We have all heard that execution eats strategy for lunch. It is infinitely better to execute a mediocre plan exceptionally well than implement a brilliant strategy extremely poor.
The challenge most organization fail to deliver on is neither a poor plan, nor a poor strategy, but rather that no mechanism exists to implement the strategy. Yes, in many cases the strategy is vague with poorly defined direction, outcomes, and measures. But in most cases this is not the problem.
What many organizations do is jump to tactics. I heard today, everyone come up with 2 new breakthrough ideas for your area for next year! Likely these breakthrough ideas will link to a strategy direction of operational excellence for example, so leadership thinks there is alignment.
What most leadership teams fail to understand is the vertical and horizontal alignment necessary to deliver world class results.
What is the mechanism to create the vertical and horizontal alignment? Is it bubble charts, or resource maps?
World class companies use an approach known as Hoshin Kanri to deploy their strategy. Hoshin Kanri, more commonly known as strategy deployment or policy deployment in the western world, is a tool that brings your strategy to life.
There are several key steps in policy deployment. At a very high level they include:
- Establishing the Organizational Vision
- Develop 3-5 Year Strategic Breakthrough Objectives
- Develop Annual Breakthrough Objectives
- Deploy the Improvement Priorities
- Implement Improvement Priorities
- Monthly Review
- Annual Review
If you are not happy with your organizational performance and you are consistently failing to deliver on board level strategic goals, you might want to explore using strategy deployment as a way to execute your strategic plan.
A word of caution, only use policy deployment if you are willing to unwind your current planning and execution process. It is not designed to bolt on top of your existing systems.
Lean Blessings,
Ron
Ron Bercaw
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