The team was really excited about the strategic plan they put together last year. They had analyzed the market, anticipated what the competition would be doing and set several key goals for what they wanted to achieve. 2014 was going to be a record year – but in reality it will barely be ahead of 2013 and that was nothing to brag about. People seem to be taking it in stride without too much disappointment. After all, they knew they had worked hard all year. Also they have seen other strategic plans come and go. Usually ‘reality’ sets in by mid-year and the goals are essentially forgotten.
This is a tale heard often from teams, businesses, non-profits, individuals and families. Plans and resolutions are made in January but by December they often become stories of disappointment rather than the success anticipated. The difference in success and failure is usually not the strategies or the plans but rather the execution of them.
As Stephen Covey explained in The 4 Disciplines of Execution strategies fail for four key reasons: people don’t understand the strategy; if they know what it is, they don’t understand what they can do to help achieve it; they are not sure how well they are doing to know if they are making progress; and there is no timely individual feedback and accountability.
The secret to successful strategies is to have no more than two to three major goals; focus on lead measures that people know they can control as well as directly influence the goal; make a compelling scoreboard that tracks the lead measures; and have regular accountability and feedback meetings to celebrate progress and adjust to overcome problems. Those disciplines along with people who fit the job and a leader who helps them feel and fare better create an outstanding team.
We hope you had an enjoyable holiday season and have a successful 2015!
