Ending The War
Inside Your Organization
Nilofer Merchant | May 2009

WAR
There’s a
inside
raging
Our
Organizations
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What is Said
“They’re not supporting me”
“They’re not executing well”
“They just don’t get it”
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What is believed
• … it’s a people
problem
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In truth:
It is not a people problem, but a systems problem
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The Myth
Good strategy leads to good execution
Good Strategy Good Execution
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The Myth Played Out:
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The Reality: The “How” Matters
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When the How affects results
Disconnects Costs
Air sandwich Bad decisions made in middle
Don’t consult right people to interpret Fix wrong problem or create impractical
data approach
Impractical approach or conflicting
Ideas not vetted broadly
guidelines
Lack of broad understanding of strategy Conflict, frustration, and malaise
Tension over “wrong people” often
No broad commitment to common
really caused by operating practices or
cause
models
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A Profound Truth
If you are
arguing
about the
how, you
don’t agree
on the what
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Let ‘Em Think
From this To this
Command & Control Everybody thinks
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Rules of Collaborative Engagement
Power Decision
Ideas Process People
distribution making
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Culture Is Key to Collaboration
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Early Warning Signs
Inclusiveness vs. Exclusivity
Highly Controlled vs. Iterative Process
Culture of Learning vs. Culture of Knowing
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Build a
Culture of
Inclusivity
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Build an
Iterative Process
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Build a
Culture of
Learning
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All of this implies:
You know how to
open spigot and
close spigot
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You’ve Gotta Have a Way to Pick
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Tension Creates Opportunity
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The Future
Inclusiveness
Iterative
Learning Organizations…
And Tough Choices or MurderBoard
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Strategy Creation ≠ Data Generation
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Your Choice …
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Collaborative Approach
What + Way Better Outcomes
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Nilofer Merchant
CEO / Chief Strategist
Rubicon
(408) 395-3910
nilofer@rubiconconsulting.com
Twitter: @nilofer
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Win Markets
Trusted Advisors to high-tech firms seeking
to transform their visions into strategies,
strategies into plans, and plans into results.
Practices:
Define / Design / Defend / Optimize
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