A Laikipia apparel manufacturer and I were reflecting on the pathways of moving from ideas to winning an election, to implementation and results.
We noted how ideas must be synthesised into a governor candidate’s manifesto, canvassed with the citizens, and, upon winning, translated into the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP). An annual slice of the latter becomes the annual development plan, which, when funded through appropriation, is the county’s annual budget.
Most CIDPs have resource requirements that far exceed the annual county resource envelope. This calls for serious prioritisation and additional resource mobilisation. We noted, however, that when all that is done, the most critical element remains. Execution.
Reliant on the civil service, execution moves a county from the great plans to results. It does so through accountability, clear communication, and operational, technology-enabled infrastructure. Effective execution requires consistent daily actions and creating a culture of ownership. Only then can you overcome the high failure rate of strategic initiatives.
It is the same in companies. Execution is the disciplined process that turns strategic vision into reality by aligning resources, processes and people with goals. It starts by establishing a non-negotiable performance culture where individuals take ownership of their role in the plan. They do so by connecting daily tasks, projects, and resources to high-level strategic objectives.
Work often takes place in a not-so-visible layer of conversations, commitments, and decisions. In addition, it is what gets measured that gets done. Therefore, you must track key performance indicators, monitor progress, and make adjustments in real-time.
All this, while striking a balance between innovation and control. That means managing the tension between pursuing new opportunities and maintaining operational stability.
Strategy execution is the most significant challenge for leadership. Failure is common. The Harvard Business Review estimates 67 percent, while Kaplan and Norton say 90 percent of all strategic plans are never fully implemented or fail to meet their targets.
The root causes of failure include too many priorities, avoiding difficult tasks, and neglecting to connect individual roles to overall goals.
The solutions are to focus on fewer, critical goals; utilise short-term, iterative sprints (such as 90-day plans), and foster a disciplined, collaborative environment.
There are several established models for successful strategy execution. Snell and Carrig’s four A’s framework focuses on alignment (everyone working toward the same goal), ability (having the right talent and skills), architecture (structures and processes that enable work), and agility (the capacity to adapt to change).
My favourite is Franklin Covey’s four disciplines of execution. Focusing on permanent behavioural changes rather than just better planning, it is a well-known formula for executing strategy amid the urgent day-to-day activities.
It proposes that you focus on the wildly important, prioritising one or two critical goals. Then, act on lead measures-high-leverage actions that predict success. Keep a scoreboard so that everyone knows if they are making headway in real-time. Then hold regular, brief sessions to report on progress and commitments.
His first point acknowledges that the more you try to do, the less you actually achieve. Therefore, focus on the wildly important goals (WIG).
A WIG is one that, if not achieved, makes all other accomplishments secondary. Focus on one or two WIGs at a time, and be specific. For example, ‘increase daily cattle weight gain from 0.5 to 1.5 kilogrammes/day by March 30’.
Secondly, act on the lead measures. This is the discipline of leverage. Shift focus from results to the high-leverage activities that drive those results. Unfortunately, many of us focus on lag measures such as revenue, profit, or weight loss. By the time you see them, they have already happened and cannot be changed.
Lead measures are activities that are predictive of, and influence, the lag measures. If your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, then measure daily caloric intake or hours of exercise, rather than weighing yourself constantly.
Keeping a scoreboard helps everyone stay engaged, ensuring they know if they are performing.
Keep it simple so that everyone can quickly tell the direction of travel. It is best to let the team design and update the scoreboard themselves. It fosters a sense of ownership.
Have a weekly, but brief (30 minutes) meeting, focused solely on the wildly important goal. At the meeting, report on last week’s commitments, review the scoreboard, and make new commitments for the upcoming week to move the lead measures. This cadence of accountability creates a rhythm that sustains performance.