Episode 7 Bridging the execution gap. Learn for teams who have achieved success.
Apologies for the poor sound quality due to technical problems
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. Japanese Proverb.
No one individual can execute a strategic plan, it must be a team effort if success is to be achieved. Nathan Wiita, and Orla Leonard decided to look at how the most successful teams bridge the execution gap. The gap between what the strategic plan says what needs to be done, compared with what actually gets done. What differentiates teams that achieve success from teams that fail to execute? How do they spend their time? What critical behaviors do they engage in that enables them to attain their goals. The researchers found X behaviors that lead to success. Commit to an identity. The successful organizations were committed to a common identity which was achieved by a shared understanding of its value proposition and the distinctive capabilities. Translate the strategy into everyday processes and capabilities. This includes establishing financial and operational metrics so that goals are aligned with overall strategy. Resources are allocated appropriately; progress is measured and reviewed. Concentrate on unique cultural factors that fuel success. This is means building on your company’s strengths rather than trying drive change programs based on fixing gaps or weaknesses. To facilitate this, it is helpful to have a mission statement that serves as a guide to how resources may be allocated. Shape the future: Companies that excel at execution find the time for planning – setting a direction for their organization, working on their vision and, of course, their strategy. They are faster to respond the changes in the business environment. Based on HBR article “How the most successful teams bridge the strategy-execution gap. Nanthan Wiita and Orla Leonard, November 2017
Turning Strategy into Results – Simplicity and Flexibility are key.
Strategies can be complex but to be implement simple and flexible guidelines are needed. Guidelines that can be well understood by the majority of your employees.
The often-cited advice to leaders is to distill the companies into a few core ideas. The target customers, (the who), the value proposition (what) and how to deliver, sell and distribute the products or services (the how). Sounds great but probably only works in very focused companies. A low-cost regional airline would be an example – they provide only one type of service to a particular customer type.
But what if your business is more complicated? Serving multiple customers with a range of products with different distribution channels. Limit the number of strategic priorities to five or less. Focus on mid term objectives. Strategic priorities are a bridge between your company’s long-term goals and short term operating plans. Pull towards the future. Priorities should outline how your company will create and capture value in the future, not how it did it in the past. Make the hard calls. In an organization of any size there will be dozens or more competing and conflicting priorities. Ensure that the priorities provide concrete guidance. Too often priorities are so vague it is impossible to guess the industry the company is operating in, let alone the name of the company itself. Align the top team. It is only too common for there to be disagreement among the top execs on what are the companies most important strategies. Executing strategies requires working across company boundaries.
Executing strategies in not easy, that is why most strategic plans fail to meet their objectives. To achieve success your company needs the right culture, a culture of execution and clear easily understood communication of what is most important for success.