ValuExecBlog

Lost in translation

There is an old saying that says: 'we judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.' Well, it's been over a year (or has it been 2) since I last wrote on this blog and somewhere along the way, my actions and my intentions have grown like a bad marriage,  incredibly apart. They have got lost in translation. 

We recently ran a leadership/cultural workshop for a company that had been acquired by a larger company but which surprisingly was structurally left intact by the new parent. The only change being the new parent wanted our client to be more aggressive in the market with the product portfolio which had now doubled in size.

The most common phrase throughout the 2 days of workshop was:'Nothing has changed. We are still the same team. We just have more products to sell.' Somewhere along the line, something got lost in translation. Which begs the question: After acquiring a company, is it better to make changes that shake up the acquired company or is it better to make as little disruption as possible? (Assuming of course, the acquired company is not too much of a basket case.)

What are your thoughts?

The 9 Elements of Organization Health

In my last post, I wrote about organization health and how it was difficult for organizations to remain fit and healthy over time. I made mention of the 9 elements of organization health and the Law of Entrainment. I would like to expand on these 9 elements in this post, namely what they are and their impact on the organization when combined with other elements.

To recap, organization health is the ability of an organization to align, execute and renew itself faster than the competition so that it can sustain exceptional performance over time. As mentioned, there are 9 elements of organization health, namely:

1. Direction

2. Leadership

3. Culture & Climate

4. Accountability

5. Co-ordination & Control

6. Capabilities

7. Motivation

8. External Orientation

9. Innovation & Learning

The first 3 elements (Direction, Leadership, Culture & Climate) when combined determine how well the organization is aligned vertically. That is how well the objectives are shared and supported by the culture & climate of the organization and how meaningful they are to employees.

The elements of External Orientation, Leadership and Innovation & Learning when combined determine how well the organization is aligned horizontally and therefore its capacity for renewal. In other words, the combination of these 3 elements will highlight how effective the organization is at understanding, interacting with, shaping and adapting to its situation & external environment.

The final 4 elements, namely Accountability, Co-ordination & Control, Capabilities and Motivation together with the second element of Leadership when combined will determine the ability of an organization to execute its strategy and together highlight whether the organization has the capabilities, management processes and motivation to execute with excellence.

It is easy to see that if any one of these elements is out of alignment, it will have an impact on the performance of the organization. In addition each of these elements has a number of management practices associated with it and high performing companies must have a basic proficiency in all of those practices.

My next post will discuss these practices and how all are not created equal.

Yours in execution,

ian

Organization Health ~ Why organizations find it hard to remain fit (An Introduction)

Organization health is the ability of an organization to align, execute and renew itself faster than the competition so that it can sustain exceptional performance over time. There are 9 elements to organizational health which when broken down will determine how aligned the organization is vertically (i.e., where shared objectives are supported by the culture and climate in the organization and are meaningful to each employee), horizontally (i.e., where the organization is effective at understanding, interacting with, shaping and adapting to its situation and external environment. In other words, its ability to renew itself) and finally executionally (i.e., whether the organization has the capabilities, management, processes and motivation to execute with excellence).There are 34 practices linked to the 9 elements and organizations can not afford to ignore any of these practices and maintaining a minimum standard of proficiency across all the 34 practices is vital for the overall performance of the organization.

Alignment is the essence of execution success but constant change both externally and internally within the organization makes it difficult to maintain. The result being such that should any one of the 9 elements be out of alignment, it will throw all the other elements out of alignment thereby making it difficult for the organization to execute effectively and renew itself. This is only natural and is governed by the Law of Entrainment whereby the element with the strongest rhythm pulls all the other elements in synch with it.

But, not all elements are created equal and some when combined with others will have a greater impact on the health of an organization than others. However having a basic understanding of each of the 9 elements and the practices associated with that element is crucial for organization performance but unfortunately such an understanding is not always apparent in organizations and as a result the health of the organization is compromised.

We will explore the 9 elements and their corresponding practices in future posts. 

