Making waves

If you throw a pebble into a pond of water, you will see that waves will form and move outwards in concentric circles. The potential energy that is stored in your muscles gets transferred into kinetic energy in the flying pebble which is in turn transferred into kinetic energy into the pond water which you can see via the waves that form after the pebble splashes into the pond. The pebble settles at the bottom of the pond and the waves move outwards from the point at which the pebble splashed into the pond. Expanding outwards into larger waves until the kinetic energy is fully transferred into potential energy and the pond stills.

The harder you throw the pebble into the pond, the more waves you will see and the harder the waves will crash into the walls of the pond. The softer you throw the pebble, the fewer waves you will see and the gentler their movement will be.

For the same level of energy you exert in throwing, a larger pebble will generate more waves which will move faster than a smaller pebble. The speed of the waves in the pond is determined by the effort with which you throw the pebble and the size of the pebble.

If you want to create larger waves, you have a few options: you can get stronger, improve your throwing technique, use larger pebbles, or reduce the density of the water in the pond.

In a regulated pond wave generating competition where all pebble throwers are throwing into the same pond, you can not change the density of the water in the pond. You will also be restricted to the use of a standard size, shape, colour, density and material of pebble. You will also be restricted to throwing the pebble from the same spot and with the same run-up distance as your fellow pebble throwers. Your success in the pond wave generating competition will be based on your strength and technique.

For your organisation, your strategy is your pebble throwing strength. The more responsive your strategy is to the market, customers, emerging technology and trends, the clearer you have articulated your strategy, the better you cascade it across your organisation, the more talented and competent your people are, the better your organisational design, the better your operational processes are, the better your supplier and vendor relationships, the better your project management capability, the stronger you are. The stronger you are, the more potential energy your organisation possesses and the greater your pebble throwing capability.

While pebble throwing strength is necessary to win a pond wave generating competition, it is not sufficient. You require the right technique.

For your organisation, your execution is your pebble throwing technique. In my last article ("Walking the talk") I shared my thoughts on strategy execution. A key point which goes under-appreciated is on the rhythm of execution: the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual rigour with which you deliver work and implement strategy.

It seems that the default approach for most leaders is to break down strategy metrics into annual targets, decompose the annual targets into monthly targets, organise a kick off meeting, and watch the monthly closing numbers to assess strategy performance. This lazy approach simply does not cut it. If it was that easy, everyone would do it. If it was that easy, the organisation would simply automate the process, assign you additional tasks, re-assign you to other roles, or politely ask you to re-assess your value contribution.

The technique - and the real job - is first in understanding the right pebble throwing technique. This means understanding your organisation's pebble throwing strength. Technique has to complement strength to deliver the most powerful waves. You will know that your technique is right if it multiplies the force of your pebble throwing strength.

Second, your technique has to be positively reinforcing, meaning that your organisation gets more efficient and effective at execution with time. If it takes you the same or more effort after 6 months of executing the plan as it did on month 1, your technique is wrong. You will know that your technique is right if subsequent throws of the pebble get easier.

Third, as you keep getting better at execution your competition will invariably imitate you, reducing the relative impact of your execution. The results that your technique generates for your organisation versus the competition will narrow over time, rendering technique that worked successfully for you, average. If you are not tweaking your technique over time, even the best and most innovative technique becomes standard industry practice.

It is for these reasons that your execution must be more than simple target setting and number watching. Build your strength, yes, but develop your technique. Developing technique is not an event or passive activity. It is deliberate, engaged, continuous, and is the real job.