Every once in a while, I'm brought up short and reminded of key strategy execution and change management "basics." Yesterday was such a day. I led a large meeting with much presentation and some discussion. In general, the mood was good and post-meeting comments were positive.
Then I got "the email." This is the note (not addressed directly to me but sent to a senior associate) that questioned much of what we were doing. The note was respectful, thoughtful, and included many positive comments and sincere suggestions. In short, it was the most dangerous kind of message.
Thoughtful messages with good suggestions are hard to simply reject. They require a response. In fact, many of the ideas require careful consideration. That's where the danger creeps in.
It is most difficult to differentiate between a good suggestion in support of the vision of an initiative and a good suggestion that leads the effort astray. The differences are subtle. In these cases, one must revert to the vision clarity documents created at the beginning of the initiative (you did create them, didn't you?) and "draw the straight line" from where you are today to the end goals. If the suggestion is fully aligned with the goal, it may well be worth pursuing. If it is not - it must be rejected.
You must also decide what to do with the person who presented the good idea. Is this someone who truly believes and agrees with the direction and goals of the initiative and just looking for a different way to get there? That person is a "keeper." Or is this a person who, at core, really thinks that the direction is "okay," but could be better if it were tweaked just a little bit? That person is a danger and must be addressed very directly.
This is very, very typical in strategy execution. There are several common metaphors. The reason the metaphors are so common is because the situation they describe happen so frequently: "It's like herding cats" or "If this person isn't on the bus, she needs to be off (or under) it." These metaphors describe the challenges of keeping people aligned and focused on the stated goals.
There's another concept that Steve Jobs wrote about and I believe completely: You need the strength of conviction to say "no" over and over again. It's not the bad ideas that hurt you – they're easy to reject. It's the good ideas that can kill you – modify your scope, change your focus, get you off course. It's also called "death by a thousand cuts." No one small adjustment kills – but a thousand little ones do.
Our job in strategy execution and change management is to say "thanks, but no" - and keep moving in the direction we've defined.
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