A simple and clear explanation on the key leadership behaviours that directly cause change initiatives to fail in large organisations.

1. Bridging the
Knowing - Doing Gap
April, 2016

2. § Most companies know or can know the same things. But why do so few
companies turn this knowledge into action?
§ Why does the plethora of education and training, management consulting,
research, books and articles on business produce so little change in actual
managerial practice?
§ Why are some organisations able consistently to turn knowledge into action even
as they grow and absorb new people and businesses, while other organisations,
composed of thoughtful, intelligent, hard working, nice people, fail to do so?
§ Great companies get remarkable performance from ordinary people. Not so great
companies take talented people and manage to lose the benefits of their talent,
insight and motivation
§ Pfeffer and Sutton undertook four years of research into many organisations to
reveal the main reasons why these things happen which are described at length in
their book “The Knowing – Doing Gap”.
The question
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3. § Many organisations would rather talk, conceptualise and rationalise about problems
than confront them directly. They treat talking about something as equivalent to
actually doing something about it. Documentation, presentations and meetings are
all too frequently substitutes for action
§ There are too many companies that confuse a written statement of a mission or
values with the need to implement those values. Leaders act as though writing it
down makes it true, as if wishing or talking made it so. Similarly, companies
confuse having a plan with actually implementing it and learning something
§ Frequently, people gain stature in organisations by talking cleverly and often.
Unfortunately, one of the best ways of appearing clever is to be critical of others’
ideas and this frequently gets in the way of action
§ Ironically, in many companies people are more likely to get ahead by talking
cleverly than by doing clever and productive things
§ Knowledge that is actually implemented is much more likely to have been acquired
from learning by doing than from anything else. Taking action will generate
experience from which things are learned
1. Talk is a substitute for action
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4. § Complexity is valued in many firms. This is based on several lines of reasoning:
• Sustainable, competitive advantage is built on doing things that are
difficult to imitate. Complex things are more difficult to imitate and
therefore must be better than simple ideas
• Using complex ideas, analysis and language is a way of impressing others
• If few people are clever enough to comprehend what the firm is doing, its
managers must be really clever
§ These lines of reasoning confuse ease of understanding with ease of
implementation. Simple, powerful ideas such as decentralisation, delegation and
information sharing are very easy to understand but difficult to accomplish
§ Complexity is an obstacle to taking action because implementation usually has to
wait until knowledge is understood by a large number of people working in
disparate locations
2. Complexity is valued
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5. § Processes and techniques are not much good without values and philosophies that
support them. Telling someone what to do is more powerful if it is supported by
the reason why
§ Companies frequently overestimate the importance of the tangible, specific,
programmatic aspects of what competitors do, but underestimate the importance
of the underlying philosophy that guides what they do and why they do it
§ For example, the Toyota Production System is not just a set of techniques or
practices. It is about a philosophy and perspectives on such things as people,
processes, quality, and continuous improvement
§ In turning knowledge into action, it is crucial that strategies, plans and objectives
are consistent with core values, philosophy and systems for measurement and
reward
3. Strategies and plans must be consistent with philosophy and values
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6. § Organisations can become trapped by their history when memory, embodied in
precedents, customs of unknown origin, stories about how things have always
been or used to be, and standard operating procedures, becomes a substitute for
taking action wisely
§ This tendency is particularly pronounced in organisations with such a strong
identity that anything new is viewed as ‘inconsistent with who we are’
§ It is easier to rely on precedent than to learn something new
4. Memory is a substitute for thinking
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7. § Many organisations that fail to transform knowledge into action have a pervasive
atmosphere of fear and distrust. There are still many people, including stock
market analysts, who admire tough, hard nosed or even mean spirited bosses
§ Studies show that fear and distrust are particularly prevalent in organisations and
countries that have witnessed widespread restructuring and redundancies
§ Fear of dismissal has been pinpointed as one of the main reasons for the
widespread failure of so-called business process re-engineering
§ The tendency for bad news to be screened and sanitised for fear of reprisal often
means that leaders develop remarkably inaccurate images of their organisations.
They think no action is necessary even though many people under them realise the
need for change and know what should be done
5. Fear prevents organisations from acting on knowledge
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8. § Everybody knows the importance of measurement. What gets measured tends to
get done and what is not measured tends to get ignored
§ Badly designed or unnecessarily complex measuring systems are among the
biggest barriers to turning knowledge into action
§ Badly designed measuring systems are frequently short-term and focused
exclusively on outcomes and hard financial facts
§ Even an organisation with a strong culture and a long tradition and history of
valuing people (for example, HP) can get into trouble when there are intense
pressures to produce the numbers that the measuring system emphasises above
all else
§ A measuring system that is strictly financial will lead to other important aspects of
the organisation and its development being neglected
6. Measurement obstructs good judgement
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9. § Internal competition is very common in companies and is frequently encouraged (for
example, between different businesses, plants and individuals)
§ Many believe that the willingness of individuals to cooperate with colleagues is one of
the major determinants of organisational effectiveness and efficiency. Internal
competition discourages this and can be a zero-sum game, encouraging individualistic
behaviour while discouraging teamwork and the sharing of knowledge
§ Competition causes people to see more distinctions between units than actually exist
and to spend time talking and thinking about them. So, it is more likely that ideas from
another unit will be rejected because they are considered inconsistent with the identity
of the group. In addition, status is threatened by the acceptance of ideas from
elsewhere because it suggests an admission that others have something to teach and
that we have something to learn
§ This rapidly develops into defensive behaviour (self-protection, egotism, fear of loss of
face, discomfort with interpersonal conflict) that inhibits open dialogue, transparency,
and the building of mutual trust between colleagues
§ Internal competition also distracts attention from real, external competitors
7. Internal competition turns friends into enemies
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11. What 20-20 does – our formula
Our approach
We work to bring clarity to complexity in order to make things
simpler so that action plans can be implemented
We focus on
Real
insight
Client’s close
involvement
Pragmatic
approach
Organisation
Acquisition, integration, operational
restructuring, target operating model, and
organisational design
People and process
Business process re-engineering, managing
change programmes, and introduce
performance controls
Revenue and Costs
Business development strategy, sales and
marketing, customer profitability, overheads,
the supply chain, and reducing complexity
Small teams
Seasoned
consultants
General
managerial
perspective
Economic
value
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Our contract to deliver success
§ Small joint team
§ 100% commitment to results
§ Frequent reviews - weekly
§ Fast effective working practices
§ Openness
§ Integrity
§ Team Work
§ Client satisfaction ‘10 out of 10
§ Excellence
§ Results
• Excellent people on the Project
Team
• Commitment of leadership time
and effort
• Constructive feedback
• Active engagement
Ways of Working
Client participation and
ownership
Values

