Execution of strategies

But good strategies fail too, and when that

happens, it's often harder to pinpoint the

reasons. Yet despite the obvious importance
of good planning and execution, relatively few
management thinkers have focused on what
kinds of processes and leadership are best for
turning a strategy into results.

Contd
But can better execution be taught?
You can develop a model.... If people know

what the key variables are, they know what to

look for and what questions to ask."

Five Keys to Getting the

Job
Done

Develop a model for execution.

- Michael Porter's theory of comparative
advantage
Choose the right metrics.
- sales and market share are always going to
be the dominant metrics of business

 Don't forget the plan.

- plans are often simply agreed to and then

forgotten !
Assess performance frequently.
- Performance monitoring is still an annual
affair at most companies. The reason why
Wal-Mart is so good at execution is it knows
daily if what it is doing in each of its stores
gets results or not

 By shortening the performance monitoring

cycle -- from quarter-by-quarter to month-bymonth or week-by-week -- top management

can get more "real-time" feedback on the
quality of execution down the line.
Communicate.
- companies often go wrong by creating a
cultural distinction between the executives
who design a strategy and people lower down
in the corporate hierarchy who carry it out.

WYDIWYG
Strategy is Execution. Another way of saying

this is WYDIWG What You DO Is What You

Get.
Strategy Is . . .
Strategy is many things: plan, pattern,
position, ploy and perspective. As plan,
strategy relates how we intend realizing
our goals.

As position, strategy is the stance we take: to

literally take the high ground, to be the lowcost provider, to compete on the basis of
value, to price to what the market will bear, to
match or beat the price offered by any
competitor,
As ploy, strategy is a ruse, it relies on secrecy
and often on deception

As perspective, strategy is part vantage point

and part the view from that vantage point,

particularly the way this view shapes and
guides decisions and actions.

Strategy is Execution
Strategy is Execution
Strategy is getting it right and doing it right.

On the one hand, we have to envision the

right course of action. On the other hand,
once chosen, we have to carry it out properly

If our strategy and its execution are both

flawed, the effort is "doomed from the

beginning." Our chances of success are zero,
nil
If our strategy is sound but its execution is
flawed, we are guilty of muffing it

Only when our envisioned strategy and its

execution are sound do we stand a pretty

good chance of success. Even then success is
not guaranteed
So, even if we get the strategy right and even
if we carry it out efficiently and effectively, all
we can really say is that the odds are in our
favor, that we have "a pretty good chance.

 In the early 1980s, Tom Peters made a

presentation to a group of senior managers at

AT&T in which he used a slide that read,
"Execution is strategy." We can turn that
around and also say that strategy is
execution. In simpler terms, we adapt to
changing circumstances and so does our
strategy. Thus it is that strategy as envisioned
or contemplated becomes strategy as
executed or realized

Organizations that successfully execute even

mediocre strategies far outperform those that fail

to execute the most brilliant of plans! According
to Fortune Magazine, "less than 10% of strategies
effectively formulated are effectively executed."
Enterprise Strategy Execution (ESE) is a proven
methodology for driving better business results
that encompasses a continuous process of
prioritization, improvement, and control. ESE
focuses and empowers every employee toward
the common strategy.

How to Get There From Where You Are Today?

When an organization commits to ESE, it must

do so in steps or stages. Tackling all of the

various components at once -- no matter how
focused and motivated an organization is -- is
simply not feasible. New skills must be learned,
new behaviors encouraged, cultural changes
fostered -- all of which must occur over time to
be successful.

Many managers are comfortable planning, but

lag when it comes to actually putting the plan

into action.
The Execution Challenge
There are eight areas of obstacles or
challenges to strategy execution. Or, to put it
positively, there are eight areas of opportunity:
Handling them well will guarantee execution
success. The areas relating to the success of
execution are as follows:

Developing a model to guide execution

decisions or actions
Understanding how the creation of strategy
affects the execution of strategy
Managing change effectively, including
culture change
Understanding power or influence and using it
for execution success

Developing organizational structures that

foster information sharing, coordination, and

clear accountability
Developing effective controls and feedback
mechanisms
Knowing how to create an executionsupportive culture
Exercising execution-biased leadership

Without guidance, individuals do the things they

think are important, often resulting in

uncoordinated, divergent, even conflicting
decisions and actions.
Having a model or roadmap positively affects
execution success.
It all begins with strategy. Execution cannot
occur until one has something to execute. Bad
strategy begets poor execution and poor
outcomes, so it's important to focus first on a
sound strategy.

It is vital to get the "right people on the bus,

the wrong people off the bus," so to speak.

But it's also important to know where the bus
is going and why.
It drives the development of capabilities and
which people with what skills sit in what seats
on the bus.

Strategy defines the arena (customers,

markets, technologies, products, logistics) in

which the execution game is played.
Execution is an empty effort without the
guidance of strategy and short-term
objectives related to strategy.
Execution or strategy implementation often
involves change. Not handling change well will
spell disaster for execution efforts.

