Why am I not achieving results from our strategy?

Have you ever experienced the following?

• The project is taking longer than we expected and won’t achieve our planned results much less hit the budget target.
• We provided all the tools and training but people seem to resist the change.
• We communicated how important the project was to the company and tried not to micro manage.
• The project manager is really smart and well respected but seems to focus mostly on the process and not results.

These comments highlight actual leadership struggles implementing important business critical strategies. The most common issue communicated- organizational resistance to change. According to Drucker, people really do not resist change. It is the way changes are introduced in organizations that they often object to. How many times have we been told (hoping I am not alone in this area) “it’s not what you said but how you said it”

Several common issues are present in one form or another, with organizations struggling to implement their strategy or mission critical project. Ask yourself the following questions in an effort to begin diagnosing your own situation.

• Where the people impacted by the change truly involved and early enough to feel ownership?
• Where the goals complimented with a clear, realistic plan (how are we going to achieve)?
• Do you really have the necessary resources (the right people with real available time) or are you assuming 120% capacity or possibly that customer issues will take a vacation?
• Are there milestones, project schedules or metrics established to manage the project and facilitate easy follow up?
• Are there contingency plans?
• Do you fully understand your organization’s readiness and capacity for change?
• Have I clearly communicated the vision or goal? So over stated and under rated-have you established either a burning platform or sense of urgency important to all those involved?

Expanding on the last and probably most important bullet… First, is the project really important or is it filler work to an already busy work day? Prove it; what is the business case? Don’t underestimate the organizations ability to digest business case logic for implementing change or executing a specific strategy. Second, I suggest considering the goal as a 3 dimensional object that can be viewed from many perspectives. Each perspective represents a different person or function on the team. Describe the goal from each perspective so that everyone is able to align themselves. Give them a change to get on board and make good decisions to support the cause.

One last comment about execution. Think of the leader’s role as one operating a complex machine with many levers. Imagine operating an earth moving machine that has many components. It is key to constantly view both what is far and near and make adjustments to 3, 4, 5 or more aspects like blade, direction, speed, depth, angle etc. It’s more than just making sure the process is in place or a stretch goal or a team is engaged. It’s also much more than the fanfare of project kickoff. More on this later.

What does success look like?

THE most important step in achieving outstanding results is being able to clearly and thoroughly define what success looks like. It’s not as easy as it may seem, requiring more than a quick meeting or creating a simple vision statement which in many instances is something like a two dimensional picture. Business is more complex and requires us to consider numerous perspectives. Mark Twain once said “I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want”.

Consider defining success as a three dimensional object that can be viewed from all angles. In order to clearly define the object, one has to consider the perspectives of all those we need to engage in making the words become a reality.

What does success look like from the owner perspective? What about finance or operations or human resources? The owner might be thinking legacy and industry reputation. The finance team wants cash in the bank or credit to support the business plan. Operations needs certain productivity levels, enabling technology or possibly supply chain partnerships. HR wants to be able to draw top talent, spend more time on development and less time on reports and systems.

Also, we can’t forget the most important perspective of all, that of the customer. What trends are driving the industry; what are they saying about your products or services; what are they not saying?

After clearly and thoroughly defining success, step back and using similar perspectives, describe your current reality. At this point it’s probably obvious that there is a gap between where you want or need to be and where you are. If you have done a thorough job with the process of defining success, you should have a team committed to develop the strategies and plans necessary to close the gap. Now, it’s all about execution.

“Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then we shall find the way.” Abraham Lincoln.