Excellence

In
E
Execution
ti
Ramki
@g g p
ramakrishnan@gmrgroup.in
Prelude
On a casual reading of the above topic, it looks simple. After all, a culture of
execution is where you “walk to talk”. But then in real life it is really not so. There is
always a gap between expectations and achievements,
achievements goals and ends and
objectives and results.
What causes this Gap? Is it lack of planning, absence of systems, paucity of efforts
or inadequacy
q y of training?
g Were wrong g p
people
p p put on the jjob,, was the operating
p g
environment not conducive, were the support systems inaccurate, the interaction
and integration of objectives, functions and tasks poorly done, leadership not
inspiring, follow through inadequate etc. etc. The answers to these questions
would emerge in the post mortem of failure in all cases.
cases Companies would realize
why and where they went wrong by asking the right questions- but alas at the
wrong time. They will learn from their mistakes- hopefully-or else will disappear
from the corporate landscape sooner than later.
Companies with an Execution Culture address all these issues BEFOREHAND and
hence ENSURE achievement of the desired results.
What is the Execution culture, what are its components, inter-linkages and how to
build such culture is the challenge the companies have in hand
The Changing face of Strategy
Archaic Modern

Strategy in intellectual domain Strategy in action domain

Strategy separated from Strategy is execution

execution

Strategy dictated execution Execution dictates strategy

A winner was one with good A winner is a good executor

gy
strategy
What is Execution ?
 The art of “GETTING THINGS DONE”

 Science with clear INPUTS, PROCESSES & OUTPUTS

 “Dictates” Strategy
gy

 Bridges the gap between

“Promises
Promises & Results”
Results

 Walk the Talk

Execution is not
not…
•Distinct from Strategy, People & Operations, but central to
them

• Mere Compliance / Conformity

• Mere intellectual capability to perceive, but the power of

li b to
limbs t produce
d

• Keeping pace with the Organization,

Organization but sets the pace at
which Organizations move
Execution

Then why this is neglected

• Not intellectually challenging

• Confused with micro Management &“Do it yourself”

• Considered subservient to strategy

Traditional Execution of the Strategy
 Clarity of
purpose
Vision

Course
Role
corrections
Clarity
-Review

Components
of
Execution

Resource Inter
availability dependence

Performance
Standards
Clarity
Clarity of Purpose & Vision
Focus & Synergy
Clarity –Do they know what is most important ?
Commitment – Do they want to do it ?
Translation –Do they know how to do it ?
Discipline –Do they sustain the course ?
Synergy – Do they work together ?
 Enabling
 Collaboration
 Trust
 Accountability
External Focus
Three building blocks of Execution

Having Right people in Right Place 3

Creating Execution Culture 2

Leader’s 7 essential behaviors

1
Building Block -1

Leader’s 7 essential behaviors

Know your People & Business
 Leaders have to live their business.
 In companies that don
don’tt execute,
execute the leaders are usually out
of touch with the day-to-day realities
 The bulk of the information that reaches them is filtered-
presented by their direct reports with their own perceptions
& agendas
Insist on Realism
Realism- The reality Check
 Realism is the heart of execution,
but many organizations are full of
people who are trying to avoid or
shade reality,
reality because it is
uncomfortable or too revealing of
the mistakes made
 Start by being realistic yourself.
Then make sure realism is the
goal of all dialogues in the
organization
Set Goals & Priorities
 Leaders who execute focus on a very few clear
priorities
i iti that
th t everyone can grasp
 Focusing on three of four priorities will produce the
best results for the resources at hand
 People in contemporary
organizations need a small
number of clear priorities to
execute
t wellll
Follow Through
 Clear, simple goals don’t mean much if nobody
takes them seriously
 The failure to follow through is widespread in
business, and a major cause of poor execution
 Leaders must surface
conflicts that stand in the
way of achieving results &
create follow-through
Reward the Doers
 If you want people to produce specific results, you
rewardd them
th accordingly.
di l
 This fact seem so obvious, yet many corporation do
such a poor job of linking rewards to performance that
there’s little correlation at all
 When companies don’t
execute, chances are they
don’tt measure,
don measure don don’tt reward,
reward
and don’t promote people
who know how to g get things
g
done
Enhance People’s
People s Capabilities via Coaching
• As a leader, you’ve acquired a lot of knowledge and
experience – even wisdom – along the way. way Your job is
passing it on the next generation of leaders.
• This is
Thi i how
h you expand d the
th capabilities
biliti off everyone else
l ini
your organization, collectively and individually.
Know yourself
Without emotional fortitude, you can’t be honest with yourself,
d l honestly
deal h tl with
ith business
b i & organizational
i ti l realities,
liti or give
i
people forthright assessments.

