How many of us are really getting the results we want? How many of us know why? And why not? A fundamental reason, the root cause for many is that we are missing a sound strategy, lack the ability to execute tactically, or both.
“It’s what you don’t know that you don’t know that will hurt you.”
Feel the Future is Uncertain? Want to Nail Down a Path Through the Fog of Confusion?
“We were spending so much time planning for the next year and the next five years that our units were not making their current quarterly earnings.” From a Memo to executives “There will be no more long-range planning.” — Harold Geneen, CEO, IT&T, Managing, Doubleday, 1984
The world changed in December of 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT. Whether you like it or not, businesses are employing AI in every industry and just about all jobs performed by those who went to college.
Hundreds of millions of employees will find the way they do their work drastically changed. The same goes for entrepreneurs and business owners.
There is a way to map a course into the future — it’s called SKILL MAPPING.
https://legacee.com/skills-and-expertise/21st-century-skills/skill-mapping
TAKE ACTION: Get Started by taking a Crash Course Or by Developing Your Vision.
“A competitive world has two possibilities for you. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.” — Lester Thoreau, Dean, Sloan School of Management, M.I.T., 60 Minutes, February 7, 1988
Craft Your Vision: Get Future Ready
IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO NOT KNOW WHAT SKILLS YOU NEED TO DEVELOP to have a successful career.
Don’t be a bit player. Get future ready and map our the roles you need to play on the stage of business.
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Overview
Planning can be an extremely complex activity that can take months, as in the case of a strategic plan, or a few minutes, as in the case of making up a to-do list. There are also major disconnects between strategy and implementation.
An additional complication is like whether the solution involves a project or a process. A project is a series of tasks that occur once such as building a dam or a highway. A process in an activity that occurs again and again such as filling out an invoice or typing a letter.
This process is planning is critical to flawless execution and getting the results you desire. How many of us are really getting the results we want? How many of us know why? And why not? A fundamental reason, the root cause for many is that we are missing a sound strategy, lack the ability to execute tactically, or both.
Three Strategy Formulation Guidelines
Think
The kings of yore had advisors, individuals valued for keen insight and sound judgment. Plus they lacked the hidden agendas embedded in the minions around the sovereign.
We all need someone to talk to, someone who shoots straight with honest feedback. By this, we mean someone who is not just a professor, not just a consultant; who is not a sycophant and can teach, coach and mentor.
Use the Right Mental Tools
One must realize that one doesn’t know everything one needs to know. While most people focus on money as the primary limit to growth, we focus on the lack or misuse of the mental tools needed to run the business. Abraham Maslow’s famous quote applies here, “If you only have a hammer, you see every problem as a nail.” It’s important to learn and master the key mental tools one will use over and over. This is rarely taught in universities. But it can be learned.
Turn Strategy Into a Process
Most people have no way to improve how they formulate strategy since there is no standard process. Repeatability is important — for if a process cannot be repeated, it can be improved.
“Doing the right thing is important, which is where strategy comes in. But doing that thing well—execution—is what sets companies apart. After all, every football play is designed to go for a huge gain. The reason it doesn’t is because of execution—people drop balls, miss blocks, go to the wrong place, and so forth. So, success depends on execution—on the ability to get things done.” — Jeffery Pfeffer in (Kawasaki, 2007)
A Sample Strategy Tool
Means-Ends planning looks at how to best determine the proper steps that must be completed for the current state to become the desired state.
Steps 1: Define the current and desired states (The Ends)
Determine where to start—either at the current state and then working forward or at the future state and then working backward.
Step 2: Partition the Effort (The Means)
- The solution gets divided into parts.
- Generate appropriate subgoals or milestones
- Work the most difficult, most important milestones first.
- Fill in the tasks between each milestone
Step 3: Determine the Timeline
Many different formats are available. These include action plans, Gantt charts, responsibility charts, and critical path networks.
Step 4: Add in any costs
“If history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.” — Warren Buffett Financier and investor, April 17, 1988, The Washington Post
Resources and References
Bodley-Scott, Sam (2005). Implementation: How to Transfer Strategic Initiatives into Blockbuster Results. McGraw-Hill.
Bossidy, Larry, Charan, Ram and Burck, Charles (2002). Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. Crown Business.
Drucker, Peter (2006). The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting Things Done. HarperBusiness Essentials.
Kawasaki, Guy (2007). How To Change the World, Ten Questions With Jeffrey Pfieffer. How to Change the World: A Practical Blog For Impractical People.
Morgan, Mark, Levitt, Raymond and Malek, William (2008). Executing Your Strategy: How to Break it Down and Get it Done. Harvard Business Review Press.
Neilson, Gary, Martin, Karla and Powers, Elizabeth (2008). The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution. Harvard Business Review, June.
Sundheim, Doug (2013). Closing The Chasm Between Strategy and Execution. HBR Blog Network.
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