As the CEO, CFO and VP were discussing their execution around a critical initiative, the frustrated CEO commented, “Why don’t they just do their job!” In a slow and measured manner, his colleagues responded, “I’m not sure the employees know what you expect; we aren’t all that clear either.”
I must tell you that I have experienced this very same predicament and felt exactly like this CEO. This situation feels terrible because the CEO unknowingly authored the problem.
Change initiatives are designed to increase or create momentum. A CEO typically initiates these projects when they believe that costly breakdowns will disrupt the company’s momentum. The early stages of a change initiative require new energy and achieving momentum requires rapid learning and adjustment to overcome natural resistance.
Similar to a flywheel – the first turn requires amazing effort, but the second turn needs a bit less. As the people pushing the wheel learn and adjust from the first time around, it gets progressively easier; as long as they know what you expect and they buy in to the cause. Momentum builds only when the people who do the work take ownership, by learning, adjusting and deciding.
A senior team that I work with recently described to me a strategic decision their leader had given them to implement and how they believed the project was ill conceived. When I asked them how he had made this decision, they looked at each other and replied, “We don’t know.”
Peter Schutz, who is credited with leading the turnaround of Porsche in the mid 1980s, spoke with my CEOs and he shared some wisdom that has never left my mind. Peter said, “Plan like a democracy so you can execute like a dictator.”
Genuine planning is coextensive with power. Real planning comes out of an exercise in the freedom of choice. So by allowing employees to alter the plan, they experience the freedom and responsibility of choice. As a result, their behavior is more predictable because they have chosen to put aside their personal discretion to carry out the plan they co-created.
Collaborative planning is inseparable from power.
Peter had learned that while a CEO or Business Unit Manager has the authority to make decisions and allocate resources, implementation ultimately depends on the individual decisions (choices) of single persons and groups while they are performing the work. So here’s the rub – their world is dynamic, turbulent, and full of chaotic motion, but by putting a solid democratic planning process in place, you increase the odds of them making good choices.
If the senior leader thinks he holds both the authority and power, then their frustration will grow, which is what this CEO was experiencing. As your organization grows, the senior leader’s power diminishes.
Is your execution growing? I’d love to know your thoughts. Jim@peer-place.com
I’ll be out of town next week and look forward to sharing my next blog post on March 13.
Jim
