseen until it is too late. Likewise, by the time organizations acknowledge a strategy-execution issue, the cost of repairs is unmanageable.

According to the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, senior executives wholeheartedly agree that an organization's architecture — which includes the very structures, processes, and systems supposed to enable work — is their most significant obstacle to strategic execution.

Obvious quick fixes are not the remedy- we must look deeper.

To Get Shit Done (and get it done right), combine the thirteen strategy-execution elements presented in the framework and in this book to create a powerful synergy and help you find best practices that work for your organization.

Without a clear framework, organizations are left to guesswork to fill in the strategy-execution gap that spans from expectations to deliverables. Add it all up, and the conclusion seems to be obvious:

1) Execution is essential both strategically and operationally,

2) Regardless of industry sector, we need to be better at it, and

3) Poor execution is a leading cause for concern among organizations

When we are supported by an integrated, organization-wide framework that entails establishing the required strategies for success, we have a much greater chance of effectively executing those strategies.

As Larry Bossidy explained in Execution, "Strategy-execution is an unending process that requires constant attention."

To close the strategy-execution gap, we now understand that goals are only met by embracing an intentional and systematic strategy-execution framework, not a patchwork of tools and policies.

THE STRATEGY-EXECUTION GAP

4.0

Takeaways

•                        An organization must embrace a unique strategy that serves a need in the overall market that competitors cannot copy.

•                        Strategy is choosing what to do and what not to do. All strategies boil down to 1 of 2 alternatives:

• Do what everyone else is doing (but spend less money doing it), or

• Do something no one else can do.

•                        Executing strategy is circular and continuous, not linear.

•                        Organizations must find a way to be great at setting the strategy and sustaining core competencies with a long-term perspective.

•                        An organization requires a core set of competencies that make achieving the strategy possible in the short and long-term. It's not enough to get one or two competencies right- Linkage between core competencies and strategy is crucial to forging Fit.

•                        Fit occurs when the strategy and core competencies are aligned. 

•                        Fit is extremely difficult for competitors to imitate and is the path to sustainable long-term profitability. The fit premium reflects the reality that distinctive capabilities are:

• Difficult to build

• Complex and high value

High fixed costs in human capital, tools, and systems.

•                        The strategy-execution gap is the disconnect between a strategy being set and people closest to the work knowing what the strategy is and what they must do to help achieve it.                          

•                        There is no good strategy and failed implementation. If an organization is not aware of its core capabilities and limitations and moves forward anyway, the strategy was flawed.

•                        What worked yesterday may not work today, and an organization must be dynamic enough to choose new courses of action and make them a reality.

•                        Although organizations and industries can identify what needs to change, most strategy-execution efforts fail. The discipline of strategy-execution must be mastered to close the strategy-execution gap.

•                        If your "strategy" only communicates what you hope the outcome will be but not what you will do, it doesn't work.

•                        Not only must an organization know where it wants to go, but it must also have the capabilities, functions, and people in place to help it get there.

•                        In today's fast-paced business world, the difference between great companies and not-so-great companies comes down to their ability to execute the best strategic plan.

Strategy Execution Questions

5.0

Build the strategy

13.   Does the organization understand and articulate how they add value for customers so that others don't?

14.   Is the customer identified, and is it understood why they buy from you?

15.   How are our customer needs changing? What might they want different or better in the future?

16.   Does the strategy create customer value that is difficult for competitors to replicate?

17.   To what degree are offerings clearly differentiated in their market?

18.   How much ease and expense are required for your customer to switch to a competitor's offering?

19.   How well do the organization's products solve the customers' problems and meet their expectations?

20.   How aligned are your organization's offerings to meet market demand?

21.   Are strategy assumptions accurate and relevant?

22.   Is the plan overly complex, or is it practical and straightforward?

23.   Are changes in the competitive landscape identified, discussed, and tied into the most current strategy?

24.   Does your organization regularly assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to understand the current business climate?

25.   Does your organization analyze the competition to understand competitive advantages and disadvantages and identify areas for investment or needs for improvement?

26.   Does your organization strategically differentiate from the competition in terms of the capabilities of its product? How clear is your organization's strategy for this?

27.   Does the organization have a current view of the competitive landscape and understand where they fit into it?

28.   What could disrupt the organization and render the strategy worthless?

29.   What are the critical few business goals of the organization?

30.   What are the specific desired outcomes of the strategy?

31.   Do leaders across the organization believe the strategy will be practical and realistic to create long-term value?

32.   Does the organization agree and stick to core businesses and opportunities? Do they agree with what they will say no to?

33.   Are the right people involved in building and communicating the strategy?

34.   Does the organization invite a diverse employee group into the strategy-setting meetings to provide feedback and insights?

35.   Does the strategy have buy-in from key stakeholders?

36.   Has the budget and funding been made available to invest into making the strategy a reality? Are contingency plans and risk assessment budgeted for?

37.   Is the strategy realistic given the available timeline, resources, people, and budget?

38.   Do key stakeholders continue to disagree on strategy, priorities, resources, funding, or timing? Have dissenters been silenced by being pushed out without having legitimate concerns heard and addressed?

Building Core Strategy-Execution Competencies

5.1

39.   Does the organization first "build the strategy, then think about execution?" Or does it ask, "What capabilities are required to execute the strategy?"

• Don't assume execution is a given.

40.   Do all people in the organization understand the strategy and their role in it?

41.   Does the organization understand its core competencies and deficiencies?

42.   What are the specific core operational capabilities that enable your organization to excel at that value proposition? What are the 3-6 things that do you do better than your competitors?

43.   What activities must be eliminated, outsourced, or cut so that the company can focus on what it does best?

44.   Does the organization enable employees to work together across organizational silos to tackle the cross-functional challenges that will allow the company to win?

45.   Does the organization keep track of performance and how its building and scaling up those few key capabilities to create value for customers in ways that others cannot?

46.   Is your whole management team engaged in building and executing the strategy—not just by measuring results but by continually challenging the organization and supporting it in improving its key capabilities? Do you set your team's sights high enough for what they must accomplish, and by when?

47.   Has the organization identified the people vital to executing the strategy and ensuring they stick around by being compensated/recognized/rewarded appropriately?

48.   Are there defined programs (for example, specific new technologies, new processes, or training programs) to further build the critical capabilities your organization needs to win with its strategy?

49.   Have pet projects and legacy functions been identified, and a remediation plan to dislodge them been put in place?

50.   Does the organization understand and have a realistic plan for building or reinforcing the most important new or existing capabilities?

51.   Which existing processes or functions hinder strategy-execution?

52.   Does the organization understand its operational strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities?

53.   Does the organization have the people and capability to build/strengthen core competencies internally, or are external resources also required? If external resources are needed, is there a budget available?

54.   Does the organization have a way to determine if its efforts toward building core capabilities are on track?

55.   Does your organization utilize its people as an asset to help it improve, stay competitive, and strategically meet goals? Are people used efficiently, or is talent wasted due to a lack of effective strategy?

56.   Does your organization pursue growth and new businesses/market development with as much passion as it does operational efficiency?

57.   Does your organization promote itself through its people? Do the people actively promote your organization?

58.   Do you have a long-term vision of the innovations you will need to sustain the enterprise's core capabilities?

Forging strategy Execution Fit

5.2

59.   Does the organization understand and possess the capabilities required to achieve the strategy? Who is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the core capabilities?

60.   Are you very clear about the specific capabilities that enable you to excel at that value proposition?

61.   Have the underlying processes, systems, skills, and structures critical to driving performance for each capability been identified?

62.   Which core capabilities drive the most value to customers?

63. Can competitors quickly replicate strategy and core competencies, or does a unique and sustainable opportunity exist?

64.   Are resources available to forge fit? Do employees have the training, budget, and time available to reinforce the most valuable activities?

65.   Does the organization understand the hurdles that inhibit fit? Is there a realistic plan to address them?

66.   Does the organization understand what activities/functions/business units need to be eliminated to strengthen fit?

67.   What, if anything, needs to change to make strategy-execution & fit realistic and attainable?

68.   Is there a plan for how to improve the balance between core capabilities and strategic objectives over time?

69.   Does your organization maximize existing resources to deliver the product offering?

70.   How do you know that you have organizational alignment in core areas? When do you know your systems are misaligned?

