Smarter Execution: Seven steps to getting results (Financial Times Series)

Two strategic initiatives out of three fail. They are actually a huge challenge for “more-of-the-same, better-and-better”, companies. Indeed, their cross-organization scope violates all principles of silo efficiency.

Strategic initiatives are precisely not “more of the same.” Smarter Execution identifies seven key steps that managers need to get to grips with if they are to reap the full benefits of their strategic initiatives:

¨    Focus first—less is more

¨    Pick the best possible team—don’t compromise

¨    Set the course—learn to navigate to a destination that is not yet fully defined

¨    Set up to win—there is no “commitment switch”: it starts with you

¨    Think it through—rehearse mentally each next step, leaving no stone unturned

¨    Get all aboard—it’s about getting people to change the way they work

¨    Follow through—to learn on the go

The authors, Xavier Gilbert, Bettina Büchel, and Rhoda Davidson, have been working with several hundred executives to help them execute their strategic initiatives. Time and again, they have seen how these seemingly common-sense insights were actually unexpectedly difficult to apply in most “efficient” organizations