Proper Planning is Key to Fast Execution

We all know planning is important. But in this complex and complicated world of work, fast execution is often seen as the win itself. Taking time to properly plan is often seen as “moving too slow.” When working on big projects, navigating complexity can be challenging — working with large teams of people, often not connected through a reporting chain, can be like herding cats. And many corporate systems today require high levels of interdependency between disconnected work teams. Quick decision-making across company silos can be problematic. And let us not forget politics and agendas get in the way of speed as well.

Oh, there’s the word: speed. Speed is valued in many company cultures, but the definition of speed can vary. In a previous role, my boss always said, “Speed wins,” which sent a strong message. Even in an environment of worker safety concerns, her message was interpreted as we needed to move fast and make quick decisions. We needed to integrate good planning into our work while also moving fast. Through this, we learned that taking the time to properly plan actually improved our speed.

Speed is valued in many company cultures, but the definition of speed can vary.

Fast execution can be the norm as long as you plan properly. Navigating complex and complicated projects with speed can be a competitive differentiator — but it’s critical to first formulate a flexible playbook for fast execution. Consider these steps:

1. Assign a project lead that deeply understands how to manage large-scale projects. It’s critical that the project lead has attention to detail, confidence in assigning tasks and holding people accountable to the plan, and will not get bogged down in the minutiae. This person needs to be a master litigator — able to minimize scope creep, motivate the team, and drive the execution.
2. Get the team right. Building the project team is the second most important task. You’ll need to drive change management, navigate stages of ambiguity (many unknowns and “emerging needs” will spring up), conduct effective messaging and storytelling to gain stakeholder buy-in, formulate strong impact measures for success (and consider phased approaches to drive awareness and understanding of incremental value). The project team needs to span these capabilities, so choose the members carefully.
3. All the time, constantly, ask “Why?” This is the most powerful question and should be threaded throughout all the phases of the project. This simple 3-letter word is the most interrogative. Use it to reset, calibrate, and keep the team connected on the core problem statements.?
4. Build one step at a time. Think like architects, but move like you’re rebuilding after a disaster (The Japanese rebuilt Kobe in an extraordinarily fast time; the world created a vaccine for the global pandemic in just a year).?
5. Think slow, act fast. Take a threat approach to execution. You need to move fast to stave off the inevitable threats (when leading a large project, I had one boss tell me, "they'll either steal it or kill it, so move fast"). You do this by harnessing??emotion and instinct and exploiting system constraints. Don’t look at the constraints as negatives. See them as rational roadblocks to test your plan. But don’t let them block progress. Read the Kahneman book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow.”
6. Know that the biggest risk is the team. Fast execution always comes down to the willingness and the ability of the team to stay aligned, motivated, curious, and focused on the end result. Devising a plan is the easy part -- getting the team to execute the plan is the challenge. The team needs a coach and a leader and sometimes a shoulder to cry on.

We've clearly moved away from the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world to a BANI (brittle, anxious, nonlinear, incomprehensible) one. Fast execution is critical -- but you need a plan and the plan must be adaptable to the headwinds that will come at you.