Review of Execution
By Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan

Reviewed by: Kelsey Ebben, Performa Research Associate

Execution

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things DoneWhat are the keys to creating a productive organization that effectively executes its strategies? In their book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan (2002) offer practical advice for leaders wishing to build a "productivity culture of execution." They define execution as "a systematic way of exposing reality and acting on it," which includes evaluating assumptions, competitors, and capabilities, and linking organization members, strategy, and processes (p. 22). In a time when private higher education institutions face increasing competition, it is especially pertinent leaders heed Bossidy and Charan's warning that "Most often today the difference between a company and its competitor is the ability to execute" (p. 5).

Using a conversational style, authors detail the successes and failures of top corporation leaders in their attempts to execute strategy and improve their organizations. While this book is geared toward leaders in the business world, its ideas are easily transferred to the private, higher education context. Bossidy and Charan (2002) focus on three building blocks and three essential processes necessary for the creation of a culture of execution. It is important higher education leaders understand and apply the following building blocks and processes of execution if their institutions are to meet the challenges of today's increasingly complex higher education arena.

Building Block One: The Leader's Seven Essential Behaviors

Bossidy and Charan (2002) state that leaders must develop seven behaviors in order to successfully execute:

  • Know your people and your business - Become personally engaged with all of the subunits of the institution to avoid receiving information that is "filtered." Personal communication also minimizes resistance to change and strengthens institutional unity.
  • Insist on realism - Face and be willing to engage in dialogue about the institution's reality, including its strengths and weaknesses.
  • Set clear goals and priorities - Focus on a few clear priorities everyone can understand. Be as forthright as possible. This is especially important at colleges since the sense of hierarchical decision-making may not be as strong as within the business world.
  • Follow through - Hold people accountable for their area of responsibility and establish follow-through mechanisms to check progress.
  • Reward the doers - Link rewards to performance.
  • Expand people's capabilities - Make "coaching" an essential part of personnel development. Establish mentoring relationships so that knowledge can be passed on to the next leaders. Provide useful feedback, and provide educational opportunities for those with potential for leadership.
  • Know yourself - Develop "emotional fortitude." This involves personal authenticity, self-awareness, self-mastery, and humility. These traits help leaders gain trust, discover areas in which they need to grow or ask for assistance, take responsibility for actions, and be realistic about challenges. Self-reflection and talking with a trusted colleague can be useful tools for developing emotional fortitude.

Building Block Two: Creating a Framework for Cultural Change

Leaders must create a culture that engenders and encourages execution behavior. This involves focusing on the institution's values, beliefs, and norms for daily behavior, and linking those to concrete, desired outcomes.

  • Operationalize culture - Focus on the beliefs people hold about the institution. These beliefs guide everyday work, and people will hold onto these beliefs until they are proved otherwise. Gather information about what people believe, and then craft evidence that explains the reality, or an "agenda for attitude change" (p. 91).
  • Link rewards to performance. An institution's culture determines what people perceive as important and valuable. By rewarding individuals for certain behaviors, you as a leader send a message that this is "model behavior" for the institution.
  • The "social software of execution" (p. 97). Understand the group dynamics at your institution: the informal mechanisms that guide the communication system. Then continue to develop these and new communication connections between different groups.
  • The importance of robust dialogue - The leader must model and encourage a willingness to engage in open dialogue. Dialogue requires that participants speak candidly about the realities of the institution. It also fosters creativity and innovation.

Building Block Three: The Job No Leader Should Delegate- Having the Right People in the Right Place

The process of selecting new institution personnel should be one of the most important roles for the leader. Having the wrong people in the wrong jobs is a major deterrent to execution. Leaders should commit time to selecting, developing, and appraising people. Find people who:

  • Bring energy to the organization
  • Will be decisive on tough issues
  • Get things done through others, and follow-through on key tasks

The Three Core Processes of Execution - Leaders must link these three processes together.

First Process: The People Process

Leaders must find the right people for the right jobs, which may require replacing or re-aligning some staff. They need to decide who can best execute which parts of the institution's strategy. The people plan should link to the strategic plan, short-, medium-, and long-term milestones, and financial targets.

  • Develop a leadership pipeline - Encourage, mentor, and find ways to retain mid-level administrators who show potential.
  • Decide how to handle non-performers - Consider whether their talents are best used in their current job position, whether they need support, or whether they need to be removed.
  • Transform the mission and operations of human resources - HR should become more recruitment-oriented. HR should focus on getting quality candidates and training them as quickly as possible. In the higher education context, consider ways faculty/staff development programs could be mobilized to introduce and mentor new members. HR and professional development staff should have an understanding of the institution's strategy and desired results.

Second Process: The Strategy Process

Create a strategic plan that will serve as an action plan for all members of the institution. Leaders must ask whether the institution has the necessary people and resources to achieve its goals, they must analyze the environment, and identify the most critical issues the institution must address.

  • Solicit the input and assistance of all members of the institution when creating the strategic plan. Those who will be implementing the plan are best positioned to offer ideas which will work.
  • Assess the external environment - Understand the political, social, and economic context for your institution.
  • Understand the existing customers - Listen to key stakeholders such as students, high schools, donors, alumni, area businesses.
  • Decide the best way to grow the business profitably - Consider new ideas for the institution to gain money. This could include offering non-credit courses, or sharing programs with other institutions. Be innovative.
  • Analyze the competition - How can you distinguish your institution? How are other institutions succeeding?
  • Can you execute the strategy? Assess your institution's capabilities.
  • What are the milestones for completing the plan? If milestones are in place, then the plan can be adapted if goals are not met.
  • Have a balance of short- and long-term goals.
  • Figure out the critical issues facing the institution. Identifying what these key issues are will help leaders guide dialogue during the strategy review.
  • Can the strategy be sustained based on the money the institution will make? Leaders must understand the drivers of cash, margin, revenue growth, market share, and competitive advantage. Seek counsel and work closely with your CFO.
  • Conduct a strategy review before finalizing the plan. Foster inclusive, interactive dialogue, and creativity. Again, include various members of key campus groups in this process. The group should work together to ensure the plan is clear, attainable, and that the people, processes, and strategy are well-linked.

Third Process: The Operations Process

Leaders should strive for synchronization of the organization, meaning that all parts have common assumptions about the external environment, and a common understanding about the state of the institution and its strategy. Then, when conditions change, it is much easier to reallocate resources and realign priorities.

  • Be prepared to debate assumptions. These could include: ideas about who the customer is, why do they attend your institution, what the competition is doing, and whether your niche will hold. Leaders should encourage dialogue and debate about these issues.
  • Also be prepared to make trade-offs between groups/programs. It may be necessary to allocate money now to fund a long-term iniative (thus cutting short a short-term initiative). Be forthright about these changes.
  • Gather a group together to come up with a one-year operating plan and budget. Ensure all leaders at the institution intimately understand the budget and key issues for the institution.
  • Hold people accountable for their responsibilities and conduct quarterly reviews. Include your staff and faculty when crafting strategy and accompanying responsibilities, this will encourage a sense of ownership, which will in turn increase their execution of the strategy.