3 Reasons Why Things Don’t Get Done (and What Leaders Can Do About It)

“Ideas are easy. Execution is hard.”—Jeff Bezos

Do you ever wonder why some of your teams outperform other teams while doing the exact same work? After researching the work habits of nearly 200 unit managers and 44 Multiunit Leaders this past quarter I can confidently say that the differences between high-performers and low-performers boils down to three things: strategic clarity, habitual consistency and fierce resolve. If your teams routinely miss your collective goals, here are three strategies to help you course correct in the coming year...

It's Clarity not Attitude that’s lacking. First things first: If we routinely miss our targets, we tend to assume that things like “Grit”, “Determination”, and “More Effort” is needed. The implication there is that we lack the will. ?But perhaps we lack the skill. And perspective. And focus. Changing your focus changes the size of the gap between today’s problem and tomorrow’s solution. ?Instead of solely promoting the end-game Big Goal, break that goal down into daily incremental do-able chunks. ?When you shrink the gap, doing what you need to do becomes easier. For instance, you could ask your unit managers to “Reduce costs, increase sales and minimize turnover” this next quarter but what kind of goals are those? Vague and unspecific. Here’s a better example: “Find $100 every day.” That means $100 more in sales, $100 less in costs, or $100 in lower employee churn. That’s an example of an easily visualized and communicated goal with a daily action imbedded it.

Define both doing and done. Author David Allen says that things don’t get done for two primary reasons: 1) because no one has defined what “done” means (that is, describing the desired outcome so that the team clearly pictures it and knows when it is attained) and 2) the leader fails to detail what “doing” looks like (the action required to attain the desired outcome). Therein lies the secret to habitual consistency in execution: clarity and communication.

Take control of what takes your time. Keep a detailed diary of all your activities for one week. Now analyze what you spent your time on. Assess which of those activities related directly to accomplishing your goals and which activities deviated or distracted from it. I recognize that 99% of everyone reading this newsletter will never chart their weekly activities and that’s maybe a symptom of why your execution efforts fail. How can you manage a process without the data? As my favorite boss used to say: “Without data you’re just another A-hole with an opinion.” ?And for you one-percenters who actually will track your activities for a week, you will quickly see where and when your efforts are most often directed and which activities have the greatest—and the least—payback. This is where fierce resolve manifests itself; are you disciplined enough to accurately critique and therefore better focus what you spend your time on, or are you content to simply “ballpark” it by guessing what you spend your time on? ?Here’s the thing: ?Leaders fall in love with the IDEA of becoming great rather than the PROCESS of becoming great.?

If you like these ideas and want to access hundreds more like them, read our bestsellers Multiunit Leadership or Fundamentals, available everywhere. Follow me on LinkedIn or visit our websites at Sullivision.com or Multiunit Leadership.com.

Remember, when it comes to achieving goals, you don’t have to be perfect, just improving. ?

Jim Sullivan is the CEO of Sullivision Inc. a global leadership training and development company. Clients using our products or services include Walt Disney, Panera, Dunkin', Chipotle, Marriott, KFC, Focus Brands, Coca-Cola, Domino's, Texas Roadhouse, Supercuts, Jiffy Lube, Walmart, McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, and others