71.   Does the organization have a measure/gauge/system to assess when fit is diminishing? If so, who is responsible for strengthening fit?

72.   Are stealth initiatives and executive "pet" projects by-passing the core planning function? Are these being discussed and addressed/

73.   Does the organization keep track of how its building and scaling up key capabilities enable customer value creation in ways that others cannot?

74.   What must change, and what must stay the same?

Why Doesn't Strategy Execution Get Done on Tim

6.0

Takeaways Ch 2

•                        No implementation can save a strategy, which is not feasible or sound, to begin with.

•                        Strategy is often poisoned at the planning level. When there are too many projects with fuzzy deadlines, resources, and ownership assignments, execution becomes unrealistic.

•                        Stuff doesn't get done because we often have inadequate planning, adjusting, and replanning systems. Stop strategic planning. Commit to strategic management.

•                        Planning is essential, but the goal isn't to create a plan. The goal is to develop and sustain a clear, concise, clear focus, execute it effectively, and do it repeatedly.

•                        Address the Planning Fallacy but understand our tendency to properly consider how long past projects have taken and assuming that challenges/delays won't occur. Build-in allowances by using simple tools like the EUR ratio that applies an allowance factor utilizing group experiences.

•                        To improve organizational efficacy in strategy-execution, people must exhibit ownership over their time, priorities, and output.

•                        Understand where your time goes to understand what could change to reduce time spent on non-value-added activities. Build the discipline to your routine to safeguard against the time you do have.

•                        Without a more thoughtful and conscientious approach to work, we leave too much to chance. We often have a "take it as it comes mentality" without much awareness.

• We bend to the circumstances around us.

• We let other people's poor attitudes and habits deter us.

• We let our environment dictate how we approach our work and our degree of ownership.

We also confuse being busy with being productive.

•                        Managing time creates the freedom to work creatively by prioritizing and systemizing communication to increase the available time. Take control of time and focus. Review the tasks that must be completed and complete those that add to the organization's most significant impact. Guard your time like it is the most important asset you have.

•                        Focus on the essential matters. As you begin each day, ask what important issues are being put aside for trivial issues that seem urgent. Focus on your vital contribution first, not around the edges of trivial issues. Apply the 80/20 Rule- Pareto Principle to identify the key priorities and apply available resources to the tasks or projects that will yield the most significant benefits.

•                        We don't get stuff done on time because we are too distracted. Commit to Being 100% present on critical work. Don't allow yourself to become distracted, and allow circumstances to dictate how your time is spent. Stay un-distracted. Turn off all "push" notifications on your phone and computer.

•                        To produce high-quality work consistently, we must allocate large blocks of time undistracted and focused.  Create, experiment, and hone a system that allows you to take back ownership of your time to enhance your productivity.

•                        To demonstrate leadership in your organization in achieving a Sense of Urgency, focus on communicating with energy and passion. Speaking with power and purpose is vital towards inspiring others to act.

•                        Use tools like the Eisenhower Box to categorize and prioritize work into 4 categories that determine whether the task should be done immediately, a decision promptly made, or otherwise delegated or deleted.

Strategy Execution Questions

6.1

75.   When plans or strategies are communicated, are the assumptions and targets compared to the available resources to determine if a strategy is feasible?

76.   Does the organization cascade strategic objectives to individual goals and targets while identifying internal dependencies and timelines to achieve this goal?

77.   Are you effectively motivating others and focusing/leveraging organizational energy by instilling a Sense of Urgency?

78.   Do people understand which tasks or work can or should be delegated to someone else to allow more time to focus on the big picture and keep the pieces aligned and moving?

79.   Is alignment established on who is working on which strategic objective?

80.   Does the organization set & communicate the specific objectives that must be achieved? Is there a process or framework for updating the metrics?

81.   Are there early indicators in place to signal if something isn't working or hitting the desired targets? Are there plans in place for correcting any potential issues?

82.   Do people focus on the 20% of things that matter, or do they approach everything with the same level of prioritization?

83.   Is analysis done to understand how much time and energy is spent on various tasks and workstreams?        

84.   Do employees complete tasks at the last minute or frequently ask for extensions? Is a root-cause analysis performed and issued addressed?

85.   Is time for planning and scheduling built into the daily routines? Does a daily huddle occur where team members commit to achieving x during the day, and are those goals/progress reviewed the following day?

86.   Are to-do Lists or action lists discussed and aligned? Are priorities discussed and confirmed with managers and coworkers? Do workers set daily, weekly, monthly targets and continuously assess performance against those targets?                    

87.   Are short, mid, and long-term goal setting used to decide which tasks and activities will be worked on?                                                     

88.   Do plans allow for contingency time to deal with "the unexpected"?

89.   Are unexpected issues analyzed, categorized, escalated, and dealt with?

90.   Do employees understand whether tasks they are working on are high, medium, or low value?                

91.   Are expectations clearly set with others? Do others respect these commitments?

92.   When new assignments are given, is analysis completed to analyze the importance and prioritize it accordingly?  

93.   Are employees encouraged and empowered to do work that adds value and optimize/automate/eliminate low-value work?                        

94.   Are workers routinely stressed about deadlines and commitments? Do employees take work home to get it done?                         

95.   Is the workplace designed to minimize distractions and enable deep work? For example, are meetings discourage on certain days?

96.   Is there a history of not getting things done on time? Are the root causes understood and discussed?

97.   Do people throughout the organization diligently following through on what you have decided? Is backtracking or digressing tolerated and accepted?

98.   Has the organization adopted formal/informal policies to free up available time? Have wasteful activities been identified and discouraged?

99.   Are distractions permitted to enter your world and steal your time?

·       Review your phone and computer settings and set them so that you decide when to engage with them.

Strategically Push Down the Power: Autonomy, Empowerment, and Decentralization

7.0

•                        In addition to an overall direction supporting a primary strategy known as the Big What, a successful strategy also requires several secondary strategies that must be autonomously and simultaneously set and executed by people at all levels of the organization.

• The Big What= The primary strategy/vision

• The Little Whats= Supporting competencies/execution

•                        The Little Whats gives people the time and practice they need to turn from amateurs to true professionals. These are known as the Little Whats.

•                        The Little Whats is about setting expectations around continuously developing our execution muscles by improving the organization's work. By demanding excellence and autonomy from each person in each function throughout the organization, the critical core competencies can be built, maintained, and improved.

•                        The Little Whats has two elements to it: 

• People must be empowered to do great work within their zone of influence as efficiently, error-free, and cost-effective as possible and be rewarded for it.

• Company leadership should have minimal/no decision-making power in how people accomplish their tasks in their areas of expertise.

•                        To close the strategy-execution gap, getting the big things right means you need to get the small things right first. If departments, functions, and processes aren't optimized, fit between the Big What and Little What will not be found, and the strategy-execution gap will persist.

•                        Rules and hierarchies are often put in place to mitigate the risk of facing alternative courses of action. While harmless as a concept, they are often disastrous in practice and result in having the opposite outcome desired.

•                        To provide direction and the strategic objectives, use the concept of Commander's Intent and decentralization to communicate the objectives and build cohesion.

•                        Commander's Intent teaches us that the ultimate goal is to help people make good decisions. Ownership and accountability are core tenets that make for a happier & more agile workforce high in engagement and deadly in execution.

•                        Establishing Commander's Intent in your organization focuses on people and empowers them. Instead of using rules, Commanders Intent is communicated through guidelines. Getting things done through others is a fundamental leadership skill.

• "Here's what we think is right in most circumstances but do what's in the best interest of the company. Do the right thing."

• Commander's Intent broadcasts this message: "We have problem X, and I'm trusting you to solve it." It doesn't matter, within means, which paths are explored or ultimately taken to solve a problem, so long as the problem is solved.

•                        Focus people around one rule," Do the right thing." Then, give people the tools and support they need to identify and solve the problems. Give your people every opportunity and means to meet those goals. Get out of their way. Focus on simplistic and common-sense approaches towards aligning others and measuring results. Good judgment is hard to define and harder still to acquire. Judgment can be improved with practice.

