Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Maintaining High Performance Over Time

Paul Nunes, Executive Director of Research at the Accenture Institute for High Performance, and Tim Breene, CEO of Accenture Interactive, the company’s digital marketing initiative, wrote a most interesting article called “Reinvent Your Business Before It’s Too Late: Watch Out for Those S Curves” in the January-February 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review: http://hbr.org/2011/01/reinvent-your-business-before-its-too-late/ar/1. Here they report on the results of their long-running High Performance Business research program, namely 13 financial metrics to assess growth, profitability, consistency, longevity and positioning for the future in 800 companies over a 10-year period.


As they explain in the article, “high performance companies rethink their strategies and reinvent their operating models before debilitating stalls set in.” Based on their research, they have discovered that successful companies reinvent themselves, not just along the growth curve of their current revenues but also along three much shorter, though equally important, S curves.


First, these organizations “focus on the edges. They pay attention to the edge of the company and the edge of the market to avoid the myopia that long-running success engenders.”


Second, these organizations “shake up the top team. They change the makeup of the senior team earlier, and more radically, than their competitors do.”


Third, these organizations “maintain surplus talent. When other companies are cutting staff to cut costs, they go in the opposite direction: they cultivate serious talent with the capacity to grow new business.”


Given the time we have spent exploring the subject of the three sigmoid curves in the From Vision to Action Leadership Training, it is always interesting to read new research about them. Today, I was particularly intrigued by the idea of focusing on the edges and talent creation.


These two elements, I believe, are the foundation of the From Vision to Action Executive Roundtables. When we gather in the spring and the fall and enter into in-depth strategic level dialogues with other well-educated and thoughtful executives, we end up seeing the market place and our own companies from different perspectives. This alone is worth the price of admission reports many participants. I have routinely been told by those who attend that one conversation with another participant made them realize that they were missing a critical external factor which could completely change their competitive landscape. These “edge centric” discussions help executives define untapped customer needs and unsolved problems.


Second, numerous times each month I visit with executives who participate in the From Vision to Action Executive Roundtables and who bring 1-3 people with them to a Roundtable. They report to me that when someone new joins them at a Roundtable, it jump starts this person’s development. It helps their on-going coaching because the person has a greater degree of awareness and understanding of strategic issues, thus being able to process new and old information better and keep perspective on what is important rather than what is urgent. The Roundtable also helps this up and coming talent to organize their thinking in new and more productive ways thereby allowing this individual to make better choices.


If this winter, you want to move toward becoming a high performance organization, I encourage you and your colleagues to come and participate in the Spring 2011 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable.


Here is the information you need to sign up:


Date: April 14 -15, 2011


Location: Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Coralville, Iowa


Agenda:


Thursday: April 14, 2011

- 8:30 am - Registration

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - The Four Leadership Mistakes We Keep Making

- 10:15 am - 10:30 am - Break

- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - Positioning For the Future Growth

- 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - Lunch and Networking

- 1:30 pm - 2:45 pm - Breaking Down Silos & Building Bridges

- 2:45 pm - 3:00 pm - Break

- 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Consensus and Decision-making

- 4:30 pm - Adjourn


Friday: April 15, 2011

- 9:00 am - 10:15 am - The Problem With Corporate Success

- 10:15 am - 10:45 am - Break and Hotel Check-out

- 10:45 am - 12:00 pm - Integration and Application

- 12:00 pm - Adjourn


Cost: $ 295.00


1-Day Attendance Rate: $ 195.00


Registration Form: http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2011-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf


I hope you will join us this spring and enjoy exploring the edges of the competitive landscape while cultivating talent and capacity.


Remember: “Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.” - John Dewey


Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates # 319 - 643 - 2257

1 comment:

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