"Why do business plans and strategies so
often end up in the bottom drawer - forgotten and failed
- despite hundreds of hours of investigation, analysis and great
ideas"
THE PROBLEM: NO ALIGNMENT
Even the most practical ideas will
fail if they don't match up with your company's business goals.
Every idea must fit within a company's already-expressed mission,
vision, intentions and business objectives.
The solution: Start by confirming your corporate objectives (customer
service, financial performance, globalisation…) then map
every step of your implementation against those objectives. Not
only should the final objectives be aligned, even the implementation
process may need to be aligned. If you are trying to encourage
a strongly democratic culture, expect your project to follow a
consultative process.
THE PROBLEM: POOR PLANNING
Companies routinely underestimate what
it takes to execute a new idea. Optimists may be best at presenting
the ideas, but pessimists make the best planners.
The solution: Think through your process as though you were living
it. Actively seek out potential problems and risks. Identify all
dependencies or pre-requisites. Then determine what you lack and
- if the idea is still feasible - build it, buy it or outsource
it.
THE PROBLEM: NO MORAL COURAGE
In today's corporate environment,
new ideas are inherently risky -- so much so that even corporate
mavericks fear taking on something that might flop. People want
someone else to make the decision, and without that, they will
just sit on an idea."
The solution: Align incentives so that those who make big things
happen get big rewards, while those who try to make things happen
but fail aren't flogged. And when someone does fail, hold that
person up as a model -- someone who had the courage to try.
THE
PROBLEM: NO BATTLE LEADER
Moving an idea through the organizational
gauntlet to reality requires entrepreneurial leadership. The corporate
landscape is littered with good ideas that died because they were
orphans.
The solution: If you genuinely want to carry an idea forward,
designate a battle captain who is responsible for that idea and
who is authorized to make it happen.
THE PROBLEM: NO PERFORMANCE METRICS
Can the job be done - and
how will you know when it has been achieved. If you don't know
what tangible result you are striving for in the first place --
let alone how we are going to achieve it.
The solution: Start by defining a concrete desired result (if
its got to be better, exactly how much better and in what way),
and then work backward. Map out the entire implementation process,
from conception to delivery, and then put an experienced project
manager in charge of each step. Be especially clear in defining
the relationships between project phases.
THE PROBLEM: NO INTEGRATION
To execute an idea unless all the
pieces (human and technological) need to collaborate effectively.
Execution fails because it depends on a group of people or systems
working together who are not used to working together, and who
have completely different incentives.
The solution: Recognize that an organization's structure can impede
teamwork. Power often resides in business leaders who are not always
committed to the execution of a new idea. Create a "virtual
swat team" of trusted agents who have authority, who know
their part, and who will commit to executing the idea.
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