Getting Stuff Done

The Mystic Power of Executable Frameworks Definition: Executable Framework -  A  structure that provides the rationale, governance and direction for the implementation of a strategy

"82% of Fortune 500 CEO's feel their organization did an effective job of strategic planning. Only 14% of the same CEO's indicated that their organization did an effective job of implementing the strategy." - Forbes Magazine

There are many (too many perhaps?) methods, philosophies, mantra's and formulae for achieving so called business success. The cry from our clients though is always - please explain in simple terms - what needs to be done, by whom, how and when. The rest is either fun, boring or plain overhead. (Well you know what we mean)

Often the current reality is that teams are busy working hard, but on different priorities.  Plans get iterated with heady regularity. The water cooler conversation is one of rudderless panic and increasing scepticism. Managers spend way too much putting out fires and in fact they don¹t actually have the time to manage. Leaders spend time with lofty aspirations and spend too little time actually leading. Programs are often overdue and over budget.

"From a process perspective, we often note a collective sigh of relief when, through collaboration, debate and challenge, role players understand and agree on 'what' needs to be done.  Allocating the 'who' and 'when' is the fun part, and unpacking the 'how' is the 'now we are talking business' part." Michelle Booysen

In strategy creation the gap between expressing the problem (or opportunity of course) is often an indeterminate period of research, assessment, analysis and choosing between options. Depending on your choice of weapon fun, boring or an overhead.

We actually thought about this and asked ourselves why couldn't we change the game and force these two ends of the process together and make the whole thing a heap more action focused and rewarding for the players.

What's New?

We started with execution in mind. We turned it end first. What is the outcome we want and work back but within a structured executable framework. Simple enough. In order to be decisive and know who does what when and how we figured that that's where we should start. Obviously there is a lot of factors governing this outcome so its important to explain how we achieve this but fundamentally hold that thought. The missing bits in the next part of thinking like this was the forcing mechanisms for choosing and knowing why we chose. Also allowing for what we no longer know what we thought to be so.

So we created structures. After countless cases where we have seen the fruits, we started to observe that these structures contain massive power. They contain two vital ingredients. The team and Visualisation. The framework does the rest. By building the frameworks as a team the choices become understood and then ranked, priority leads to shared courage or the need to go get more data and then the energy for a decision is engaged within the teams DNA. Owned.

Filling the white space between what we know, what we don¹t know and what we want to do about it.

Action

"A sharp and valid framework in which effective process mapping delivers outcomes is so simplistic that at times I am quite amazed at the exponential benefits it delivers. It is fun, for us as process architects and for role players. It delivers. The magic with clear and actionable process is that it IS execution, hence it is about outcomes. It creates space for creative thinking, for improvement, for new energy. It makes visualization real and defines the team." - Michelle Booysen

Honeywell¹s ex-CEO Larry Bossidy - "Organizations don't execute unless the right people, individually and collectively, focus on the right details at the right time."

Focusing on the right details at the right time.

Actionable. Our definition is that its clearly defined, owned and resourced within an agreed set of tasks and within a sequence of related events against an agreed timeline. * Execution means that it will be done. Owned, governed and there are outcomes that contribute to a required change or an effect.

Cutting through the traditional and ritualised corporate ways and means takes courage and committed leaders. The prize is big. High engagement and people with the confidence in their own knowledge of things is at the root of belief and empowerment. For teams to have shared their own planning and executable strategies is a simple idea but without structured and executable thinking its just another well meaning idea waiting to be blown off course by cultural or political subjectivity or terrorism and tyranny.