13. Who we
are

14. Our peoples’ backgrounds and experience
Les Murray
Les works with big organisations to bring about large-scale change through restructuring projects
which cut complexity, reduce costs and make businesses more efficient. He has achieved success for
major companies throughout the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Far East, and North America.
In his work on restructuring, Les:
§ led multiple organisation and performance reviews at Rolls Royce Plc (Aerospace, Defence, Marine, Nuclear at locations
in UK, Nordics, North America, and Far East) generating well in excess of £250m sustainable cost savings pa "adding
£2 to the share price" – Sir John Rose, Group CEO
§ led reviews of the organisation, and transfer pricing, at Caterpillar in North America that re-shaped product
management and restructured manufacturing
§ led a review of business process and cost structures that resulted in a restructuring of operations at Ricardo plc. The
review was conducted within a tight eight-week timeline and resulted in £5m in cost savings achieved by a blend of
new process improvement and indirect head count reduction
§ removed £15m of operating costs at Chemring Group. Indirect overheads were scaled back with 40% of central staff
departing without adversely affecting service. The productivity of the business units was raised through a series of
integrations “delivering results quickly” – Mark Papworth, CEO .
§ led the transformation of multiple retailers (Boots, Dixons) building upon the development of e-channels
Schooled in high-street marketing and a first-class communicator, he has honed his broad skills on diverse projects – in
aerospace, manufacturing, and service industries. Les read Politics at Edinburgh University and Marketing Strategy at Stanford
University, California. Aged 29, he became Marketing Director at Moss Bros and re-energised the hire business. At
Littlewoods, as New Business Director, he set up a new plan for direct marketing and doubled internet sales.
An experienced executive, Les applies his energy and skills to manage large-scale change and integrate structure with
processes and systems. Les knows how to restructure and get results in challenging and pressurised environments.
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15. A selection of our past clients
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16. Forecasts and recommendations in a proposal, report or letter are made in good faith and on the basis of the information before us at
the time. Results depend on the effective co-operation of the client and the client's staff. Therefore, no statement in a proposal,
report or letter is a representation, undertaking, warranty or contractual condition. This Company shall not be liable for any losses
which were not reasonably foreseeable on acceptance of a proposal or for indirect or consequential losses including loss of revenue,
expected profits and claims by third parties.

17. Telephone +44 77 93 53 90 75
Email Les.murray@20-20management.com