The document provides an introduction to strategic business execution. It discusses the importance of strategic execution, as 90% of strategies fail due to poor execution. It then presents a strategic execution framework with four components: values/behaviors/attitudes, important competencies, core disciplines, and integrating processes. The document delves into each of these components, describing key aspects of strategic business execution like strategic planning, portfolio management, program management and more.

1. Introduction to Strategic Business Execution
O C TO B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 3

2. o Prologue
o Importance of Strategic Business Execution
o Strategic Execution Framework
Agenda
◦ Value, Behavior, and Attitude
◦ Important Competencies
◦ Integrating Processes
◦ Core Disciplines
o Five Rules of Business Execution
o Appendix
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3. Prologue
My interpretation:
“Having a great idea is only
1% of the effort, getting it
done is the other 99%”
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4. o By a show of hands, how many of you
have too many ideas and not enough time
to do something with them?
Two warm up
questions…
o How many of you work for organizations
that also have the same situation – long
on strategies and short on execution?
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5. Why is execution more difficult?
Reason 1: Execution
is difficult and
often too messy
◦ Projects, for example, can always be done cheaper,
faster, better, and more inclusively.
◦ It’s nearly impossible to plan everything. As Molkte the
Elder stated: “No plan survives contact with the enemy.”
Reason 2: Execution
is a big and vague
concept
◦ What is execution? It feels all pervasive.
◦ We know good execution when we see it, but we rarely
can describe it.
Reason 3: Execution
is simply not sexy
◦ Students want to learn about strategy.
◦ Academics are attracted to research on business
strategy, strategy formulation, and strategic alignment.
◦ Strategy is exciting.
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6. On Reason 1, a recent search on Amazon.com
o Execution (and like terms such as Implementation)
◦ Hits: 379 + 1,860 = 2,238
o Strategy (and like terms such as Strategic)
◦ Hits: 23,113 + 18,821 = 41,934
o “Strategy + Strategic” is 19x more than “Execution
+ Implementation”
o The often incorrect perception is that
execution = grunt work
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7. But! What is strategy without execution?

8. How many companies have
beautiful and often expensive
binders of ideas, plans, and
strategies?
How many of them are well
executed?
How often do you receive great
sounding advice but it is incredibly
hard to achieve?
That’s because execution is
more difficult
What is the value of a plan
without results?
Very little
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9. Astonishing Findings
90%
of well‐formulated strategies fail due to poor execution1
5%
of employees understand their corporate strategy2
3%
of executives think their company is very successful at executing its
strategies, while 62% think they’re only moderately successful, or worse3
2009
In 2009, about 523k new businesses started, and nearly 661k businesses
closed down.4
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10. Here are some recent books on business execution
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11. Importance of Strategic Business Execution
My understanding:
“Plan without action is
worth little, and action
without purpose is just
waste.”
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12. Here is a simple framework
What do organizations do?
How much of this work is
“execution‐related”?
Answer: nearly everything
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13. Activity Map of An Organization
Operating
Planning
Changing (PPP)
Corporate Structure
Portfolio
(Risk & Reward)
Corporate Integration
Identify & Analyze:
Mission, Vision & Culture
ID & Categorize
Evaluate & Select
Corporate Strategy
Business Strategy
Business Objectives
Financial Plan
Risk:
ID & Analyze
Develop Risk Tolerance &
Response
Budgeting
Functional Strategies:
Marketing
Sales
Product
IT…
Govern:
Program
(Benefits)
Project
(Deliverables)
Initiate Program
Initiate Project
Plan Program:
Plan Project:
Benefits Management
Stakeholder
Governance
Scope
Schedule
Finance
Integration
Scope
Schedule
Cost
Quality
Human Resources
Communication
Risk
Procurement
Integration
Operation Plan:
Facility Plan
Production Plan
Contingency Planning
Disaster & Recovery
Service Plan
Material Plan
Resource Plan
Training Plan
Quality Management
Customer Relationship
...
Service Catalog
Manage Operations
Prioritize & Balance
Authorize & Adjust
Communicate
Execute Program
Execute Project
Monitor & Control
Monitor & Control
Operational Metrics &
Reporting
Monitor & Control
Closing Program
Closing Project
Continuous Improvement
Multi‐Disciplinary
• Organization Change Management
• Organization Development
• Leadership
• Incentives
• Communication
• Control
• Business Process Change / Re‐engineering
• Functional Leadership (e.g. IT, Finance, Student Affairs…)
Slide 13

