Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed? You just have too much to do and cannot really cope at that moment?
I recently reread a book and three articles on totally different subjects when it struck me how related they were.
All had a single message: Keep it simple. read more »
Any MD or leader senses that a change in strategy means a change in execution and in behaviour. I have clients who are by now well-versed in leading change and who really relish the execution process especially as they are experiencing success on various levels.
Others who have sailed through usually invigorating strategic planning sessions are still struggling in getting an execution process in place. To them the new processes and new systems which need to be mastered are daunting. They fail to committ themselves step by step.
Every MD knows that execution and changing the behaviour of those you lead are the difficult parts. Google glibly shows that about 15 million articles have been written about the “execution of strategy” and 6.6 million on “leading change”. Save yourself some reading by reading only one checklist on leading change, developed by John P. Kotter, formerly from Harvard University, the preeminent change guru.*1 I abbreviated the content of his eight points to make it even easier.
Why do so few entrepreneurs put a proper set of systems in place? Most of my clients started their companies as entrepreneurs who progressed far in an intuitive and practical manner. In the course of building their companies, most installed two or more excellent systems. However, this was often done piecemeal and not as part of a greater scheme of things. Most are PC-based systems. Very often crucial soft systems are not in place e.g. planning and execution systems.
The result is that many MDs experience serious strain each day. As MD you might consider expanding your already successful company, products and services but baulk at doing as you are afraid that the load which you personally carry will increase. The problem is that you are the system. All operations run through you. You experience unhealthy strain and overwhelm. Any change or expansion will only increase your personal load. read more »
A client enthusiastically drew my attention to an article about operational innovation as a way to change a company. This article is so full of down-to-earth common sense that I would like to share some of its ideas with all my clients.
Michael Hammer, author of Deep Change – How Operational Innovation Can Transform a Company (Harvard Business Review, April 2004), provided an example in the USA auto insurance business which might also intrigue you. All South Africans will have noted what our insurance companies have been doing over the past five years. We have all seen a series of insurance ads on TV. You may even have experienced a better service. It would appear that some SA insurance companies had taken note of what Progressive Insurance did. Although you may not in the insurance industry, what could you consider doing with reference to this example? read more »
keywords: innovation, leadership, organisational learningA client of mine asked me whether I had done my planning for the next year? I answered “Yes” and “No”.
Another asked, “how to get a fresh perspective for the year that lies ahead? How to avoid that January turns out to be more of the same?” read more »
keywords: annual plan, balanced scorecard, organisation, scenario conversationThe business and financial worlds have changed dramatically. The traditional approach to planning in no longer sufficient. We live in turbulent times. For 20 recession-free years, the business environments in most countries were relatively simple. This is no longer the case. A recession and globalisation have changed our business environments.
To match new circumstances we need to use better planning tools such as scenario conversations. This tool has been around for decades but has largely been unused. Has your company ever used a broad scenario conversation as a precursor to developing its strategic and operational plans? read more »
keywords: organisation, strategic conversations, strategic planningAll of my clients know that I enthuse about the simplicity of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), Strategy Maps and the BSC itself, developed by Kaplan and Norton. Today, in a discussion with a client company’s knowledgeable director, I could again sense that the seemingly complexity of a BSC Strategy Map is so off-putting to some senior staff members working under pressure that the easy way out would be to say “we cannot set aside the time to develop and implement the map.”
Of course, people do not like complexity or change. But as I have observed in a previous post On being a (business) student, mastering a few simple planning principles is often only a case of putting aside a few hours. Compare this minute effort to the hours that go into obtaining a degree or the hours which goes into reading a Sunday newspaper (every Sunday). read more »
keywords: balanced scorecard, business planning, organisation, strategy mapsA small independent community bank in Iowa, USA, has adopted the “Good to Great” framework developed by Jim Collins. They are struggling to build a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) that accommodates this framework.
“How could the Balanced Scorecard be aligned to Good to Great’s three components of Disciplined People, Disciplined Thought, and Disciplined Action?” Shane Tiernan, who leads strategic planning in this bank, visited my website. He e-mailed the question to me.
Fortunately, this alignment can be done fairly easily. The BSC framework can accommodate any theory. read more »
keywords: balanced scorecard, Good to Great, managing change, organisationTwo clients drew comparisons between a constitution and a mission statement.
South Africa reached an important milestone in 1994 with the creation of a new constitution. There are strong similarities between a government and a company. For one, a company which wishes to delve deep and create a new mission is really developing a new constitution. read more »
keywords: company mission, constitution, organisationMost people sense there is value in planning. They intuitively know that planning will lead to a greater definition of what they wish to achieve and to actions which will grow their businesses. A frequent question is: How to move from absolutely no formal planning to some form of planning? read more »
keywords: balanced scorecard, organisation, planning