This emotional
fortitude is comprised of
4 core qualities:

 Authenticity
 Self-awareness
S lf
 Self-mastery
 Humility
Jack Welch
Welch’s
s Hands-On
Hands On Management
In the mid-1990s, a friend told Jack Welch, General Electric’s CEO, about a new
methodology for making a quantum increase in inventory turns in manufacturing
operations. It was thought that GE could generate cash if it could increase its
inventory turns across the company. The leading practitioner of the methodology
was American Standard,
Standard whose plants had achieved as high as 40 inventory turns
per plant, compared to the average of four at most companies.
Welch wasn’t content to just get the concept, or to send some of his manufacturing
people out to investigate it. Instead, he paid American Standard CEO Emmanuel
K
Kampouris i a visit,
i it in
i order
d t understand
to d t d the th workings
ki personally.
ll He
H alsol
accepted an invitation to speak at the company, and spent the better part of one
evening’s dinner querying two successful American Standard plant managers
about the details of their respective
p operations
p — the tools,, the social architecture,,
and how they overcame resistance to the new methodology. By involving himself
deeply and personally with the subject, Welch learned what it would take to
execute such an initiative at GE, and was able to get the necessary changes rolling
quickly throughout his huge company.
company By the time of his retirement in 2001,
2001 Welch
saw GE’s inventory turns double.
Building Block -2

Creating
Execution Culture
 The way we do things

Amalgam of shared beliefs

CULTURE Second nature

Encompasses,
Philosophy, Process &
Practice

Internalize Institutionalize
Internalize,
Execution Culture is
is…
• Where everyone
y knows
• What to do
• When to do
• How to do
• With available resources
• Understanding
U d t di iinterdependence
t d d off ttasks
k
• Moving the organization towards its goals
 The basic premise is simple:
Culture change gets real when your aim
is execution.
You don’t need a lot of
complex theory or
p y surveys
employee y to
use this approach.
You just need to
change people’s
behavior so that they
produce results.
results
First, you tellll your team clearly
Fi l l
what results youyou’re
re looking for.
for
Then discuss
Th di h
how t gett those
to th
results as a key element of
results,
the coaching process.
Then you reward people for
producing
p g the results. If they
y
come up short, you provide
additional coaching,
coaching withdraw
rewards, give other jobs, or
let them go.
When y you do these things g
consistently, you create a
culture of getting things done!
Execution Culture
Culture-Evolution
Evolution

DO IT

I’LL DO IT

WE’LL
WE LL DO IT

WILL TO DO IT WELL
I tit ti
Institutionalization
li ti – The
Th Stages
St

Should be aligned to
Institutionalization – The Stages

Whi h again
Which i should
h ld bbe aligned
li d to
Institutionalization – The Stages
Institutionalization – Alignment
Building Block -3

The Job no Leader should

delegate
Right People Right Place
 Wh th
Why the Right
Ri ht P
People
l AAren’t
’t iin
the Right Jobs?
 The leaders may not know enough about the people
they’re
they re appointing
 The leaders may pick people with whom they’re
comfortable (psychological
(ps chological comfort),
comfort) rather than others
who have better skills for the job
 Th
The leaders
l d may nott have
h th courage to
the t discriminate
di i i t
strong and weak performers and take the necessary
actions.
actions
Why right people are not in right job
Lack of knowledge
 Leaders often relyy on sometimes fuzzyy or p prejudiced
j staff
appraisals when placing people into positions.
 They should, instead, define the job in terms of its three or four
nonnegotiable criteria —things
things the person must be able to do to
succeed.