14. What is the benefit of strategic business execution?
Things get done!
They may not be perfect and there are trade‐offs.
But the alternative of not achieving
results is often far worse…
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15. What does research show?
Organizations with a
formal strategy execution
process outperform
organizations without one
Do you have a formal strategy
execution process in place?
Percent of companies who have
achieved “breakthrough”
results or performed better
than peer group5
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Yes
No
54%
46%
70%
27%
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16. Strategic Business Execution Framework
“Execution is never an accident; it is
always the result of high intention,
sincere effort, intelligent direction,
skillful execution and the ability to see
obstacles as opportunities.”
‐ Te Wu
My interpretation:
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17. What is strategic business execution (SBE)?
o SBE is an interdisciplinary practice of aligning strategic
business objectives with implementation
◦ Practice is the pragmatic application of this body of interdisciplinary
skills with the right behavior and attitude
o Strategic planning
Interdisciplinary refers to
simultaneous application
of many schools of
management such as
o Organization change and development
o Communication
o Portfolio, program, and project management
o Innovation and technology
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18. What is strategic business execution (SBE)?
o Aligning refers to the process of continuous adjustment ensuring
actions and planning are in agreement.
o Implementation refers to the methodical execution of the business
objectives to achieve real and tangible benefits.
Strategic business
objectives refers
o Establishment, prioritization, and resourcing
of critical business and organization goals
o Both short‐term and long‐term
o That are essential to survival and growth.
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19. In short, Strategic business execution is about
“doing the right thing”
in the “right way”
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20. Four Components
There are four components of SBE, each playing a vital role. Execution excellence is
when these components work in tandem.
Value, behavior,
and attitude
Important
competencies
Core
disciplines
Integrating
processes
the intrinsic
“software” of
individuals, teams,
and companies
the essential
abilities (e.g. skills
and expertise)
the basic methods,
systems, and
control
the unifying force
that ties all these
components
together
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21. Four Components
Value,
Behavior,
Attitude
Important
Competencies
Core
Disciplines
Execution
Excellence
Integrating Processes
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22. Value, Behavior, and Attitude
This is the intrinsic software that operates at all levels (individual, team, organization,
sector/industry, national, etc.)
Here are some execution oriented values, behaviors, and attitude:
Value ‐
Behavior ‐
Attitude ‐
the moral principles
and beliefs
observable
activities
how a person views
something
o Industrious
o Respect
o “Can do”
o Resolution
o Teamwork
o Optimism
o Integrity
o Organization
o Resiliency
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23. Important Competencies
o Building on Career Architect Development Planner by Lominger, we identified 69
individual competencies (many of which are applicable at a team or firm level).
o Many of these competencies are execution focused. These are my top 10:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Action oriented
Balancing
Conflict management
Decision making
Delegation
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Interpersonal savvy
Listening
Managerial courage
Motivating others
Problem solving
For a complete listing of the 69 competencies, see Appendix C.
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24. Integrating Processes
o Integrating processes are the basic unifying, workflow, and pre‐programmed
steps that facilitate execution.
o The driving paradigm is to apply the right balance between system and flexibility
that routinizes otherwise complex operations.
o Based on our experience, organizations must develop these 8 integrating
processes and apply them judiciously across the firm:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Governance
Planning and organizing
Issue and risk management
Conflict management
◦
◦
◦
◦
Change management
Information / Knowledge management
Dependency management
Business alignment
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25. Core Disciplines
My interpretation:
“To achieve execution excellence,
businesses must apply the right
disciplines to the problems at hand.”
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26. Core Disciplines
o Disciplines are major subjects of collective knowledge, practices, and
tools
For strategic business
execution, our
experience shows
there are nine core
disciplines
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27. 1. Strategic Planning
o For organizations to be successful, having a strategy plan that works is critical.
Not only do strategic plans provide direction, they also align the entire
organization toward achieving their plans.
o Collaborative – bringing key players together to
develop the plans
We advocate
strategic
planning that is
o Data driven – planning should be less emotional
and more driven by external and internal data
o Realistic – evaluating the organization’s
capabilities before jumping in
o Prioritized – focus on the essential and
determine what will or would be “good enough”
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28. 2. Portfolio Management
o Organizations should manage their initiatives as investments using the relevant
principles from portfolio management.
o Identify, categorize, evaluate, prioritize and
authorize opportunities
o Identify risk, analyze, and develop risk response
Key processes
in Portfolio
Management
o Balance and rebalance portfolio to reflect
changes
o Communicate, monitor & control, and review
portfolio performance
o Make adjustment when/if business strategies
change
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29. 3. Program Management
o Program management focuses on the business benefits and the alignment of the
various projects and components within the program
o Strategy alignment
Performance
domains in
Program
Management
o Governance
o Lifecycle Management
o Benefits management
o Stakeholder engagement
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30. 4. Project Management
o Project management focuses on completing deliverables under constraints such
as schedule, resources/budget, scope, and quality. There are 10 knowledge areas.
Knowledge
areas in PMI
PMBOK
1. Scope
2. Schedule
3. Budget
4. Procurement
5. Risk
6. Quality
7. Human Resources
8. Stakeholder
9. Communication
10. Integration
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31. 5. Project Management Office
o Project management offices (PMOs) are designed for highly intense and complex
projects or operational environments.
Our PMO
capability
model includes
three
evolutionary
stages
o Essential – focusing on tactical management
and control
o Advanced – shifting toward greater
intelligence and long‐term value
o Strategic – creating a value‐driven
organization that strives toward deeper
alignment with business strategy and goals
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32. 6. Operational Management
o For an organization to excel, it is imperative to create a stable and consistent
operational environment. Otherwise, changes resulting from projects and
programs would be built on a poor foundation.
o Operational considerations, as shown on earlier on Slide 13, are vast. One of the
best frameworks available today is ITIL – Information Technology Infrastructure
Library6 – and it is applicable for a wide variety of service industries.
ITIL Framework
o
o
o
o
o
Service Strategy
Service Design
Service Transition
Service Operation
Continual Service Improvement
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33. 7. Process Improvement
o A business process is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that
produce some desirable results
From our
perspective,
organizations
ought to have
four types of
processes
o Management processes for planning and
decision support
o Operational processes for managing the core
business
o Changing processes for program and project
change management
o Supporting processes for enabling the other
functions of the organization
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34. 8. Organization Change Management
o Organization change management (OCM) is a framework for managing changes in
organizations related to people, teams, and their relationships
o Business process and technology changes, requiring
“adoption management”
Specific uses of
OCM from
tactical to
strategic
o Organization restructure, focusing on “change
navigation management” and “human capital
management” including talent management
o Culture change, especially during mergers and
acquisitions when two or more cultures often clash
before integrating, requiring a high level of respect and
sensitivity
o Vision, driving agreement and legitimacy to establish a
common future
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35. 9. Data Visualization and Decision Support
o Today, executives and professionals are inundated with data. But unless data
translates to information and information into knowledge, data by itself is often
inadequate.
Visual
communication is
more powerful
than verbal
communication
o There is a big connection between seeing and
remembering.
o Visual interpretations of information in the
form of simple yet powerful diagrams, tables,
graphs, charts or any other format that can
convey the message of what “it means”
without someone providing an explanation
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36. Five Rules of Business Execution
My interpretation:
“Read the five rules”
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37. The Five Rules of Business Execution
1 Focus on the vital few
2 Determine "what is good enough" for the rest
3 Establish good metrics and reward systems
4 Create an easy to understand scoreboard
5 Develop a culture of accountability
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38. 1
Focus on the Vital Few
The vital few should be both urgent and important.
High
Vital Few
Why are these
even on the list?
Do we need to
focus on these
now?
Urgency
Why are we
working on
these?
Low
Important
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High
38

