StrategyDriven

“Execution is where the rubber meets the road.”

Nathan Ives
Principal Contributor
StrategyDriven

Strategy without execution is nothing more than wishful thinking pursued with hope. No organization achieves true success unless it is able to effectively execute its initiatives. It is only through execution that leadership’s strategic vision is married to reality.

Tactical execution refers to the collection of actions taken and decisions made at all levels of the organization in the here and now; actions and decisions that ultimately shape the company’s future. Effective execution occurs when the right things get done efficiently. In organizations that execute effectively, leaders continually focus their workforce on accomplishing the priority activities defined by the strategic plan while workers strive to perform those activities in the most efficient manner possible.

Establishing a culture of effective execution requires executives and managers to master the art of interpersonal relationships and the skill of orchestrating simultaneous performance of a myriad of technical processes. Topics requiring mastery include:

• Standards and Expectations
• Talent Management
• Training and Development
• Portfolio Management
• Program Management
• Project Management
• Organizational Operations Methodologies and Practices

Execution is the life blood of successful organizations. Posts in this category are dedicated to discussing the leading practices of companies that effectively execute their business initiatives and operations to the fulfillment of the organization’s strategic vision.

Popularity: 98% [?]

---

If you're new to StrategyDriven, please consider subscribing to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag posts on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 3a - An Interview with Forrest Breyfogle, author of Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume I - The Basics explores how to achieve organizational performance improvements through the use of the Integrated Enterprise Excellence system. During our discussion, Forrest Breyfogle, author of Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume I - The Basics: Golfing Buddies Go Beyond Lean Six Sigma and the Balanced Scorecard and CEO of Smarter Solutions, a global management coaching and consulting firm specializing in the design and application of innovative enterprise-wide performance measures and business solutions, shares his insights regarding:

• the importance of an integrated approach to organizational performance improvement
• how using the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) model at the enterprise and project levels can drive performance improvement
• acquisition of critical option value insights through the use of the Design of Experiements (DOE) approach
• how other business managment approaches such as Total Quality Management (TQM), the Theory of Constraints (TOC), SMART goals, and ISO 9000 are related to the Integrated Enterprise Excellence system

Additional Information

Complimenting the outstanding insights Forrest shares in Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume I - The Basics and this special edition podcast, are the organizational performance improvement materials and resources found on his website, Smarter Solutions (www.SmarterSolutions.com). Forrest also offers free one-day seminars throughout the United States. For additional information regarding these seminars, click here.

As mentioned in the podcast, Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume I - The Basics, is just one of four books in the Integrated Enterprise Excellence series which includes:

• The Integrated Enterprise Excellence System: An Enhanced, Unified Approach to Balanced Scorecards, Strategic Planning, and Business Improvement
• Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume I - The Basics: Golfing Buddies Go Beyond Lean Six Sigma and the Balanced Scorecard
• Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume II - Business Deployment: A Leaders’ Guide for Going Beyond Lean Six Sigma and the Balanced Scorecard
• Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume III - Improvement Project Execution: A Management and Black Belt Guide for Going Beyond Lean Six Sigma and the Balanced Scorecard

Final Request…

The strength in our community grows with the additional insights brought by our expanding member base. Please consider voting for us on Podcast Alley by clicking here. Casting your vote for the StrategyDriven Podcast improves our ranking and helps us attract new listeners which, in turn, helps us grow our community.

Thank you again for listening to the StrategyDriven Podcast !

---

Forrest W. Breyfogle III, author of Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume I - The Basics, is CEO of Smarter Solutions, a global management coaching and consulting firm specializing in the design and application of innovative enterprise-wide performance measures and business solutions. For over 15 years, Forrest has advised company leaders and their teams on how to improve their organization’s performance through the use of his Integrated Enterprise Excellence system. In 2004, Forrest received the prestigious Crosby Medal from the American Society for Quality for his earlier book, Implementing Six Sigma. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the University of Texas Center for Performance Excellence. To read Forrest’s full biography, click here.

Nathan A. Ives is a Strategy & Operations Manager at Deloitte Consulting LLP, a StrategyDriven contributor, and co-Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over fifteen years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at numerous Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Popularity: 45% [?]

Experience is almost universally valued. Those possessing it are viewed as being superior; able to perform tasks with more practiced efficiency and more easily recognizing and responding to challenges that would otherwise inhibit forward progress. The question, therefore, is this: “For a given position, will one’s experience-based effectiveness grow without limit?”

Personal experience, workforce observations, managerial interviews, and academic research suggest that experience-based performance improvement is not unlimited. Changing business environments and workforce demographics will always converge to create new, unique challenges. Yet, for most, the peak proficiency gained while doing one’s core work is not likely to radically change because, at the micro-level, experience creating changes tend to occur more incrementally. Without significant changes and challenges at the manager or contributor levels, learning stops once peak proficiency is attained through repetitive practice.

Through an informal combination of experience, observation, and research, and assuming an individual ascending to a position possesses a knowledge, skill, and experience basis that makes him or her equal to the task, I have found that a three year period often represents the time-based experience needed to reach peak experiential performance. (See Figure 1) In the first year of assuming a new position, an individual embarks on a rapid learning curve; routinely facing unexpected challenges and simply learning and becoming qualified to perform routine day-to-day tasks. Having established this baseline knowledge in the first year, the individual begins to experience a recurrence of similar challenges leading to proficiency in the performance of routine tasks in the second year; enabling him or her to more efficiently navigate these obstacles and to become more proactive. In the third year, leveraging the practiced knowledge, skill, and experience acquired, the individual attains peak performance proficiency, becomes recognized as a high performer, and is considered for career broadening assignments. At this point, the individual must stave off the overconfidence that can lead to complacency and diminished performance. It is also at this time that the individual, if not reassigned or presented with other challenging growth opportunities, will stop developing; resulting in plateaued performance and subsequently yielding no additional benefit growth to the organization or the person.

Final Thoughts…

The time to reach ones peak performance potential varies based on individual ability and assignment characteristics. Three years to peak proficiency assumes an executive, managerial, professional, or knowledge-based position. These offer the individual with an evolving task and problem set that, while possessing similar characteristics, does differ from day-to-day and assignment-to-assignment. Other positions can be so highly repetitive and/or require a low enough skill level that they can be mastered in a much shorter period of time. While individuals in these positions will experience a similar learning curve, they progress through each phase at a much faster rate and achieve peak proficiency in a much shorter timeframe.

An organization realizes an ever increasing risk of loss once an individual reaches peak performance. While executives and managers often want to ensure a subordinate can sustain peak performance for some period before offering broadening activities or promotion, individuals, particularly top performers, will desire new and interesting challenges more immediately. Increased communication and a balanced approach to professional development is required to retain the employee; lest they be lost to other organizations willing to provide such personal and professional gratification.

---

Nathan A. Ives is a Strategy & Operations Manager at Deloitte Consulting LLP, a StrategyDriven contributor, and co-Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over fifteen years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at numerous Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Popularity: 45% [?]