•                        Establish a strong Commander's Intent within the organization and a bottom-up hierarchy. Decentralization & empowerment are essential for helping others develop critical thinking skills and mastery. Hire the best people and empower them. Don't tell people what they can and can't do; tell them to do the right thing and let them decide for themselves. If employees need a step-by-step explanation of the right thing, they're not the right person. Teach them how to be responsible and accountable for executing their own to develop a creative, diligent, and solution-oriented team because they don't need to wait for approval from you to implement when they're ready.

•                        Trusting a larger group of people closest to the work to find the best solution allows more ideas to come to the table. The person closest to the work has the best and most timely information and is best suited to act. Decentralization makes strategy-execution possible.

•                        When people are granted autonomy, they feel empowered in their roles and responsible for their actions and their organization's success. Instead of roadblocks demoralizing the workforce, workers are energized by the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery in overcoming challenges.

•                        Focus on realistic levels of errors and priorities. For example, the Pareto principle has proven that 20% of inputs control 80% of the outputs. Act on what matters.

•                        Set expectations that are SMART; Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Measurable to assess and keep strategy-execution on track.

Strategy Execution Questions

7.1

100.                 Does your organization have a model or framework that guides your strategic planning and execution process? Is responsibility for results cascaded appropriately through all levels of the organization?

101.                 Is the strategy clearly and thoroughly communicated throughout the organization? Does each person understand how the big goals tie to their day-to-day?

102.                 Does each person understand what they must do each day to help the strategy succeed? Do leaders tie strategic objectives to the daily tasks?

103.                 Are ownership, accountability, and excellence a requirement for working at your organization? How is this level of mastery evaluated, measured, and improved upon?

104.                 Have autonomy, empowerment, and decentralization been discussed with managers and expectations made clear?

105.                 Do managers understand how to coach instead of dictating instructions to their teams?

106.                 Does the organization make coaching/mentoring available to those who want and need it?

107.                 Does your organization promote individuals based on initiative and results or tenure?

·            Time spent in a role at an organization does not qualify you as an owner. Hiring, recognition, and promotion must foster a culture of focus on job results, commitment, and growth. This is the crucial leveler between the multiple age generations in the workplace.

108.                 Does the organization recognize improvements made by employees and publicly reward those efforts to reinforce the behaviors?

109.                 Are people trusted and empowered to do the right thing and drive improvements in their work? Are they recognized and rewarded for doing so?

110.                 Does each person feel empowered to do their best work? Does the organization measure the degree of empowerment and remove the existing roadblocks? Is someone accountable for ensuring empowerment?

111.                 Do employees lack the ownership mindset to execute the strategy effectively? Is there a plan to bring these people onboard or coach them out?

112.                 Are employees empowered to take the appropriate action to execute the strategy? Do leaders provide the right level of guidance, support, and direction?

113.                 When errors and mistakes occur in good faith, does the organization learn from them, or do they reprimand those responsible and impair empowerment?

114.                 Has your organization taken steps to flatten the hierarchical management structure? 

• Minimizing traditional organizational charts and special perks, like corner offices and fancy furniture, allows employees to feel more respected. If they feel equal, they will interact with leaders and become role models for better communication, recognition, and mentoring.

115.                 Do leaders have the tools and capabilities to review the metrics daily/weekly/monthly with the desired level of detail?

116.                 Are metrics appropriately designed to drive accountability and change?

117.                 Are people recognized and celebrated for meeting or exceeding their targets?

118.                 Do the metrics reinforce strategy-execution by measuring and managing each aspect of the business?

Ownership & Accountability in Strategy Execution

8.0

Takeaways

•              For the last 100+ years, Taylorism and the Principles of Scientific Management have kept workers down by giving control and ownership to managers and owners to dictate how work was done and own the rewards/outcomes.

•              Taylor recommended the rigorous separation of planning and execution.

Describing his methods with pride, Taylor proclaimed that:

"The work of every workman is fully planned out by management at least one day in advance, and

Each man receives in most cases complete written instructions, describing in detail the task which he is to accomplish."

•              The shortcomings of Taylorism are the following:

• Managers do not have the resources or technical understanding to dictate how work is done. At the same time, work complexity has increased.

• The less stable and dynamic the environment is, the more that specialist skills and expertise matter.

• The individual initiative-taking and problem-solving skills required to overcome these obstacles are discouraged.

•              Physical ownership and Taylorism don't work because they disengage workforces.

• People value freedom, autonomy, and growth.

• Worker experimentation and decision-making lead to higher levels of knowledge and skill, and these activities are discouraged.

•              Mental ownership is the key to the future. The idea of ownership can equally, and perhaps more significant, refer to the experience of being psychologically tied to an idea, an identity, or an entity.

•               Mental Ownership works because it combines 1) employee engagement and 2) ties them to outcomes.

•              Unless employees have real incentives to implement the strategy, they will not commit to it, and the implementation will fail.

•              Mental Ownership means you will 1) deliver as promised, respecting any deadlines or budget constraints mandated to you. It also means 2) you're forthcoming when, as sometimes happens, you couldn't deliver.

•              Improvement is needed at all organizational levels for change to occur, top leadership, managers, and individuals. Ownership builds a collective mastery that is hard to duplicate.

•              When employees take ownership of their work, they treat the business they are working for — and its money — as if it were their own. They will make decisions thoughtfully, responsibly, and with more care. They will also be more driven, motivated, and have more initiative, seeking creative and innovative ways to improve and develop what they are doing, rather than going through the motions and fulfilling the minimum, and worse still, stagnating.

•              Taking ownership tells others — "You can trust me to do the right thing."

•              When we think of accountability, we typically think of holding others accountable. But the most influential leaders and teammates are more focused on holding themselves accountable. By exhibiting ownership and accountability, the locus of control shifts from outside to inside. From practice to intentions. From strategic to personal. Accountability needs to be at all levels of the company.

•              Complaining is the voice of helplessness; Owners are accountable for reconstituting the world around them. Fix what's broken and champion for change.

•              The expectation at work should be excellence.

Strategy Execution Questions

8.1

119.                 Do employees have an interest in helping the organization succeed? Are their interests tied to the organization in a meaningful way?

120.                 Is your organization doing its part to make the employees owners? Are stock and stock options issued to remove stakeholder conflicts of interest between employees and investors?

121.                 Are ownership and accountability expectations clear and outcomes definable for each person, team, and function?

122.                 Are the rewards and repercussions for succeeding (or not) clear and explicit?

123.                 Is Accountability Explicit? Are expectations clear and promises honored?

124.                 Who is accountable within the company for the execution of the strategy and the processes of implementation at the highest level? What about the remaining tiers? Are people tied to strategy-execution?

125.                 Are executives, managers, and employees all held accountable for delivering on their objectives by the promised date? How are misses and achievements addressed?

126.                 Does the organization tie in Who does What and by When to all strategic objectives, milestones, and objectives? Are people personally connected to ensuring success? Are there repercussions and rewards in place for outcomes?

127.                 Are people encouraged to bring an emotional commitment to their work and feel mutually accountable for results?

128.                 Are personal, team, function, and organizational accountability measured against targets and rewarded? Does the organization have a plan to reinforce the right behaviors?

129.                 Are leaders setting the right example by acting as role models to do what they said they would do when promised? Are remediation plans communicated, if not?

130.                 Does the organization have a plan to address employees who are not interested in taking ownership of their work?

131.                 Does the organization have a plan to remediate poor performance?

132.                 Do you have a strategy-based performance management plan that is linked to individual development plans?

133.                 Are employees motivated every day to understand what they're doing connects to the important strategic levers you focus on?

134.                 Do people create their own strategic goals initially to capture their ambition and preference? Do Managers work to align employees' goals with the larger strategic plan?

