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Spiralling Up

Appreciation

Re: Avoiding the cover of FORTUNE 

When Fortune magazine screamed "Why CEO’s Fail", I looked at the doomed faces and thought, "That’s one cover I sure wouldn’t want my picture on." My second thought was "Yeah, why do they fail?" Do you want to know? Because they boiled it all down to one lack. It wasn’t a shortage of good ideas, or vision, or deal- making. It was far less glamorous and more pedestrian than that. They couldn’t execute. Or rather their companies couldn’t execute under their leadership. Sure they could come up with the strategies, they just couldn’t get them to stick to the wall. They can say we’re going into, say, E-commerce, but it just isn’t happening. I mean out there in the market or on the office floor, or on the computers.

"But Doug, I’m not in that class - those Fortune 500 companies. Talk about what applies to me."

Well, I hate to say it, but in 14 years of being an ongoing resource to more than 20 successful entrepreneurial companies as their corporate lives unfold, I wouldn’t disagree with the tendency.

How do entrepreneurs fall into that trap? Entrepreneur’s Disease. Entrepreneurs, being who they are (quick to respond to an opportunity) lose interest fast. Last month’s raging focus is this month’s bore. That’s where I come in. My mission is to help leaders identify and accomplish what will make the long term difference. That often means transitioning their company from a venture with a shot at success to a long-term, built-to-last (-succeed,-pay off,-make a difference,-be admired and respected) enterprise. Then we stay the course, avoiding distraction, building the core of what counts, taking the patient, persistent road that creates real value. This sounds ponderous, and compared to flitting from flower to flower, I suppose it is. The road to mastery lies there. We can point to many flower-flitters who’ve never grown into anything compelling.

Execution makes a difference, a big difference. What do I watch for as a company strives to gain that edge?

• Clarity of Purpose: Knowing what your organization is there to do is wonderfully focusing. The people who study breakthrough thinking say it over and over. Getting clear on what we’re here for will sort out 90% of what could take the company (or project, not-for-profit, or partnership) off track. If you’re looking for a breakout, it’s the same story. "What are we really here to do?" asked over and over will lead to new ways of providing old services, and allow you to scoop.

• Avoiding Distraction: How many ways are there to lose the way? This spring, Derek and I walked the ancient pilgrimage road to Santiago in northern Spain, looking for inspiration. One thing was clear.

As the temptation to sit in the roadside bar a while longer was strong, as pilgrims we were all there for one thing: to go to the cathedral. It was time to get walking again. 

• Pared Down, Sensible Business Processes: Serving customers in business usually means following step by step from expression of interest to final satisfaction. Whenever we help our clients map out a business process and clean it up, we always find huge opportunities to carve out cost and wasted cycles. That delivers results cleanly, fast and at low cost. Sound appealing? It’s a simple, quick and effective way to get more on the ball.

• A Managed Implementation Pipeline: Remember the Entrepreneurs’ disease above? Last month I ran a planning session in a very implementation-skilled company (not too many of these, believe me!). What is one like? This outfit can determine to adopt a new business practice, schedule it to be implemented and get it operational on time and meet performance expectations. Others have a million ideas they’re going to try but few of them hit the ground running. Then their leaders justify that it wasn’t a very good idea in the first place. No wonder their staff give them lip service! And the skilled company? One project a month is what we settled on and scheduled. Their record? 50% growth last year, Entrepreneur of the Year finalist ‘98, Small Business of the Year finalist ‘99. Does execution make a difference? Way to go, S.I.!!

• Cultivating High Trust: When people trust each other, they’re not reluctant. If there have been hidden agendas, formal corporate communication that is shallow and done in business-speak while the real story is told in gossip, tolerated incompetence, little respect for the truth when it’s told, or lack of commitment then we have a hard time getting through any business process that requires collaborative action (I mean, more than one person has to contribute to it). Result: execution urgency drops dramatically with every new person involved until it peters out. Collaborative work slows to a crawl, and people prefer to withdraw into their own domains.

• Solid Alliances: It’s a modern fact that businesses cannot do everything themselves. Those that tried have sunk of their own weight. We make alliances with suppliers, with customers, with professionals, with financiers. When those are built for long-term resilience, not just short-term convenience, they stand the test of time. Every alliance is going to hit a rough spot. Our prevailing North American attitude is - if you cross me, I’ll get somebody else. Try that two or three times and what have you got? Starting over two or three times. I’d like somebody to explain how that saves money! Preparing to go through the tests together upfront is what we get alliance candidates ready for - and it does pay off!

Sometimes you and your organization just have to bear down. It’s not the most glamorous pastime, but only by staying on track will worthwhile, long-haul competitive advantage emerge.

And if your record is not what it could be in the execution department, consider that it probably won’t get any better unless you introduce a new element into the equation. Our successful clients have found that company builder facilitation is that element.

Our facilitation and mentoring often is found here. It is our job to help sort out the fluffy, good ideas from the long-haul company makers. And our job to build buy-in, coach and pull our clients through until the really worthwhile result is achieved. Helping leaders identify and accomplish what will be deeply satisfying. That is our work.

So Success = Execution. Hmmm…maybe I’ll think about it.

Doug Bouey

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