Yours in execution.

ian

Immediate reality

As someone who specializes in strategy and strategy execution, I sometimes struggle to understand why some organizations find it so difficult to execute strategy. I appreciate that what I am about to say is not a good reflection on me, but I have facilitated a lot of strategy workshops over the years, and I can honestly say with hand on heart that people generally walk out of those workshops with great plans, good initiatives, clear communication messages etc etc and the very best of intentions to implement the plans that they have personally developed. But when I follow up a month or two later, nothing has progressed or at least only a very little has happened. So what has changed? How can the best intentions be quashed in a month?

And so in my desire to find the answer, I reflected on my years of running major companies before I got into the consulting business and it soon became abundantly clear to me. What changes is what I call the 'immediate reality', in other words the budget. The pressure to make the budget is the immediate reality and is far greater than the 3 - 5 year strategic plan. So people will focus on the budget and not the strategic plan. This is natural and is governed by the Law of Entrainment. As a colleague of mine was fond of saying 'the budget is the budget is the budget.' The truth is most people will slip into an 'immediate reality' mindset the moment a workshop closes if not during the coffee breaks.   

Unfortunately, most companies still separate the budget and strategy processes when in fact that should be closely linked. We have got to bring them together and change current mindsets. Now imagine my colleague saying to me 'the strategy is the budget is the strategy is the budget.'

Yours in execution,

ian

Connecting vs. Engaging

Look, I am not sure where I am going with this so I would like to put it out there and get your thoughts. There is an old saying that 'people don't follow companies that have a mission - they follow companies on a mission,' which got me to thinking 'how do companies get their employees to follow strategy in much the same way that they would follow a company on a mission?

Alot has been written about employee engagement and the argument goes that if employees are to follow strategy they need to be engaged. And so, companies embark on alot of activities to keep them engaged. But, I am not sure that that is all there is to it. Having employees engaged is similar, I would argue to the company having a mission statement. It is essential but not fulfilling. People will go through the motions, get the job done and at the end of the day go home.

No, I think that for companies to get employees to follow strategy, and get behind the strategy, they need to connect with their employees. The difficulty is that to connect with employees, you have to do it individual by individual, you have to tap into the same emotions that get individuals to follow companies on a mission. Only then will employees follow and commit to strategy.

What do you think. 

Yours in execution.

ian

Getting to your one percenters

800CEORead recently posted a Q&A with Jackie Huba on their blog 'thinker in residence' featuring her book 'Monster Loyalty: How lady Gaga turns followers into fanatics.' (See Link to post below). There was one comment in the post that was particularly interesting and I quote:

'I use the term One Percenters to describe the tiny but oh-so-mighty subsection of a business’ customer base that evangelizes for that business. They’re your biggest fans. You can recognize them by a few distinct behaviors: They passionately recommend your company to friends, neighbors, and colleagues. They believe in the company and its people. They purchase your products and services as gifts. They forgive occasional subpar seasons or dips in customer service. They feel part of something bigger than themselves, seeking to connect with other like-minded customers around your products or services'.

Why this point is of interest is because in my opinion, One Percenters exist in every organization. They are our go-to people when we need something done. They are our story-tellers, our history teachers and our rocks. They are the ones who are passionate about the company, its products and the people who work there. They keep the clocks wound and the machines oiled. But they do have one serious flaw.

One Percenters in organizations tend to work in the background. They are not flashy; they tend to avoid the spot light and certainly do not 'blow their own trumpet.' And because they don't, they tend to get overlooked or are under-valued for what they bring to the organization. Leaders would do well to give more attention to this group, to place them on critical teams and make them accountable for key elements of strategy execution.

To those of you who are 'One Percenters', I salute you and what you bring to every organization and to those of you who are not One Percentaers, I suggest that you get one on to your team fast because they will cover your back and get you out of many a tough predicament - of that you can be certain. 

Yours in execution,

ian

Related articles

Thinker in Residence: Q&A with Jackie Huba

The 'Noise' Factor - Why executing strategy is so hard

Every day we are confronted by events that distract us from what we are focusing on. This 'noise' can be anything from unproductive meetings to conflicting activities. Whatever they are, they are costly both to the organization and to the people that they impact and they are a poison to ensuring effective execution of strategy. Few CEO's have lost their jobs because of strategy. More, lose their jobs because of poor execution.

