Execute Like Hell Over Noodling on Strategy
Joshua Kerievsky ????
Helping organizations deliver better software sooner | Dad | CEO | Entrepreneur | Author | International Speaker | Software Designer | Tennis Player
A few months back, Tom Peters, co-author of In Search of Excellence, went on a mini-rant about strategy. The essence of his message, which has stayed with me ever since, is that we waste far too much time noodling on, futzing around with it, reviewing and refining "strategy." He prefers Jack Welch's approach:
Fred Malek, former President of Marriott Hotels and Northwest Airlines, simplified it even further with this gem: "Execution IS strategy."
I've been running Industrial Logic for 22 years now. I love it. And I have wasted time noodling on, futzing around with, reviewing and refining strategy. I'm done with that.
Recently a few colleagues and I got together for 1.5 hours with a facilitator. We picked a general direction for the year. Now we're focusing on how to execute like hell.
If it turns out that the direction we chose isn't the right one or isn't bearing fruit, we can quickly adapt, pick a new direction and execute like hell again.
I'm far happier with this approach. It feels far more agile than spending days/weeks/months on strategy sessions. And I'm not even sure if the general direction we chose is perfect and I don't care. We'll re-evaluate it in three months.
Strategy is executing like hell on a general direction is what I value far more than perfecting strategy.
Product | Digital | Leadership | Strategy
7 年If you have access to decent data you can quickly see whether or not it's working. Spend less talking about what you’re going to do and more time doing it!
Bringing Lean and UX to Security and Privacy, and vice versa
7 年At Skybox our Spacecraft Engineers had a rubber stamp made with the letters JFDI so they could deal with "strategy" and various other impediments. Nothing beats action – or in this case, simple decisions to move ahead in the most effective way. Just F* Do It!
I appreciate Mr. Malek's take as much as I do Mr. Welch's. Execution IS strategy. Simple and brilliant.
Organisation Development Consultant and Lean-Agile Enterprise Coach & Trainer. Sustainability Consultant.
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