SIX DISCIPLINES EXECUTION REVOLUTION

Six Disciplines Publishing

Contents

Introduction.................................................................1Chapter 1 Business Excellence...............................................5Chapter 2 The Biggest Problem in Business...................................23Chapter 3 Why Is It So Difficult?...........................................33Chapter 4 The Leapfrog Opportunity..........................................43Chapter 5 Requirements for a Next-Generation Program........................63Chapter 6 The First Complete Strategy Execution Program.....................77Chapter 7 A Repeatable Methodology..........................................91Chapter 8 Accountability Coaching...........................................103Chapter 9 An Execution System...............................................121Chapter 10 Community Learning................................................141Chapter 11 Make Solving All Other Problems Easier............................157Chapter 12 An Enduring Pursuit...............................................165Final Thoughts...............................................................179Notes........................................................................181Resources....................................................................185Index........................................................................189Acknowledgements.............................................................192About the Author.............................................................193Ready to Join The Revolution?................................................196

Chapter One

"After many years, I've finally come to view excellence as the enduring pursuit of balanced strategy and execution."

Before tackling the biggest problem in business, we need to drop back to a more foundational topic. We need to define strategy, execution, and their relationship to business excellence.

In my experience, most leaders of small and midsized organizations do not have a clear understanding of the relationship between strategy, execution, and excellence. This is easy for me to believe because, as a CEO of a successful company for twenty years, I didn't understand these principles myself. Most business leaders are so consumed by their businesses they don't take the time to develop such perspectives.

The purpose of this chapter is to weave strategy and execution into a single model for understanding enduring business excellence. We'll provide a common framework for a meaningful dialogue about where you are in terms of your business, how you got there, and how to develop a vision of where you'd like to go.

What Is Excellence?

Whenever I meet business leaders, I take the opportunity to ask them two questions: (1) What does excellence mean to you? and (2) Do you think you've achieved it? Two truths emerge. First, no two people define excellence exactly the same way. Their definition evolves as they learn and as circumstances change. Second, nearly everyone agrees that excellence is a journey, not a destination. As a result, no one who's serious about excellence believes he or she is "there" yet.

The conclusion is that excellence is an enduring pursuit and, therefore, requires an enduring approach. According to Samuel Johnson, excellence is a "lifelong pursuit for most who attain it. Nothing less will do."

After many years, I've finally come to see that excellence requires on-going balance between strategy and execution. Strategy requires choosing what promises to make to all stakeholders and a roadmap for delivering on those promises. Execution requires getting there while overcoming an unending number of surprises. Of the two, execution is far more difficult to achieve, but it is impossible without solid strategy. Learning how to continually balance these two is the key to excellence. This is why excellence is a journey that never ends. Everyone, however, doesn't see it that way. To illustrate, let me relate one story. I was speaking to a large Chamber of Commerce recently, and, after I posed these two questions ("what is excellence?" and "have you achieved it?") to the assembly, one woman said she thought she had achieved excellence. This response was highly unusual.

I tried not to show surprise during my speech, but quickly made a note to myself to speak to her after the event. When I finally did talk to "Jan," I asked what business she was in and how she had turned it into an excellent one. Her answer was not what I expected.

I learned that she ran a fairly small business that provided portable storage units, and she was ecstatic because sales had almost doubled in the last thirty days. I asked if she knew why, but she didn't.

It turned out this spike in sales occurred three weeks after a flood in the area. So I probed a little to find out whether she thought this unfortunate situation might have driven demand temporarily. She didn't believe this was the reason, thinking her good fortune was a mark of excellence.

I walked away wondering about her notion of excellence, and whether she'd think her organization was excellent in twelve months. I recognized this short-term mindset only because I'd been where she was many times in my life as an entrepreneur and business owner-before I began to see this pattern in my own thinking.

Introducing the Business Excellence Model

Simply put, the focus and capability of an organization can be understood in two dimensions: strategy (deciding what to do) and execution (getting it done). Figure 1.0 shows a model of these dimensions using four quadrants of performance. Quadrant I is strong strategy with weak execution, Quadrant II is strong strategy with strong execution, and so forth.

Leaders who build organizations with the ability to balance strong strategy with strong execution over long periods of time achieve enduring excellence. In this chapter, we'll explore the topic of excellence more completely. And, in the remainder of the book, we'll explore how you can go about pursuing it.

Before moving on, I want to acknowledge Michael Porter for his profound and comprehensive views on strategy. In particular, I recommend his well-known article, "What is Strategy?" which is available from Harvard Business Review.

In the article, Porter summarizes strategy as choosing a set of activities, a different and unique set of activities that sets one apart from the competition. Porter summarizes, "the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do." In other words, creating a distinctive strategy is all about making good choices, as well as good trade-off s. Southwest Airlines illustrated the power of such choice years ago when it set out to specialize in short, direct-connect flights and chose not to be a global airline.

Now, let's consider the execution dimension (horizontal axis) of the business excellence model. This dimension is characterized by a relentless drive for improvement: seeking to perform a chosen set of activities better than the competition. While strategy is about combining best choices and...