Poor leadership = Dysfunctional culture = Failures in Strategy Execution

A recent article published in a mainstream newspaper talks about the failure of a developing country's president to inspire and motivate. In fact, this president's abrasive behavior has alienated both friends and foes. (You may wonder how the foes were 'alienated'... but that's besides the point) A reluctance to deal with him directly has shrunk his adviser base and reduced his effectiveness. It is safe to predict that his days in power are probably numbered.

Strategy Execution is not just about market share, innovation, EPS and cost control. Its also about quality of life. An increased governance on toxic behavior may unleash productivity and creativity to take people closer to reaching their potential. This will directly translate into abundance for all.

Toxic and abusive behavior is being tolerated over and over again in organizations all over the world. Toxic behavior has been researched and their negative impacts well documented, yet there seems to be a reluctance to address it directly and effectively.

This reluctance may be a function of leaders not knowing how to control toxic behavior and not having the courage to admit it and ask for help. I think it may be a case of 'learned helplessness'.

What does strategy execution have to do with caring for horses?

If you were caring for a horse, and had to clean the horse manure, which side of the horse do you need to focus on?

Both of course.

What the horse eats determines what comes out the other end. Therefore, if shoveling seems like a lot of work, check to see what you are feeding the horse.

In strategy execution, go as much upstream as you possibly can. Most initial project definitions address downstream problems, these are really symptoms created by decisions taken way up in the process. Sometimes there are real limitations to how much upstream you can go. Keep trying anyway. Its not a perfect world and that is why big, hairy projects are always done in phases.

Speed bumps in execution

Last week, our son needed an ultrasound to help the doctor identify the source of pain in his abdomen. When he was being examined by the nurse, she discovered that his last meal was less than 8 hours ago (he was supposed to abstain from eating for at least 8 hours before the ultrasound). Without missing a beat, she said, "Well, now that you are here, let's do the best that we can."

No raving, no ranting, she did not give us a hard time. She calmly finished the ultrasound procedure and thanked us for coming by. She chose not to dwell on what should have been done (turns out the doctor forgot to give us the instructions to prepare for the ultrasound), she chose not to take out her frustrations on us (she had to put in some extra effort) and left us with a feeling that 'customers come first'. I am sure she made a mental note to fix the internal process to brief patients who come for an ultrasound.

How many businesses have trained their staff to retain customer loyalty while dealing with the realities of execution?

'Risk' vs. 'Issue'

A 'risk' is an event that has a probability of happening with positive or adverse consequences. Therefore, a risk description will read, "If this event happens, the consequences or impact will be ____; if the event happens, I will do ____; the probability of this happening is low/medium/low; and the steps we can take to prevent the risk from manifesting is ____."

An 'issue' is an event that has happened (100% certainty!) and it has to be addressed (or a decision to de-prioritize is needed). An issue statement will read, "This event has happened, the impact in lost revenue or increases cost is ____; ____ is accountable, ____ are going to do the work and ____ need to be consulted and informed; and the deadline for resolution is ____."

This clarity is required for executing strategy; in the absence of this clarity, resources are mis-applied in unproductive meetings and in the end the real 'risk' or 'issue' may not be identified and addressed.

#12: The Politics of Strategy Execution

'Politics' refers to situations where:

• There are multiple, conflicting needs;
  
• Decision making is slow and sub-optimal because essential information is unavailable or withheld;
• Support is provided or declined for reasons other than the merits of the case;
  
• Personal gain takes priority over the greater good;
• Interactions are dysfunctional and inter-personal communications frequently break down

We offer the root cause as immature processes operated by unskilled people.

To execute strategy relating to substantial issues (many, many people are impacted by the choices made), politics is inevitable (see definition of 'politics' above). Its not a perfect world, get used to it. Avoiding politics will result in the wrong people being in charge of finding solutions to substantial issues. Embracing politics as a way of life will increase the ranks of the 'wrong' people.

The only way out is to demonstrate leadership, be a role model and act with wisdom.

#11: Executing strategy in an imperfect world

When making a strategy and a plan to execute, the list of things to do may seem long and daunting. In addition, the lack of clarity of the inter-dependencies between tasks makes it harder to prioritize. Gaining clarity is not always cost effective or even possible.

As a first step, accept that it will take time to gain clarity on many of the tough issues that are barriers to executing strategy. Then, gain clarity on the ambiguity, i.e. list all the topics around which the organization is struggling to gain clarity.

Use your common sense and experience to select the first item to work on and get started. Everything is interconnected, so you will eventually cover all the interrelated parts. Its more important to gain consensus with your customers, stakeholders, partners and teammates about the sequence to follow, than to spend time discovering the 'right' sequence. Start small to control risk and improve using experience.