Lack of courage
Innumerable cases of the wrong person being kept in the wrong
job, simply because the person’s leader doesn’t have the
emotional fortitude to take decisive action,
action confront the person,
person
and make a change.
Such failures do considerable damage to a business; indeed, if
the non-performer is high enough in the organization,
organization he or she
can be particularly destructive.
Why right people are not in right job
The psychological comfort factor
 Many jobs are filled with the wrong people because the
leaders who promote them are comfortable with them,
and the employees are loyal to those leaders.
 However,
H if that
th t loyalty
l lt is
i based
b d on the
th wrong factors
f t
(social reasons, rather than professional, etc.), it could
be damaging.
 Often, breaking free of this comfort factor is exactly
 What a leader must do to bring about change
When Reginald Jones — a cerebral, wellwell-spoken
spoken person — selected Jack Welch —
a blunt, irreverent, from-the-gut leader — to replace him as CEO of General
Electric, many questioned the move. Jones, however, knew GE had to change, and
that Welch possessed the right kind of personality and professional approach to get
th job
the j b done.
d J
Jones b k free
broke f off the
th comfort
f t factor,
f t to t the
th benefit
b fit off the
th company
and its shareholders.
Performance - Behavior Matrix

Attit di l Change
Attitudinal Ch S
Succession
i D Depth
th

Separation Skill C
Competence
t
Core process
of
Execution
Core Process of Execution
 Strategy Process

 People Process

 Operational
Process
 St t
Strategy Process
P
Defines
e es where
e e a bus
business
ess wants
a ts to go
Strong Strategic Plan must address the following

 What is the assessment of the external environment?

 How well do you understand the existing customers and
markets?
 What are the critical issues facing the business?
 What is the best way to grow business profitably?
 Can the business execute the strategy?
 What are the important milestones for executing the
plan?
Strategy Execution Review Questions
 How strong is the
organizational capability
to execute the strategy?
 Is the plan scattered or
p y focused?
sharply
 Are the linkages with
people and operations
clear?
 P
People
l Process
P
Defines who’s
who s going to get it there
Robust People Process
A robust people process provides a powerful
framework for determining the organization
organization’s
s talent
needs over time, and for planning action that will
meet those needs.
needs
Linking to strategic plan and business results
Developing the leadership pipeline though
continuous improvement, succession depth, and
reducing retention risk
Deciding what to do about non
non-performers
performers
The execution oriented
execution-oriented
leader devotes an
i di t amountt off time
inordinate ti
and emotional energy to
hiring, providing the right
experiences for, and
developing leaders.
 O
Operation
ti Process
P
Provides the path for those people
A robust operation process focuses on an
operating plan that links strategy and
people to results.

 Operating
p gp
plan includes the p
programs
g your
y
business is going to complete within one
year to reach the desired levels of such
objectives as earnings, sales, margins,
and cash flow
 To
Summarize
Execution
 Leaders are central to execution.
Know
K yourself.
lf
Be engaged in both the “whats and hows.”
Be honest about all realities.
Promote ongoing honest dialogue

 Create and maintain an execution culture

Translate visions and goals into tangible
deliverables and actions.
Execution
 Put the “right” people in the “right” places.
Be involved in selections.
selections
Reward the doers.
Expand the capabilities through coaching

 Put p processes and mechanisms in p place to

effectively operationalize execution.
Strategic plan – stretch goals.
Strategy reviews.
Operating plans.
Realistic resources and budgets.
 Question

What Can I do to execute

More effectively
Need for Personal Transformation
Network & Learn
Brainstorming
Factory Settings
Personal -Factory Settings

Personal Factory Settings

Reset your -Factory Settings

Reset your Factory

Settings
The hard way
Mental Activation
It starts with you
Capture your big ideas
Integrate & Assimilate
“Leadership without the discipline of execution is

i
incomplete
l t and
d iineffective.
ff ti With
Withoutt th
the ability
bilit tto

execute all other attributes of leadership become

execute,

hollow”

Larry Bossidy Chairman, Honeywell International