135.                 Is there a regular program to engage and empower the talent in the organization?

136.                 Are employees really given the power to make decisions?

137.                 If not you, then who?

138.                 If not now, then when?

139.                 Do you spend more time working or complaining?

140.                 Do you more often push forward or procrastinate?

141.                 Do you believe you deserve success, or am I excited to earn my way?

142.                 Do you tend to point fingers or problem-solve?

143.                 What excuse(s) do you commonly use or hear to explain why work doesn't get done in your organization? What could be done to mitigate this?

144.                 Are you active in helping or hindering efforts to establish an environment that accepts excuses?

145.                 Count the number of times you blamed Somebody else or an external circumstance and actively looked for how you could solve the problem. What do you need to change in your demeanor so that you can exhibit Extreme Ownership?

146.                 What can you do to help shift the locus of control from outside to inside, from practice to intentions, from the strategic to personal?

147.                 Where can you start to build accountability chains in your work, team, function, and organization?

148.                 What can be improved in terms of ownership and accountability? Where have you disappointed others, and what will you do to ensure it doesn't happen again?

149.                 How many times have you thought, "that is not my job" in the past week or month? What were the results? What could you do to improve the outcomes next time?

150.                  

Communicating for Strategic Effectiveness

9.0

Takeaways 

•              Communication helps organizational members understand the organization's strategy, why it is needed, its goals, and what must be done to succeed. Be clear, concise, and consistent with communication.

•              Strategy communication involves communicating the vision, which is what the strategy aims to achieve.

•              Strategy-execution is all about acting and achieving results. Communication is responsible for making sure the Who, What, and When is clear to each person throughout the organization. The message needs to reach all places at all times and mean the same thing to all people.

•              If the Why is not communicated along with Who Will do What and by When then the strategy-execution gap will persist.

•              Poor communication is a vital factor that must be addressed in discussing work delays or botched strategy-execution. The fault may lie with either the message sender or the message receiver, but it doesn't matter: if one person is wrong, we're all wrong. Unless best practices are understood and adopted, miscommunication will keep occurring. Focus on using communication to build alignment where everyone is focused on the same strategic outcomes, with a shared understanding of their roles, commitment, and accountability to deliver exceptional performance.

•              Use process-centric communication to avoid excessive steps that consume resources and time.

•              The right message needs to be delivered in the right way. Understand how to communicate each message to different audiences best.

•              Facilitating a two-way communication flow is the best way to get your employees on board with the strategy and vision.

• Do they care?

• Do employees internalize the ambitions of the organization into their values? Offer the opportunity to ask people for specific examples of what support and additional information is required. And what they do not look like- it also holds them accountable for asking for what they need.

•              Balance using all communication channels instead of those that are most comfortable to meet the audience's needs. The objective needs to be clear, and accountability needs to be clear.

•              Be accessible, speak often with your team about the challenges faced. Don't hide or discount the current reality of challenges and shortfalls.

•              Be specific in communicating the vision and goals. Employees can't be owners if they don't understand the business targets and realities.

•              Ask others for direct feedback on their understanding of the messages shared and ask for what can be improved or changed.

•              To reduce or eliminate costly work delays, it is always a good idea to follow up with any communication effort to be sure that recipients have:

• Received the message.

• Understood the message.

• Can articulate back to you Who will Do What and by When.

Strategy Execution Questions

9.1

151.                 Do leaders share all the facts and figures that can and should be shared with employees? Is there a level of transparency and vulnerability?

152.                 Does leadership take the time to understand how well messages have been communicated and understood?

153.                 Are messages balanced to reach both large audiences and individuals to emphasize impact and relevance?

154.                 Is there a plan or framework in place to communicate progress towards achieving the strategy?

155.                 Do organizational communication habits inhibit or accelerate progress?

156.                 Do you and those around you grasp the Why? Is there a connection between tasks and workstreams to the strategy?

157.                 Does the communication effectively identify the key messages for each segment of the population?

158.                 Has the organization identified ways to brand and simplify the strategy to make it memorable? Acronyms are a great tool here.

159.                 Does the organization have mechanisms in place to capture employee feedback throughout the strategy-execution journey?

160.                 Do discussions take place on why execution failures have occurred previously? Is there a plan to address these issues and gaps?

161.                 What or who will change to ensure that future failures don't persist?

162.                 Is strategy-execution discussed and reinforced at every available meeting?

163.                 Is the strategy explained to employees where they can tie their daily work to the goals and milestones?

164.                 What needs to be communicated differently to make people care about the strategy?

165.                 Do leaders at all levels appropriately explain why the organization must transform? Do they explain the positive and negative alternatives and outcomes?

166.                 Are goals cascaded down the org chart? Are they translated into individual expectations? Are measurement and reporting systems focused on the few big key metrics that must be achieved?

167.                 Do leaders drive and champion strategy-execution? How?

168.                 Are individuals and leaders encouraged and rewarded for reinforcing Who does What and by When?

169.                 Does the organization find ways to share customer feedback (positive & negative) with the employees?

170.                 Does the organization find ways to share success stories from internal and external customers?

171.                 Does the organization layout the milestones that must be achieved for the strategy to be successful? Do they communicate when milestones are reached and recognize the key players?

172.                 Is a goal identified for communication? Are metrics or other measures in place to assess the effectiveness?

173.                 Does the organization recognize and set a plan for identifying and addressing the strengths and weaknesses in communication?

174.                 Do people have more or fewer questions and concerns after group and organizational communication?

175.                 Does your organization clearly communicate the strategy, big picture, and current reality?

176.                 Is your communication efficient? Do you communicate in ways to shift the burden of completing the communication back to the sender?

177.                 Do you overuse acronyms and abbreviations that confuse others? Do you take the time to explain to others when they look confused?

178.                 Are you mindful in communication? Do you carefully consider the best channel and use of everyone's time?

179.                 Did you communicate why you needed to achieve them and how you intended to achieve them?

Instill a Strategy Execution Culture

10.0

Takeaways

•              Creating the proper organizational infrastructure is what allows companies to excel in their markets. Building and sustaining advantages is not just about winning today but building an engine for growth that will last long into the future.

•              Culture is an essential component of strategy-execution that defines the organizational values and how people work together and communicate. Culture is ever-changing, and building it must be a mindful exercise to get good habits to stick.

•              Ways of Working is vital because it helps an organization always remember that we must build alignment between culture and strategy.

•              By setting an example, leaders, both past and present, can become guiding forces in aligning culture and strategy elements.

•              One way to strengthen culture is through adopting Ways of Working, where each organization can set a unique code that conforms with its existing culture and desired results.

• Once the organization's leadership decides the code, building Ways of Working into the organization involves tapping influential individuals with or without leadership titles to embrace these principles in their daily life.

• The next step is to reinforce the shared values by recognizing and rewarding those who set exemplary examples.

• Others will follow once it becomes evident that the organization is moving in a new direction, where rewards are shared based not just on what we do but how we do it.

• Change then happens one interaction, one project, and one day at a time. If underlying assumptions are not challenged, understood, or the limitations identified, those responsible for execution will not bridge the gap between dreams and reality.

•              Assumptions weaken strategy-execution. Guide the culture to deter assumptions:

• Clarify strategy

• Clarify high-level strategy statements, separating and organizing goals, objectives, initiatives, aspirations, and strategies.

• Create a transparent model that helps the organization understand the current strategies and differentiate them from operational improvements.

•              Embrace conflict and candor to build alignment, resolve issues, and increase the level of trust and transparency. Take issues head-on, especially the uncomfortable ones. Confront reality, not the person. Don't bury your head in the sand.

•              Alignment between strategy and core capabilities is critical to closing the strategy-execution gap. Strategy-execution is not a "one and done" effort. It grows from the compound effect of decisions, investments, and actions over time. Culture is a central ingredient to sustainably closing the strategy-execution gap.

•              A culture that promotes small actions by lots of people will result in a significant change.

• 1365= 1

• 1.01365=37.7!

Strategy Execution Questions

10.1

180.                 Does the organization have a plan to make each function/team more effective and collaborative?

181.                 Does your culture optimize the implementation of your business model and strategy?

182.                 Do the leaders enable the culture to achieve the stated value proposition?

183.                 Does the culture of your organization inhibit or enhance the organization? Can you answer: What Must Our Culture Look Like to Win?

