Strategic Plan Progress Control
As with many things in life eg. new year resolutions, diets, gym training and even love interests, often after a period of time we lose interest and those activities or interests fade out of our lives. Before we know it we are back to where we were.
I am the first to acknowledge that sticking to a new way of doing things is generally a difficult thing to get right. We are creatures of habit, we do like to stick to our comfort zones and doing things as we have always done them is simply just easier. However, it is also the recipe for, at the most, mediocrity. It takes resolve and discipline to change things, and keep doing things in a new way, until you achieve what you have set out to achieve. Jim Collins identified this clearly when he pointed out that what makes an organization great is discipline – meaning the strength to do and keep on doing what you have to do to be great. This applies equally to people as it does to organizations.
Often the CEO and other senior leaders are the worst victims of being sucked back into doing things as they have always been done – which of course can then become one of the biggest hindrances to the progress of the company. When some leaders have recognized this they have found great value in setting up a monthly or two monthly Strategic Review meeting which I then chair, as an outsider. I suppose it’s similar to the effect of a personal trainer at gym. We know we should be able to do our training by ourselves but we always get better results under the strict instruction of the trainer. I perform that role, where even the CEO has to report back on progress to the team. The additional value I bring is to create an environment at those meetings where communication and innovative thought is encouraged, thinking is focused and group think nurtured, with all the benefits which that can bring to a team.
I am the first to acknowledge that sticking to a new way of doing things is generally a difficult thing to get right. We are creatures of habit, we do like to stick to our comfort zones and doing things as we have always done them is simply just easier. However, it is also the recipe for, at the most, mediocrity. It takes resolve and discipline to change things, and keep doing things in a new way, until you achieve what you have set out to achieve. Jim Collins identified this clearly when he pointed out that what makes an organization great is discipline – meaning the strength to do and keep on doing what you have to do to be great. This applies equally to people as it does to organizations.
Often the CEO and other senior leaders are the worst victims of being sucked back into doing things as they have always been done – which of course can then become one of the biggest hindrances to the progress of the company. When some leaders have recognized this they have found great value in setting up a monthly or two monthly Strategic Review meeting which I then chair, as an outsider. I suppose it’s similar to the effect of a personal trainer at gym. We know we should be able to do our training by ourselves but we always get better results under the strict instruction of the trainer. I perform that role, where even the CEO has to report back on progress to the team. The additional value I bring is to create an environment at those meetings where communication and innovative thought is encouraged, thinking is focused and group think nurtured, with all the benefits which that can bring to a team.