“Concentrate on solving the problem that makes all the other problems soluble,” said Holman Jenkins, Jr in the Wall Street Journal.
Gary Harpst, the author of Six Disciplines-Execution Revolution, makes the claim that the biggest and toughest challenge in business is to build an organization that has the ability to plan and execute while at the same time overcoming the inevitable surprises in business. He goes on to say that building an organization that executes each and every time is the greatest challenge of the CEO and the Organization.
So, how do you do it? How do you build an organization with a realistic business plan that becomes executable each and every time? How do you build an executable business model that adjusts for changes without veering off course?
A blog does not allow us to explore a topic in massive detail, but let’s take a look at the most critical questions: First, as the CEO/Owner, what is the highest and best use of my time? And, secondly, if I put myself in the position of routinely performing my highest and best uses, how can I be assured that the organization will perform the remaining functions in a predictably executable fashion time after time?
The solution that we practice and recommend is two-fold. First, systematize as many functions as possible. Systematize routine functions to the extent that someone with the lowest possible level of training can successfully perform the operation. Next, we suggest that you outsource all those non-essential functions that require time and money but that don’t fall under “the highest, but best use” label.
Why this approach? The blatant, cold truth is that we as CEOs always spend more time in our highest/best use area than in the other areas of the business because it is within our comfort zone. As a result, we typically don’t end up doing a very good job in either area, leaving the Company exposed. As a wise man once said, “We usually know what to do. It’s just that we don’t always do it.”
-- Steve Cook
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