184.                 Does your organization provide employee feedback and coaching in real-time? Can you describe specific behaviors that must change and provide your actual examples so the team member can "step into" the past scenarios?

185.                 Does the organization understand its unique Ways of Working? Are there unique ways of getting things done that are shared across the organization that strengthen it?

186.                 Does the organization reinforce the importance of building excellence in everyday activities? Are champions identified and rewarded?

187.                 How will the culture impact the changes required to build core competencies and find fit?

188.                 Does misalignment exist because of assumptions, a lack of candor, and an aversion to conflict? If so, how can you change your behavior and influence that of others to improve the situation?

189.                 Does the culture prize and emphasize simplicity? Are employees encouraged rewarded for removing unnecessary complexity?

190.                 Do leaders take time to assess, discuss, and remediate what is working well versus not working well in the culture?

191.                 Do leaders understand which aspects of the organization's current culture influence and strengthen core capabilities?

192.                 Does the organization make it easy and straightforward for employees to bring up challenges they face? Is someone made responsible for removing these roadblocks?

193.                 Does the organization understand the strengths and weaknesses of its culture? Can the culture be described, and do the descriptions align across multiple perspectives?

194.                 Does the organization understand how the culture has enabled or inhibited past success?

195.                 Are a majority of employees and leaders engaged? If yes, how do you know? Are regular surveys, discussions, and assessments done to measure engagement?

196.                 Are major transformation efforts going too slow or stalled? Does the culture have a mechanism for recognizing these gaps and closing them?

197.                 Is there a cultural philosophy of continuous improvement in the planning and execution processes of the organization?

198.                 Does the culture enable employees to work together across organizational silos to tackle cross-functional challenges?

199.                 Are you setting a positive example to influence the culture?

200.                 What can you do to influence the culture in the right direction?

Learning Like a Strategy Execution Leader

11.0

Takeaways

The Dunning-Kruger Effect- ignorance of one's ignorance.

11.1

• We are not as good as we think we are—we frequently overestimate our ability and underestimate others' abilities.

• There is room to improve.

• We must practice self-awareness by embracing humility and critical thinking. Businesses and individuals who challenge their assumptions will, at worst, come away better equipped to improve themselves and their processes.

• "We are blind to our blindness." -Daniel Kahneman

• "To transform an organization, you either have to change the people . . . or change the people." -Strategic Executio

Grit

11.2

• "No" isn't an option.

• talent x effort = skill

• All challenges can be overcome.

• Adversity is a friend, not an enemy.

• Grit begins with having an" ultimate concern"–a goal you care about so much that it organizes and gives meaning to almost everything you do. Grit is about sticking through tough times and obstacles and maintaining the same top-level goal for a very long time.

Deliberate Practice

11.3

o   We only improve with a focused practice that stretches our capabilities.

o   We must regularly assess our skills and improve both strengths and weaknesses.

o   Knowledge + skill is what are required to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. (Knowledge + Skill = Capabilities)

Strategy Execution Questions

11.4

201.                 Ask yourself, "Did I sharpen my skills today?" Your skills might involve technical skills related to your job, or they might refer to your listening skills if you're looking to improve your communication. What new skills or knowledge have you been building on?

202.                 How effective is your organization in establishing the capacity to manage reasonable risk by trying new things, prototyping, testing, and learning? 

203.                 How well does your team and organization share what you've learned with other parts of the organization?

204.                 Is the learning mindset a nice to have or a must-have at your organization? Has this led to positive results or dissatisfaction?

205.                 Are people encouraged to take on new challenges that require perseverance and determination to complete?

206.                 Is training at your organization led by skilled insiders or outsourced to outsiders? Who decides what skills and technologies will be trained on- the people or management?

207.                 Do people throughout the organization have the necessary level of technical expertise and professionalism?

208.                 Does the organization encourage employees to reflect and share the lessons learned? Are both successes and failures shared?

209.                 Has the organization conducted a formal or informal exercise to understand the skills and capabilities of their workforce critical to strategy-execution? Is there a plan to leverage strengths and remediate weaknesses?

210.                 Are knowledge-sharing sessions in place or a plan in the works to put them in place? Do leaders set the example by going first?

211.                 Does the organization reinforce the importance of training and upskilling and also reward the appropriate behaviors?

212.                 Is organizational-wide learning supported, encouraged, and made available?

213.                 Does the organization study past successes and leverage the knowledge and learnings from those events to benefit the current strategy?

214.                 Does the organization understand which new technologies should be learned and embraced to accelerate strategy-execution?

215.                 Do the right conditions exist for individuals to identify new skills required, complete the education, and test their new knowledge?

216.                 Do you understand which skills, technologies, and capabilities will be critical to the future, and do you have a plan for you, your team, and your organization to learn and adopt them?

217.                 Where do you need to improve your technical skills? What is the plan to make it happen?

218.                 Where do you need to improve your leadership skills? What is the plan to make it happen?

219.                 Where do you need to improve your coaching skills? What is the plan to make it happen?

220.                 What will you do to act on the above items, and by when? How will you know if and when you are successful?

Thinking Like a Strategic Leader

12.0

Takeaways

• Strategy and execution require different types of thinking. Strategic thinking is long-term thinking, usually in the context of 3-5 years out. Execution thinking is action-oriented thinking, focused on the present or near future.

• To close the strategy-execution gap and build operational and professional excellence in our organizations, we must act differently and think differently.

• Approach strategy-execution like a chess master. Never lose sight of the end objective, protect what matters, and be ready to adapt to your opponent and circumstances. Be proactive, prepared, focused, & innovative.

• The strategy-execution mindset is about making the best decision possible with the available facts and information and committing to action.

• In working to reach a decision, collaboration is essential, deliberation is vital, but there needs to be a cutoff point where people move forward in a coordinated effort. A strong leader intuitively knows where this point lies. A good decision executed quickly beats a brilliant decision implemented slowly.

• Look at execution through the lens of the Serenity Prayer- can a leader accomplish the possible, say no to the impossible, and know the difference between the two?

• Be proactive and ready to face your challenges. Being proactive means that you're prepared to act, and being reactive means that you're ready to blame. Look forward, not backward.

• Anticipate for the likely, the unlikely, and the near impossible to avoid surprises. Preparedness will improve the strength of the project.

• Pick your battles wisely to win the war. Find the critical path through strategy-execution to deliver outstanding results in a reasonable timeframe.

• Be prepared to identify and attack the flanks of an opportunity. Use your strengths and advantages at precisely the point where your opponent or target has the most vulnerabilities.

• There is a fine line between being hailed as a maverick versus being vilified as a heretic. While execution leadership requires risk-taking and challenging the status quo in ways that shock others into a Sense of Urgency, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it.

• Think of strategy-execution as teaching a man to fish instead of giving the man a fish. Work done should be self-sustaining and add momentum to the overall body of work, not detract from it.

Strategy Execution Questions

12.1

221.                 How many times have you been caught off guard by being unprepared? Reflect back on each scenario, consider what you could have done differently, and then consider what you must do to prepare for the next challenge.

222.                 Are you playing whack-a-mole to put out fires continually, or are you teaching others to fish by training others to think for themselves and create self-sustaining systems?

223.                 How often do you get lucky and were unprepared for the unforeseen recently? If it's often, find ways to anticipate and prepare for the unknown.

224.                 Do you look at work through the lens of a checkers or chess player? Do you see work as a chessboard or battlefield where your objective is to win by finding the critical path where your advantages are paired against your adversary's disadvantages?

225.                 Are you decisive and move quickly to address challenges, or do you wait for others to step up and do something?

226.                 Are you reactive or proactive? Do you make things happen, or do things happen to you?

227.                 Are organizational leaders trained and effective in leading others and reinforcing the strategy-execution framework?

Maverick vs. Heretic

228.                 Are you bringing up problems, or are you offering to drive solutions?

229.                 Are you inspiring people to challenge the status quo or harassing people?

230.                 Are you inspiring others to embrace management's goals or objectives, or are you criticizing the administration openly?

231.                 Are you tone-deaf to the culture and key stakeholders while attempting to drive change while pushing people away?

