The Road Less Stupid: Advice from the Chairman of the Board by Keith J. Cunningham

Author:Keith J. Cunningham [Cunningham, Keith J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Keys to the Vault
Published: 2017-11-21T00:00:00+00:00

NOW . . . Go Think! You will thank me later.

KJC

Chapter 29

Execution

The solution to a problem is really just another word for your “strategy.” The strategy is your idea about how you will overcome the obstacle that is preventing you from obtaining the desired outcome.

The success of all strategies ultimately depends on execution. You can have the greatest strategy in the world, but if the strategy is not consistently executed, it will fail. The obvious corollary is that a poor strategy perfectly executed will also fail.

My experience is that most people don’t have what they want in their lives because they consistently select solutions they either cannot or will not consistently execute. Deciding on a solution that is inconsistent or misaligned with the requisite skills/resources, coupled with erratic execution, fails.

If you consult any MBA textbook or business guru on the subject of strategy, you will be instructed to select a strategy first and then figure out what skills, tactics, or resources you need to execute the strategy selected. The experts will tell you that strategy should determine skills, tactics, and resources. Said in plain English, this means the plan should dictate the execution. I think this is a great theory, but unfortunately it is fraught with problems and will work only if you have unlimited time and money.

We have all witnessed great plans and elegant solutions that never materialize because the strategy is not grounded in the reality of commitment, skills, expertise, resources, and available time. (A footnote to this point: Time is the enemy of choices. The shorter the time, the fewer the choices.)

Management teams that consistently fix their problems and achieve their outcomes invariably look first to their existing/accessible skills, capabilities, and resources before deciding on a course of action and a final solution.

Here it is on a bumper sticker: Start where you are. Don’t let perfect get in the way of possible. Or as my dad used to tell me, “Shiny shoes don’t help you walk any faster.” I’ll say this a different way: the goal is not to get the anchor all the way back into the boat. To make forward progress, we only need to get it a quarter of an inch off the bottom.

Prior to selecting any solution to a situation in need of improvement, check your assumptions about:

What am I really capable of doing?

What am I willing to do?

Is this solution congruent with our existing (or easily acquired) skills, resources, and level of commitment?

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