39. Determine "what is good enough" for the rest
2
o We all desire to achieve excellence, but the price of
excellence is often high ‐ sometimes very high.
◦ Be practical, be real, and decide "what is good enough“
o In most business endeavors, achieving "good enough" on
time is far more important than attaining "greatness" that
misses the optimal window of opportunity.
◦ Make trade‐off decisions early and quickly.
◦ There is always a next phase
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40. Determine "what is good enough" for the rest
2
o More important, for the entire “system” to work, the
complimentary pieces must work together.
◦ But often, they do not need to be perfect
o Finding the “good enough” components will reduce
anxiety, workload, and buy time and resources to work
on the vital few
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41. Establish good metrics and reward systems
3
o Business (and people) often achieve what they measure. But
determining the right metrics can be challenging? For
example:
o Does your organization operate on a consistent
set of metrics, also known as key performance
indicators (KPIs)?
? ? ?
o Do the metrics give you the ability to diagnose
and predict?
o Are people and teams rewarded for the right
results and behaviors?
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42. Establish good metrics and reward systems
3
o Organizations should critically challenge the current metrics
and make sure they measure the desired outcome.
o In “Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done”,
Bossidy and Charan7, point out that rewards are pivotal in
motivating people towards achieving specific results.
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43. Create an easy to understand scoreboard
4
o People need to see how they are doing, and there is no better
motivator than making real progress on achieving
challenging goals
o Therefore, all leaders need an easy to understand dashboard
that requires no more than 30 seconds for the followers to
check on their progress
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44. Create an easy to understand scoreboard
4
o The dashboard must be timely, relevant, and accurate.
o Traffic signs – Red, Amber, Green
Some of the
best
scoreboards
include:
o Sport scoreboard – Soccer, Basket, Football, etc.
o Goal posts – revenue, profit, margin, market
share, net presenter score
o Progress reports ‐ % completion
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45. Develop a culture of accountability
5
o Accountability is accepting responsibility for a specific area of
focus and consciously striving to meet expectations of all
facets from strategy to execution
o Creating a culture of accountability will be vital for the
sustainability of execution excellence
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46. Develop a culture of accountability
5
o But for some organizations, establishing this culture can be
difficult.
◦ Leaders should start on small but meaningful tasks, celebrate success when
achieved, and move the organization toward larger tasks and activities.
o Once the rhythm of accomplishment is established, then take
opportunities to nurture them including applying the right
rewards and recognition.
◦ Before long, the organization becomes a powerhouse of business execution.
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47. Questions and Answers
My interpretation:
“Any questions?”
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48. Contact Information
o Email: advisor@pmoadvisory.com
o Phone: 201.688.0680
o Web: www.pmoadvisory.com
Management Consulting with A Social Conscience