232.                 Are you a Maverick or a Heretic in your organization? Does your view of who you match the perceptions of others?

Executing Like a Strategic Leader

13.0

Takeaways

• Do your leaders have the ability to understand, prioritize, and disseminate strategy? Do your leaders have the ability, strength, and courage to challenge a bad strategy? Do they have the experience, knowledge, or capability to develop a winning strategy?

• Do your leaders rigidly plan the execution of strategy, or do they give people flexibility and freedom to determine the best and most efficient execution path?

• Do your leaders know how to identify the priorities that require the most focus? Are they capable of maintaining focus and driving resources towards that priority?

• Do your leaders hoard responsibility for themselves, or do they share responsibility and seek out intelligent, talented, and driven people who are more knowledgeable in their areas of expertise?

• Do your leaders take ownership of the results, good or bad? Or do they look for who to blame and punish?

• Do your leaders communicate effectively on strategy, execution, and all the elements in between? Do your leaders listen and think before they speak?

• Do your leaders champion and set the tone at the top to create an execution culture? Do they set an example of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors? Do they reward and punish the proper behaviors consistently?

• Do your leaders have the right leadership behaviors? Do they set the organization in the right direction and inspire others towards action? Do they support their people when needed and remove obstacles?

• Do your leaders have the experience to execute the strategy? Are they familiar and knowledgeable of the elements of the strategy-execution gap, and do they have a plan to remedy each item? Do you leaders how technical and business knowledge to understand the challenges and solve them?

• Do your leaders have the proper skills or know what skills are required to execute strategy? Are people encouraged and supported to maintain and upgrade their skills along the way?

• Do your leaders set clear standards of professionalism to guide acceptable behaviors and expectations?

• Do your leaders inspire and encourage a continuous improvement mindset where innovative ideas are celebrated?

• Do your leaders champion execution? Are they focused on results and empowering people to achieve them? Do they understand the obstacles and accelerants of strategy-execution?

Strategy Execution Questions

14.0

233.                 How well do you empower your organization's members to own and solve problems, distribute decision-making lower in the organizational structure, and gain from their collective knowledge?

234.                 How will you measure and track your progress to reach higher levels of mastery for yourself and your team?

235.                 Do your leaders have the ability to understand, prioritize, and disseminate strategy? Do your leaders have the ability, strength, and courage to challenge a bad strategy? Do they have the experience, knowledge, or capability to develop a winning strategy?

236.                 Do your leaders rigidly plan the execution of strategy, or do they give people flexibility and freedom to determine the best and most efficient execution path?

237.                 Do your leaders know how to identify the priorities that require the most focus? Are they capable of maintaining focus and driving resources towards that priority?

238.                 Do your leaders hoard responsibility for themselves, or do they share responsibility and seek out intelligent, talented, and driven people who are more knowledgeable in their areas of expertise?

239.                 Do your leaders take ownership of the results, good or bad? Or do they look for who to blame and punish?

240.                 Do your leaders communicate effectively on strategy, execution, and all the elements in between? Do your leaders listen and think before they speak?

241.                 Do your leaders champion and set the tone at the top to create an execution culture? Do they set an example of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors? Do they reward and punish the proper behaviors consistently?

242.                 Do your leaders have the right leadership behaviors? Do they set the organization in the right direction and inspire others towards action? Do they support their people when needed and remove obstacles?

243.                 Do your leaders have the experience to execute the strategy? Are they familiar and knowledgeable of the elements of the strategy-execution gap, and do they have a plan to remedy each item? Do you leaders how technical and business knowledge to understand the challenges and solve them?

244.                 Do your leaders have the proper skills or know what skills are required to execute strategy? Are people encouraged and supported to maintain and upgrade their skills along the way?

245.                 Do your leaders set clear standards of professionalism to guide acceptable behaviors and expectations?

246.                 Do your leaders inspire and encourage a continuous improvement mindset where innovative ideas are celebrated?

247.                 Do your leaders champion execution? Are they focused on results and empowering people to achieve them? Do they understand the obstacles and accelerants of strategy-execution?

248.                 Does the organization regularly discuss performance with functions/team/individuals and share feedback? Do leaders have the courage and support they need to make adjustments?

249.                 Are leaders and managers trained to be authentic yet challenging?

250.                 Do leaders tie all of the organization's activities back to strategy-execution?

251.                 Is your management team engaged in executing the strategy—not just by measuring results but by constantly challenging the organization and supporting it in improving its key capabilities?

252.                 What makes you the leader (why is your team inspired to follow your direction)?

253.                 How many of the things you do could be done by a member of your team?

254.                 Do you spend enough time and effort coaching/mentoring members of your team to help them grow?  

255.                 Do you effectively balance the big picture with technical leadership?

• In matters of strategy, thinking is essential, but it isn't everything: if you don't do anything with it, it's as if it doesn't exist. Like the great footballers, you have to call for the ball, not avoid it.

256.                 Are your blinders on or off? Do you make time to stop, look, listen?

• Spend time working to see more and detect the opportunities missed by others. Learn to see what nobody else sees

257.                 What is your reputation? Are you seen as someone that drives people to be the best version of themselves?

The Keys to Strategy Execution Success

15.0

After nearly a year of thinking, reading, and writing accompanied by nearly a decade of hands-on experience, the path to closing the strategy-execution gap has flushed itself out in the steps below. If you and your organization want to Get Shit Done, you must be able and willing to check off and "own" each item.

1.                        Build and maintain high employee engagement levels demonstrated around ownership of Who, What, and When. Explain the Why.

2.                        Establish ownership in the organization. Hire the right people, trust them, and compensate them for aligning them with the organization's goals.

3.                        Demand high levels of professionalism by encouraging a disciplined structure of personal development, growth, and learning. Through deliberate practice, encourage others to develop grit and tenacity to persevere against challenging goals. Continuous learning is a must.

4.                        Set Expectations of Excellence to create and maintain an environment where full accountability and excellence are the norms. A highly skilled workforce with a focus on a continuous improvement mindset will beat a centralized command-and-control policy. Build Accountability Chains to increase accountability—reward excellence.

5.                        Ingrain a Sense of Urgency. Define what the real priorities are and get people are resources pointed in the right direction.

6.                        Acknowledge tradeoffs are required between resources. An organization must be deliberate in choosing what to do and not do. Avoid unrealistic expectations.

7.                        Separate strategy-execution into two categories; the Big What and Little Whats. To prepare for achieving large and complex goals, individuals and teams obtain experience leading projects and improving work in their teams, departments, and functions.

8.                        Avoid static planning methodologies and embrace decentralization to allow those closest to the work to build the best solutions.

9.                        Set clear expectations and avoid assumptions.

10.                    Track and measure progress against realistic goals that have clear owners.

11.                    Incorporate design thinking into the Who, What, and When. Systemize and automate where possible to free time for value-added work. Remove friction wherever possible.

12.                    Foster excellent communication demonstrated by candor, feedback, alignment, and frequent check-ins. Be mindful in determining how we communicate to increase speed, increase accountability, and avoid confusion.

13.                    Build a unique and robust culture manifested through Ways of Working.

14.                    Minimize distractions and embrace simplicity. Focus on what matters and minimize what doesn't with the Pareto Principle.

15.                    Encourage individuals to learn and think like leaders and to act accordingly. Encourage creativity and innovation to build systems and processes that are sustainable. Being forward-looking, prepared, and proactive are valuable characteristics. Build leadership at all levels.

16.                    Execute, assess, iterate. Repeat.

Strategic questions to ask senior leaders- Recommended Reading

https://benjaminwann.com/blog/strategic-questions-to-ask-senior-leaders

Standard Costing- what is it, why it matters

Standard Costing's Time Has Finally Come

Why Business Strategy Is Important

Strategic planning is crucial as you prepare for the growth of your business, and in our next post, we will guide you through the process. A clear, concise, and well-written guide to your goals, methods, and measures of success will give you the strategic plan you need to face the challenges that await your organization along the way. It took me a while to admit that there is a business plan we need to achieve our goals as a company.

