“Execution is a specific set of behaviors and techniques that companies need to master in order to have competitive advantage. It’s a discipline of its own” â€”Ram Charan

No one would disagree to the fact that strategy and execution needs to go hand in hand to be effective. Isn't it!? But the question remains why so few organisations are successful in devising there strategies? On a recent panel I experienced an intriguing discussion. In my experience of being both in consulting and industry the answer has always been - "People"!!

Learn from organisational history - Mostly new strategies are picked up when a new leader enters the organisation. Its really amusing to see how often people tend to conveniently put at side the history because they were not part of it. But that's were you can learn the most about the organisation - its customers, suppliers and most importantly people.

Buy-in of key stakeholders only! Really enough? - Strategy is essentially about choices! As a leader now you want the organisation to make certain choices and implement them. Buy-in is of course key to start with. Without buy-in from stakeholders most probably you wont be able to start and its not worth it. Is it enough to successfully implement those choices in the entire organisation? Ever heard of resistance? Oh these old brass are not willing to change! - Yes, but why? Because people are people - they make those choices only if they "will" and "can"!!

Create Sense of Urgency - Once the purpose/direction is defined, sense of urgency gives people a reason to move forward. Essentially that's the change from status quo - your transformation program, doesn't matter how big it is. Everyone in leadership position know how difficult it can be to bring through that change across. Our Change management process was in shambles and we were gifting customers money every day. Now how to communicate that to the one that is responsible for that process? A simple 10-member workshop to visualize the current process was all it needed to get the team going. The leak stopped in no time.

Ensure alignment and Count in organisational politics - Recognise that everybody in the organisation makes choices as to what to do and what not to do. It's just not the purpose, but essentially "whats in it for me?" needs to answered. Thats the main reason you need those strong first followers to create alignment down the line. And don't forget to consider organisational politics in crafting your strategy of alignment. Sometimes it can be the biggest boon.

Be ready to make tweaks to remove final hurdles - Quickly identifying what works and what doesn't can be a key differentiator to success. You need to have channels of feedback and your first level of management is not the only place to look for. But make sure you identify those fast followers and constantly support them in removing any final hurdles.

Don't forget to celebrate small victories - We often get in to the heat of the situation and forget to pat on the backs of each other, that we have come already so far. To let that sense of urgency and re-emphasize the direction of change don't let go of opportunities to celebrate even small victories. Remember that even Mt. Everest can be mastered through smaller summits (Read victories/milestones).

The final challenge still remains to sustain the change and excel at it! And lets not forget, there is more than one route/way even for Mt. Everest. Its time to find your way to successful execution!

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