49. Appendix
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50. Reference A: Important Competencies
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
Action oriented
Ambiguity, deal with
Approachability
Boss relationships
Business acumen
Career ambition
Caring about direct reports
Comfort around higher management
Command skills
Compassion
Composure
Conflict management
Confronting direct reports
Creativity
Customer focus
Decision making, timely
Decision quality
Delegation
Developing direct reports
Directing others
Diversity, managing
Ethics and values
Fairness to direct reports
Functional/technical skills
Hiring and staffing
Humor
Informing
Innovation management
Integrity and trust
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
Intellectual horsepower
Interpersonal savvy
Learning on the fly
Listening
Managerial courage
Managing and measuring work
Motivating others
Negotiating
Organization agility
Organizing
Paradox, dealing with
Patience
Peer relationships
Perseverance
Personal disclosure
Personal learning
Perspective
Planning
Political savvy
Presentation skills
Priority setting
Problem solving
Process management
Results, drive for
Self‐development
Self‐knowledge
Sizing up people
Standing alone
Strategic agility
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
Systems, managing through
Teams, building effective
Technical learning
Time management
TQM/Reengineering
Understanding others
Vision and purpose, managing
Work/life balance
Written communication
Balancing
Consultative
Source: Career Architect
Development Planner, Lominger,
2002
Italics: PMO Advisory additions

51. Reference B: Book and articles mentioned
1. Robert Kaplan and David Norton, The Strategy‐Focused Organization, Harvard
Business School Press, 2001
2. Gary Harpst, Six Disciplines Execution Revolution, Six Disciplines Publishing, 2008,
as reported/found by Renaissance Solution Survey, 1996
3. "American Management Association and Human Resource Insitute survey, as
reported by Business Finance Magazine Newsletter, Issue 25, March 29, 2007"
4. "The Small Business Economy," U.S. Small Business Administration, 2010
5. Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy
to Operations for Competitive Advantage, Hardvard Business Press, Boston,
2008. Pg. 4, Figure 1‐1, summarzing BSCol Research, March 2006
6. http://www.itil‐officialsite.com/WhatisITIL.aspx
7. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done,
Crown Business, 2002
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52. Reference C: Recent books on Execution
o The 4 Disciplines of Execution: The Secret To Getting Things Done, On Time,
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
With Excellence... by Stephen R. Covey and Chris McChesney (2012)
Six Disciplines® Execution Revolution: Solving the One Business Problem
That Makes Solving All Other Problems... by Gary Harpst (2008)
Business Execution for RESULTS: A practical guide for leaders of small to midsized firms by Stephen Lynch (2013)
Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right by Larry Bossidy
and Ram Charan (2004)
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan
and Charles Burck (2002)
The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive
Advantage by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton (2008)
Get It Done!: A Blueprint for Business Execution by Ralph Welborn and Vince
Kasten (2005)
Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change (2nd Edition) by
Lawrence Hrebiniak (2013)
The Other Side of Innovation: Solving the Execution Challenge (Harvard
Business Review) by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble (2010)
Ruthless Execution: What Business Leaders Do When Their Companies Hit the
Wall (paperback) by Amir Hartman (Jul 19, 2003)
Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution by Robert
Simons (2012)
Strategy Execution Heroes: Business Strategy Implementation and Strategic
Management Demystified (Expanded Edition) by Jeroen De Flander (2012)
52