Business Strategy is a powerful tool to help you achieve your business goals and define the strategy and tactics you need to move your business forward. Setting future goals for your organization is an essential measure of your company's success and can help you develop a sustainable strategy for the future. An effective corporate strategy defines the common goals of your organization and outlines the reasons why these goals are meant and how you want to achieve them.

Why Business Strategy Is Important

A business strategy describes the measures and decisions that a company intends to achieve its business goals and objectives. Simply put, a business strategy describes your business vision and goals, strategies you use to achieve business goals, potential problems you face as a company, and ways to overcome them. A business strategy is a sketch of plans and actions to achieve a vision or set of goals for the organization, guide the decision-making process, improve companies' financial stability, and compete in the market.

A business strategy is defined as a long-term action plan that aims to achieve a specific business objective or set of goals of your company to improve the company's market position and overall performance. A strategic plan is a written document that points the way for your company. A Business Strategy Map is a great way to put the overall picture on a sheet of paper and make optimizations and adjustments to business activities to reach the vision and goals of the company.

Strategy vision and goals

A strategy must outline the company's vision and define its long-term growth and competitiveness goals. A good strategy offers a clear roadmap consisting of guiding principles and rules that define what actions people should or should not take in the company and what things they should or should not prioritize to achieve the desired goals. The two critical elements of a company are the main objectives and the strategy to achieve them.

At each level, the vision and objectives are translated into a concrete strategy that informs how the company will compete in the market. A strategy is developed at three levels: corporate, business, and operational. The strategy is about achieving the corporate structure's and core functions' objectives.

It is crucial to have a strategy to support business functions and operations to ensure an intelligent decision-making process. Strategic management involves evaluating the organization's business objectives, vision, goals, and plans. The most crucial role of strategic corporate governance is to support corporate profits and decision-making, and its functions can be further broken down.

A well-thought-out strategic plan determines how to react to opportunities and challenges of all colors, shapes, and sizes by developing new products, expanding your business, reaching new market segments, and solving organizational problems as your business grows. This article discusses business strategy, why it is an integral part of it, and ten examples of how it can help you generate ideas for your own business. Strategy management means being aware of future market changes affecting the company and its environmental impact.

The importance of the strategy is that it helps you adapt to changes in the business environment. Indeed, a system's task is to anticipate change as early as possible and be ready for it with action plans.

The strategy aims to answer how a company can be competitive in the market, increase its revenues and improve its financial position. The strategy defines what a company needs to do to achieve its goals and helps steer the decision-making process from recruitment to resource allocation.

If you know where to take your business in the long term, you better understand what skills you need to achieve your goals. These strategies raise awareness and focus more on the activities that make the organization successful.

Corporate Strategy Planning

Your objectives and KPIs should be defined at the organizational level. Defining a well-planned business strategy will ensure that your whole organization works toward the same goals and gives all employees a sense of shared responsibility. A strategy affecting all employees is an actionable way to achieve the company's goals.

The corporate strategy also includes an opportunity to track the company's performance and assess how it is performing compared to the objectives set at the beginning of the strategy. Once each department or team has understood your organization's broader strategy and how its progress will affect its success, create an approach to tracking key indicators (KPIs). The strategy is about the value and the network or network of relationships - suppliers, customers, employees, and investors - that a company creates together to capture economic value.

Strategy Management teaches you how to ensure that the company's resources (in terms of products and services) are wisely used and offers promising opportunities. A strategy is about achieving goals, but the path to achieving those goals is not defined until the company encounters a hurdle and there is no immediate solution to move forward. As an entrepreneur, the strategic planning process should be illuminated to be easily recognizable.

Strategy as a Critical Success Factor

Business strategy is important for several reasons. First, it helps businesses align their resources with their long-term goals. Without a strategy, businesses can easily become bogged down daily and lose sight of their bigger-picture objectives.

Second, business strategy provides a roadmap for decision-making. Having a clear strategy gives managers and employees a framework to follow when deciding where to allocate resources or how to respond to changes in the marketplace.

Third, business strategy can help businesses create a competitive advantage. By carefully crafting a unique value proposition and target market, businesses can position themselves in a way that allows them to compete effectively against larger rivals.

Finally, business strategy can help businesses manage risk. By planning for different contingencies and identifying potential risks early on, businesses can take steps to mitigate them before they cause serious damage.

Overall, business strategy is important because it provides a framework for action, helps businesses focus their resources, and can give them a competitive advantage. Executed effectively can help businesses achieve their long-term goals and create shareholder value.

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Why Is Strategy Execution So Hard?

Implementation of a strategy refers to implementing a strategic plan, which an organization or company develops in an effort or effort to accomplish organizational goals. Implementing a strategy involves translating an organization's goals into strategic initiatives and actions. It covers the day-to-day structure, operational objectives, and systems to ensure the success of those entrusted with specific organizational tasks.

The first step to improving project-oriented strategy implementation is to capture projects and organize them so that the strategy for each task within the organization is already underway. Once a project is charged, it is consistent with the company's strategy and objectives. Once the organization has developed the ability to manage projects, it can execute strategy.

Linking goals is a great start, but the reality is that not every organization can align its strategy. Organizations need to be aware of blockades and cascades. Strategy managers must react and provide additional guidance to people struggling with orientation or not finding the right balance between strategy and construction. As we have already mentioned, in addition to taking business as usual into account as part of your strategy, you also need to establish clear guidelines for how much effort the company will put in between the two.

Once the strategy for the organization is clear, the company will be able to implement it effectively

Employees in the organization need to understand the strategy to work effectively. The organization can achieve the efficiency of strategic implementation at full speed until the leadership understands where to draw the line, or it will become apparent that the bureaucracy is hampering organizational progress. When a plan is conceived and rolled out for strategy implementation, the leadership needs to have clear discussions with the relevant managers on how to implement it.

At the same time, setting clear objectives and timetables will help translate the strategy into clear objectives. Achieving specific goals is not easy, so organizations must select the proper criteria for implementing a plan. Most leaders find it challenging to free up resources and shift them away from the key elements that make a strategy successful, even if the shift of resources is consistent with strategic objectives.

Setting strategic goals, formulating a plan, and implementing a strategy requires different skills, each bringing challenges. One of the most critical obstacles to successful implementation is that strategic plans are not geared to the roles and strategies of employees. When formulating strategy and execution, keep this in mind and consider strengthening your execution capabilities by setting strategic objectives and drawing up a plan.

Distributed leadership is inhibited in its efforts to translate its overall strategy into what makes sense for its teams and units. Top executives fail to ensure that they understand the overall strategy. Despite the apparent importance of good planning and execution, few leaders concentrate on what kind of process and leadership is best suited to transforming strategy into results. Even the best plans fail, and it isn't easy to find the reason when they do.

Despite the high failure rate, the successful implementation of the strategy remains a challenge for managers and managers responsible for implementing the strategy worldwide

Survey after survey shows that implementation of the strategy is a top priority for the executives (Harvard Business Review, 2006). After helping thousands of organizations and teams manage their plans and implement strategies quickly with our software, we see early warning signs that implementing procedures is a struggle for many organizations.

To develop such good plans, companies must have exemplary strategy implementation to keep up with the new requirements of consumers. A great initiative like Brightline can help organizations fill the gap in the design and implementation of policies. By cutting red tape, the strategy's performance can begin more quickly and save enormous time. It is a regrettable reality for companies that employees and teams sometimes fail to meet the expectations of the plan.

In a manager's eyes, execution is synonymous with alignment, and failure to execute means a breakdown in the process of linking strategy and action at all levels of the organization

There is no explicit strategy process to talk about strategy; it all depends on the people and how they implement it. Unfortunately, many consultants and scientists ignore it because they see the boring details.

He says that much of what is spent as a strategy is only annual planning and that 75% of companies do not have an exact strategy process that talks about strategy and how it ultimately depends on people and how they implement it. He says that many companies do not realize that implementation is just as important, if not more important than developing strategies, as INSEADs research shows. He argues that the only successful system is that which can be implemented and that the right people on the ground are the key.