Here are some startling facts on 5 of the most common 'poisons':

1. Unproductive meetings
    > $3.7 billion is the estimated salary cost of unnecessary meetings for US businesses every year
    > 50% of all meetings are considered time wasted

2. Ambiguity
    > 37% of employees understand what their organization is trying to achieve and why
    > 38% of employee time is unproductive due to unclear objectives and poor team communication

3. Distractions / Information overload
    > $900 Billion is the estimated cost in lowered employee productivity and reduced innovation due to information overload
    > 8 hours per week is the estimated impact of information overload on each knowledge worker

4. Disorganization
    > 43% of Americans consider themselves disorganized
    > 59% of managers miss important information every day

5. Off-plan work
    > 90% of manager time is squandered on ineffective activities
    > 21% of managers have missed vital work deadlines

Other key 'noise' include duplication, conflicting actions, bungled hand-offs and missed deadlines or targets. 

The solution to diluting this 'noise' can be found in 9 areas, 5 of which are key:

1. Direction
2. Leadership
3. Culture and climate
4. Accountability
5. Co-ordination and control

 So if you are continuously falling short of strategic expectations, lookat the 'noise' that is bombarding your team every day and see what you can do to muffle it.

Yours in execution,

ian

Lessons from the trenches ~ Don't pretend

We all know the story - 5 frogs sitting on a log and 4 decide to jump off; how many are left? The answer is 5 because 'deciding' and 'doing' are two totally different things. Despite knowing this story, and the lesson it teaches, we have a tendency to act like our frogs everyday. Deciding one thing and doing another. There is another saying that I think sums this up well - 'we judge ourselves by our intentions, and others by their actions.' 

How often have you sat around a table with a group of people discussing an issue and everyone commits to an action that will help resolve the issue. And, then be back in the same room a few weeks later to find that the issue is still on the table and no action (or a few actions) has taken place.

It's the same with strategy execution. There has been research after research that highlight the gap between performance and strategy - that show the low percentage of CEOs who expect their strategy to be executed and yet, few are putting in place the 'action' to improve the situation.

I am all for making strategy simple, but that will require some rigorous action and I am not convinced that we are there yet. So, I will decide to sit with my frogs and keep them company.

Yours in execution,

ian

A lesson from the trenches ~ being devious doesn't get you anywhere

A CEO was approached by his executive assistant and told that the Management team had thought it critical to the business that they join a golf club so that they could entertain their agents. It was well known in the industry that agents were avid golfers and that alot of relationships were built that way and subsequently business gained. At least, that is what they told the executive assistant.

Before signing any membership forms to a golf club, the CEO approached a colleague who deals with alot of agents to see if they did indeed play golf only to be told that that was not the case. Whereupon the CEO called his Management team together and proceeded to make it known how disappointed he was in their behaviour including that of his executive assistant.

There are 3 points to this story:

1. Stay focused on what is important
   What irked the CEO was the fact that joining a golf club was not about the agents or the company but rather about the self-interests of the Management team. He had no doubt that agents would have been invited to play but the motivator was the individual self-interest of the Management team. The Management team had lost sight of what was important.
2. Be direct rather than devious
   By approaching the executive assistant and asking her to approach the CEO, the Management team appeared devious and their intentions questionable. We have all used at one time or another assistants to do our dirty work for us but in this case it was tantamount to sending a lamb-to-slaughter and a direct approach would have been better. 
3. Be courageous
   Knowing your boss and knowing what is important to him/her; knowing how she/he thinks and what they will say before they actually say it, is a sign that an assistant is aligned with the boss. In our story, the executive assistant knew instinctively that the answer would be 'no' but she went ahead and asked anyway. She needed to be courageous despite any pressure from the Management team. It is important that a CEO and the executive assistant are seen as one. 

So next time you approach an executive assistant with a request - ask yourself if a). you are focused on what's important and b). would the direct approach be better served. 

Yours in execution

ian

The Art of Making Strategy - Simple

Last month, as part of our Leadership Series I had the priviledge of interviewing the CEO of ING Direct Australia, Vaughn Richtor about strategy and strategy execution. The outcome of that interview is attached and is well worth a read for the insights that it highlights.

There are 10 lessons that we can all learn from Vaughn and the Leadership Team at ING Direct when it comes to strategy and the execution of that strategy. Those lessons are covered in the attached file.

Download The Art of Making Strategy Simple_ING Direct_2013

 

I hope you enjoy the Series.

Yours in execution,

ian