When it comes to executing a plan in wildly unpredictable times, we need to remember that executing a plan comes with a commitment to risk and a commitment to relationships. As John Paul Lederach in his book, The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (Oxford University Press, 2005) writes “Commitment to relationship always entails risk. Sitting in the messy ambiguity of complexity while refusing to frame it in dualistic terms requires risk…. Risk is mystery. It requires a journey. Risk means we take a step toward and into the unknown…. It is the journey of the great explorers for it choose, like the images in the maps of old, to live at the edge of known cartography. Risk means stepping into a place where you are not sure what will come or what will happen.”
Robert H. Miles in his article, “Accelerating Corporate Transformations (Don’t Lose Your Nerve!) Six mistakes that can derail your company’s attempts to change” (Harvard Business Review, January - February 2010) writes that there often is a loss of focus during the execution of a plan. Here are three common mistakes:
- PostLaunch Blues: It can be tough for a leader to switch from playing a visionary role to serving as “ballast and keel,” but that is just what is needed after a strong launch, because a real transformation is about execution. The top leader has to make sure managers at all levels receive and relay a consistent message about the need to drive the key transformation initiatives in the agreed-upon manner. One way to signal your shift into execution mode is to start weekly staff meetings with a review of progress on transformation initiatives, calling attention to people and plans that have drifted out of alignment and noting early lessons that need to be quickly shared.
- Midcourse Overconfidence: The next major slump typically comes after two quarterly check-points have passed…. The business model will need refining, and you will need to tweak initiatives based on lessons from early execution. Miles encourages leaders to hold quarterly checkpoint meetings and immediately following each of them with mini-cascades, and interventions that take place throughout the company.
- Presumed Perpetual Motion: As the first performance year comes to a close, many executives will succumb to the presumption of perpetual motion. This is the idea that things will continue to progress as the company sticks with the year-one game plan. Miles recommends you do “launch redux” to boldly kick off the second year of execution.
There is a lot more in this very good article, but right now I am seeing the above problems in multiple organizations and at multiple levels.
Another recent insight for me about executing a plan during wildly unpredictable times is the recognition that successful organizational change takes place in small visible moments rather than as large sustained processes or actions. We get so busy as leaders that we do not really “see” organizational change. We do not see the series of small visible moments people are making. As Kotter reminds in his seminal research, missing “short term wins” does not create large sustained processes or action.
As leaders, we need to remember that the process of organizational change is more than just building teams or work place communities of like minded people. We need to think, plan and execute in such a manner so we deal with who needs to change and how to get them engaged in the process. Lederach notes that “… framing the process as one that must create like-minded communities produces a narrow view of change wherein little thought or work is given to the broader nature of who and what will need to change and how they will be engaged in such a process.” If the focus is on building and maintaining like-minded people and teams, we limit the scope of what we can achieve because we perpetuate a dualistic perspective of people, i.e. good vs. bad, us vs. them, or you are either with us or against us.
While I agree that building teams and community are important in organizational change, I also think about how to engage others who will need to change. Their resistance to change initially could offer important insights and perspective. In essence, we need to understand that their resistance is a form of feedback.
This week, when you see small visible moments of change, visit with those involved and ask them the following three questions: Who are we? Where are we going? How will we get there? By doing this, we create clarity and commitment rather than just a “get ‘er done mentality”.
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