Power reflects strategy, structure, and critical

dependencies on capabilities and scarce

resources. Knowing what power is and how to
create and use influence can spell the difference
between execution success and failure.
Yet managers are often motivated not to share
information or work with their colleagues to
coordinate activities and achieve strategic and
short-term goals. Why? The answer to this
question is vital to the successful execution of
strategy.

Clear Responsibility and Accountability

This is one of the most important prerequisites for

successful execution, as basic as it sounds.

Managers must know who's doing what, when,

and why, as well as who's accountable for key

steps in the execution process. Without clear
responsibility and accountability, execution
programs will go nowhere. Knowing how to
achieve this clarity is central to execution
success.

The Right Culture

Organizations must develop execution-

supportive cultures. Execution demands a

culture of achievement, discipline, and
ownership
But developing or changing culture is no easy
task. Rock climbing, white-water rafting, paintgun battles, and other activities with the
management team are fun. They rarely,
however, produce lasting cultural change.

Leadership
Leadership must be execution biased. It must drive

the organization to execution success. It must

motivate ownership of and commitment to the
execution process.
Controls, Feedback, and Adaptation
Strategy execution processes support organizational
change and adaptation. Making strategy work
requires feedback about organizational performance
and then using that information to fine-tune strategy,
objectives, and the execution process itself.

Tackling too many execution decisions or

actions at once will surely create problems.

"When everything is important, then nothing
is important," is a clear but simple way of
expressing the issue. Priorities must be set
and a logical order to execution actions
adequately defined if execution is to succeed.
Planning requires anticipating early on what
must be done to make strategy work.

Managers cannot act in a helter-skelter

fashion when executing strategy. They can't

focus one day on organizational structure, the
next on culture, and then on to "good people,"
only to find out that strategy is vague or
severely flawed.
Managers require a "big picture" as well as an
understanding of the "nitty-gritty," the key
elements that comprise the big picture.

Strategy Development and Execution

(Strategy)
Assess your strategy on three levels (enterprise,
operational, tactical) to be sure they are working
together in an integrated way
Diagnose whether you should create a new plan,
or if something else is getting in the way
Link current initiatives to your strategy, suggest
alternatives, or recommend deletions
Ensure key leaders understand the strategy and
their roles in a

Organizational Effectiveness (People)

Assess whether you have the capabilities and capacity

required to achieve defined objectives

Determine if your current capabilities are being used in the
most productive ways or if they might be redeployed or
refocused to better advantage
Analyze the organizational structure to determine if it supports
effective business practices and management behaviors
Coach leaders to help their teams maintain focus on the most
critical issues
Help employees to work effectively across organizational
boundaries (geographies, functional areas, business units, etc.)

Process Management (Process)

Focus on core business processes, from end to end (e.g.

those that are critical to your business, yet are not the core
purpose of your business)
Assess where it hurts to improve performance and better
manage critical touch points, inputs, and outputs along the
process
Evaluate current metrics and key indicators to ensure they
are providing the right information to monitor the
effectiveness of the process
Ensure everyone knows who is responsible (and
accountable) for what and why

If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can

come out of hundreds of battles without danger, to

a higher ground of defeating an enemy without even
fighting, better strategy by exploring blue oceans
untapped and untargeted markets which hold
tremendous growth potential rather than going
head-to-head against rivals for a share of the
existing market. The latter scenario is akin to a red
ocean where competition is based on outperforming
the existing competitive benchmark. In other words,
the best approach to earn a competitive edge is to
gain the first mover advantage over competitors.

While competitors are the ones who set the

agenda and rule of the game in red oceans,

competition becomes insignificant in blue
oceans.

Twelve strategies for instilling

a culture of execution in your
Build accountability into meetings
organization:
Be realistic. Many strategies fail because

leaders don't make a realistic assessment of

whether the organization can execute the
plan.
Focus on a few priorities. I've seen
organizations with strategic plans that detail
twenty large strategies for one year.

 Ensure employees understand priorities.

This may sound simple, but my experience is

that most employees are not brought into the
loop about what is important to the
organization.
Set milestones. Break down every
organizational project into specific milestones
with action items and dates. Communicate
these milestones to employees and review the
status at each project meeting.

Use your business plan. Is your business

plan collecting dust? Many organizations go

through the motions of spending two days
every year developing strategic and business
plans, only to stick them in the bottom of the
drawer untouched

Hold people at the top accountable. If line

managers are not executing, it's usually

because their leader does not have an
accountability structure in place. Leaders
need to take ownership of their initiatives and
follow-up with managers to ensure completion

Promote candid dialog. This is one of the

biggest reasons why things don't get done in

organizations. Many managers don't want to
rock the boat, so they are very polite and
don't challenge each other or their leaders.
This often leads to failed projects and
initiatives because managers weren't honest
with each other.

What processes could have been better? Did

we meet our time commitments? If not, why?