They will present their in-house management system with six successive stages designed to help organizations capture the "execution premium" - a measurable value gain resulting from successful strategy implementation. The information presented in execution is helpful, but Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan do not explain how an organization should implement its three core processes to achieve strategic success. The detailed step-by-step strategic review template details each of the four steps, provide additional information about managing your strategic plans for past years and years to come, and includes what to do if you would not be following your current strategic framework.

Implementation of the strategy depends on the day-to-day tasks and decisions of each member of your organization. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that everyone understands the broader strategic goals of the company and their responsibility to achieve those goals. The first thing you need to do in your strategic plan review process is to take a step back and look at every aspect of your strategic plan.

How do organizations make strategy execution less hard?

Organizational strategy is nothing without execution. Sure, you can have the best plans, brightest minds, and most solid processes in place--but if your team can't execute on the vision, it'll never see fruition. The good news is that making strategy execution less hard doesn't have to be complicated. Here are a few key ways to do it:

First, make sure everyone is on the same page. Every team member should understand the organization's vision and goals and know their role in achieving them. Second, build a culture of accountability by setting clear expectations and holding people accountable for results. Finally, keep things flexible and adaptable by Encouraging creativity and risk-taking and being open to new ideas and approaches. Taking these steps can make strategy execution less hard and ensure that your team is poised for success.

Can strategy execution ever be easy or just easier?

Strategy execution is often compared to a journey - it can be long, difficult, and full of twists and turns. However, there are ways to make the journey easier. By clearly defining the destination and mapping out the route, businesses can improve their chances of executing their strategy successfully.

Effective communication and strong leadership are also essential for keeping everyone on track. Finally, it's important to be flexible and adaptable, as the landscape is constantly changing. While there is no guarantee that strategy execution will be easy, taking these steps can help to make it more successful.

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Successful Strategy Execution Keys

It may seem obvious, but few organizations have a tangible link between their strategic plans and their reported performance, management, and compensation processes. 61% of executives reported that their companies struggle to bridge strategy formulation and day-to-day implementation. Many companies do not meet their strategic objectives.

Successful strategy execution requires careful planning and a commitment to remaining flexible and responsive to changing conditions. One of the most critical aspects of planning is setting clear, achievable goals. Once the goals have been set, it is important to develop a detailed plan of action that includes specific milestones and timelines. However, even the best-laid plans can be derailed by unexpected obstacles. '

That's why it is also essential to have a contingency plan that can be quickly implemented if necessary. Finally, successful strategy execution requires buy-in from all members of the organization. Everyone must be committed to working together to achieve the desired results. Following these simple tips can increase your chances of success when executing any business strategy.

Companies and operating systems must work together to promote the effective implementation of the strategy. Strategic planning sessions can cost millions of dollars and hundreds of employee hours each year, and unclear or misaligned strategic goals can create resource challenges that limit implementation success. Organizations need to develop project management skills before they can implement a strategy.

The first step in implementing a project-oriented strategy is to capture and organize projects so that the strategy for each project in the organization is already underway. Once a project is charged, it is consistent with the strategy and objectives of the entire organization.

Implementing your strategic plan- five steps

Here are five steps you should consider before implementing your strategic plan. The first step in implementing a strategy is the planning process. An effective strategy is a process that distills a clear statement of the challenges and strategies for success in each challenge into a list of critical points that must take place to succeed.

The Keys To Successful Strategy Execution

One of the most important and constant challenges in implementing a strategy is understanding it. An excellent way to improve understanding is to visualize the strategy through illustrations that show the critical aspects of the strategy and how each step is interrelated and linked to the overall goal. This is called the visualization of the planning cascade.

Strategy is the process of implementing a system

Strategy is the process of implementing a system. It helps organizations to achieve their goals by utilizing available resources in the most efficient way possible. To be successful, the strategy must be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances. It must also be based on a thorough understanding of the organization's strengths and weaknesses.

In addition, strategy must consider the competitive environment in which the organization operates. By incorporating all of these factors, organizations hope to achieve their objectives.

It includes metrics, tracking, and the systems and resources necessary to act, recalibrate, and iterate when needed.

Changed processes give you and your team structure for execution and clear the desk of non-value-added activities to focus on strategic work. Changing strategies also means being rigorous in performance and preparing to align initiatives with changes in the market.

Implementing your strategy requires a series of activities that will lead your company to achieve its overall goals. To successfully implement a strategy, you must ensure that your strategy matches the type of organization your business uses. A strategy that requires rapid action at the work level and decisions at the work level by employees needs an organizational structure that delegates authority.

Leaders can use four basic building blocks to influence this process: defining decisions, spotting motivators, and making structural changes. Inextricably, managers use the four building blocks to improve a strategy's execution - decisions, the correct information, structures, and motivators.

Successful companies invest a lot of time and resources in implementing their strategy. Excellent practices use project management discipline to create participation, promote problem-solving, and succeed in the discreet initiatives needed to bring an approach to life.

Strategic planning is a critical business practice that positions an organization for success and aligns leaders with a typical plan to guide management decisions. The final step in this arduous process is to implement the critical strategy to do the right thing for your business, which is a vital component of the business transformation. Unfortunately, many companies do not implement their system because they underestimate that strategic clarity is the key to effective strategy implementation.

Strategy Execution Gap- lack of strategic clarity

One of the organizations' most common challenges is the execution gap- the space between strategy and implementation. This can be due to several factors, but often it comes down to a lack of strategic clarity. Without a clear understanding of the company's goals, it can be difficult to develop an effective plan for achieving them. If key stakeholders are not aligned on the strategy, they may work towards conflicting objectives. As a result, it is essential to ensure that there is buy-in from all levels of the organization before attempting to execute any new strategy. By clearly defining the company's goals and objectives and involving all employees in the planning process, organizations can increase their chances of successfully executing their strategy.

To implement their most important strategies, they found that the overarching problem is a lack of strategic clarity:

• Unclear bets.

• Misaligned performance metrics.

• Vague job roles.

• Undeclared interdependencies.

• Imprecise decision-making processes.

• A misaligned corporate culture that does not support strategic priorities.

There are many opportunities to draw flawed conclusions in this world, but replacing policy implementation problems with half-measures is not an objective policy process.

If you do not use the spirit and resources for strategic change, it will not happen. With a great strategy, a breakthrough in the industry, or a breakthrough product that catapults your organization into the mainstream of the market, successful strategy implementation will keep you there. If you start with a distorted and biased view of what your business needs, you are less likely to get results and win.

Implementation of strategy

A successful strategy implementation depends on several factors. First and foremost, it is essential to have buy-in from all stakeholders. Getting everyone on board with the new strategy will be difficult without buy-in. Secondly, creating a detailed plan for how the strategy will be implemented is important. This plan should include timelines, milestones, and responsibility assignments. Third, allocating the necessary resources to support the implementation is essential. Fourth, clear communication is key to ensuring that everyone understands the goals and objectives of the new strategy. Finally, it is important to monitor and evaluate the implementation process results to ensure that the desired outcomes are being achieved. By considering these factors, organizations can increase their chances of success when implementing a new strategy.

Without an effective system to monitor the implementation of a strategy, an organization can execute the wrong plan months or even years after the correction. You use a performance management system that holds employees accountable against important indicators and targets for a timely price correction.

Moreover, without a proper assessment of an industry's or organization's capabilities, it is common for strategic plans to lack real strategic thinking and become mere projections of past achievements for the following year. A systematic review of plans determines whether below-average performance results from poor market assessments, wrong strategy, or poor execution.

Companies that do not build implementation-oriented leadership skills, employ succession planning and develop leaders who are good at implementing strategies will do so sufficiently, given the relative importance of these practices. Moreover, the best-performing companies are more likely to adopt these strategies than their lower-performing counterparts.

They present their management system, which comprises six successive stages designed to help organizations achieve the "execution premium" - a measurable increase in value resulting from successful strategy implementation. Using detailed sub-activities (26 in total), they explain how organizations implement their strategy by applying their system. Although the information presented in execution is useful, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan do not explain how an organization enacts its three core processes to achieve strategic success.

What does a successful strategy execution require?

Why will strategy execution be important to your company's success quizlet?

What does a good strategy execution require quizlet?

What is executing strategy?