Use this information to improve processes and
hold people accountable.
Confront performance issues. Some
managers put off confronting performance
issues because it's unpleasant and takes time.

 Reward the doers. Structure your bonus and

salary increases to reward those employees

who get things done. There must be enough
differentiation in bonuses and salary increases
to send the message that execution is
rewarded.
Align systems. Too many organizations have
business units that work in silos. Everyone is
working on their part, and there is no
alignment of the core projects or strategies

Holding employees accountable doesn't have

to be about micro-managing or dictating.

Setting clear expectations and due dates up
front makes the process easier for everyone
and promotes the best use of the
organization's time and money.

 It is also true that strategic planning may be a

tool for effectively plotting the direction of a

company; however, strategic planning itself
cannot foretell exactly how the market will
evolve and what issues will surface in the
coming days in order to plan your
organizational strategy. Therefore, strategic
innovation and tinkering with the 'strategic
plan' have to be a cornerstone strategy for an
organization to survive the turbulent business
climate.

Vision
Vision, mission and values
Vision: Defines the desired or intended future

state of an organization or enterprise in terms

of its fundamental objective and/or strategic
direction. Vision is a long term view,
sometimes describing a view of how the
organization would like the world in which it
operates to be. For example a charity working
with the poor might have a vision statement
which read "A world without poverty"

Mission
Mission: Defines the fundamental purpose of

an organization or an enterprise, basically

describing why it exists and what it does to
achieve its Vision. A corporate Mission can last
for many years, or for the life of the
organization. It is not an objective with a
timeline, but rather the overall goal that is
accomplished over the years as objectives are
achieved that are aligned with the corporate
mission.

Values
Values: Beliefs that are shared among the

stakeholders of an organization. Values drive

an organization's culture and priorities.

Methodologies
in
Strategic
Planning

Methodologies
There are many approaches to strategic
planning but typically a three-step process
may be used:
Situation - evaluate the current situation and
how it came about.
Target - define goals and/or objectives
(sometimes called ideal state)
Path - map a possible route to the
goals/objectives

Draw-See-Think
One alternative approach is called Draw-See-Think
Draw - what is the ideal image or the desired end

state?
See - what is today's situation? What is the gap
from ideal and why?
Think - what specific actions must be taken to
close the gap between today's situation and the
ideal state?
Plan - what resources are required to execute the
activities?

See-Think-Draw
An alternative to the Draw-See-Think

approach is called See-Think-Draw

See - what is today's situation?
Think - define goals/objectives
Draw - map a route to achieving the
goals/objectives

 strategic planning can be as follows:

Vision - Define the vision and set a mission

statement with hierarchy of goals and objectives

SWOT - Analysis conducted according to the desired
goals
Formulate - Formulate actions and processes to be
taken to attain these goals
Implement - Implementation of the agreed upon
processes
Control - Monitor and get feedback from
implemented processes to fully control the operation

Mission statements and vision

statements
Mission statements and vision statements
Organizations sometimes summarize goals and objectives into

a mission statement and/or a vision statement Others

begin with a vision and mission and use them to formulate
goals and objectives.
While the existence of a shared mission is extremely useful,
many strategy specialists question the requirement for a
written mission statement. However, there are many models of
strategic planning that start with mission statements, so it is
useful to examine them here.
A Mission statement tells you the fundamental purpose of
the organization. It defines the customer and the critical
processes. It informs you of the desired level of performance.
A Vision statement outlines what the organization wants to
be, or how it wants the world in which it operates to be. It
concentrates on the future. It is a source of inspiration. It
provides clear decision-making criteria.

Contd
An advantage of having a statement is that it

creates value for those who get exposed to

the statement, and those prospects are
managers, employees and sometimes even
customers. Statements create a sense of
direction and opportunity. They both are an
essential part of the strategy-making process.

 Many people mistake vision statement for

mission statement, and sometimes one is simply

used as a longer term version of the other. The
Vision should describe why it is important to
achieve the Mission. A Vision statement defines
the purpose or broader goal for being in
existence or in the business and can remain the
same for decades if crafted well. A Mission
statement is more specific to what the enterprise
can achieve itself. Vision should describe what
will be achieved in the wider sphere if the
organization and others are successful.

Effective vision
statement
Features of an effective vision statement

include:
Clarity and lack of ambiguity
Vivid and clear picture
Description of a bright future
Memorable and engaging wording
Realistic aspirations
Alignment with organizational values and
culture

 To become really effective, an organizational

vision statement must (the theory states)

become assimilated into the organization's
culture. Leaders have the responsibility of
communicating the vision regularly, creating
narratives that illustrate the vision, acting as
role-models by embodying the vision, creating
short-term objectives compatible with the
vision, and encouraging others to craft their
own personal vision compatible with the
organization's overall vision.

References
1. Liddell-Hart, B. H. (1967). Strategy (2nd

Edition). New York, NY: Frederick Praeger.

2. Mintzberg, H. (1994). The rise and fall of

strategic planning. New York, NY: Free Press.