Execution:
BOOK TITLE : EXECUTION,THE DISCIPLINE OF GETTING THINGS DONE
AUTHOR: LARRY BOSSIDY AND RAM CHARAN
Here are 7 life applicable lessons from the book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by
Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan:
-Have a clear vision. What do you want to achieve? What are your goals? Once you know what you
want, you can start to develop a plan to get there.
-Set priorities. Not all tasks are created equal. Some tasks are more important and urgent than others.
Focus your time and energy on the most important tasks first.
-Break down large goals into smaller tasks. Large goals can seem daunting and overwhelming. Break
them down into smaller, more manageable tasks. This will make them seem less intimidating and more
achievable.
-Delegate tasks. You don't have to do everything yourself. Delegate tasks to others whenever possible.
This will free up your time so that you can focus on the most important tasks.
-Communicate effectively. Communicate your vision and priorities to your team. Make sure that
everyone knows what they need to do and how their work contributes to the overall goal.
-Monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. Things don't always go according to plan. Monitor
your progress and make adjustments as needed. This will help you to stay on track and achieve your
goals.
-Celebrate successes. It's important to celebrate your successes, no matter how small they may seem.
This will help you to stay motivated and keep moving forward.
These lessons can be applied to all areas of your life, from your personal goals to your professional
career. When you follow these principles, you will be better positioned to achieve your goals and live a
more fulfilling life.
Here are some additional tips for applying these lessons to your daily life:
-Take some time each day to reflect on your goals and priorities. What do you want to achieve today,
this week, this month, and this year? Once you know your goals, you can start to develop a plan to get
there.
-Make a list of your tasks and prioritize them. Focus your time and energy on the most important tasks
first.
-Break down large goals into smaller, more manageable tasks. This will make them seem less
intimidating and more achievable.
-Delegate tasks to others whenever possible. This will free up your time so that you can focus on the
most important tasks.
-Communicate your goals and priorities to your team or family. Make sure that everyone knows what
they need to do and how their work contributes to the overall goal.
-Check in on your progress regularly and make adjustments as needed. Things don't always go according
to plan, so it's important to be flexible and adaptable.
-Celebrate your successes, no matter how small they may seem. This will help you to stay motivated and
keep moving forward.
By following these tips, you can apply the lessons of Execution to your daily life and achieve your goals.
Get it: https://amzn.to/3M1CPDu
Top 10 key lessons from the book "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done" by Larry Bossidy
and Ram Charan.
1. Clarity of Purpose: Ensure that everyone in the organization understands the overall mission, vision,
and objectives. Clear direction provides a framework for decision-making and action.
2. Focus on Priorities: Identify and prioritize the most critical objectives and initiatives. Concentrating
resources and efforts on high-impact tasks maximizes efficiency and effectiveness.
3. Accountability: Establish clear lines of accountability for tasks and outcomes. Holding individuals and
teams responsible for their performance fosters a culture of ownership and results.
4. Aligning People and Strategy: Align organizational structure, processes, and talent with strategic
goals. Ensuring that everyone is working towards the same objectives enhances synergy and
collaboration.
5. Data-Driven Decision Making: Base decisions on reliable data and metrics rather than intuition or
opinion. Analyzing performance indicators allows for informed decision-making and course correction.
6. Execution Rhythm: Implement regular review meetings and checkpoints to monitor progress and
ensure accountability. A consistent execution rhythm keeps initiatives on track and facilitates timely
adjustments.
7. Creating a Culture of Execution: Foster a culture that values execution and results. Encouraging
initiative, innovation, and accountability motivates employees to take ownership of their work and
strive for excellence.
8. Simplicity and Focus: Streamline processes and eliminate unnecessary complexity to enhance
efficiency and clarity. Maintaining a focus on essential priorities prevents dilution of resources and
effort.
9. Resilience and Adaptability: Anticipate and prepare for unforeseen challenges and disruptions.
Building resilience and adaptability into plans allows organizations to navigate change and adversity
effectively.
10. Celebrating Success and Learning from Failure: Recognize and celebrate achievements to reinforce a
culture of success. Additionally, encourage reflection and learning from setbacks and failures to extract
valuable lessons for future improvement.
⏭️ Clear Goals and Objectives: Clearly defined goals and objectives are essential for successful execution.
Leaders must ensure that everyone in the organization understands the objectives and their role in
achieving them.
⏭️ Accountability: Establishing clear accountability for tasks and outcomes is crucial. Every individual
must understand their responsibilities and be held accountable for delivering results.
⏭️ Focus on People: Execution is not just about processes and strategies; it's also about people. Leaders
must invest in building a talented team and developing their skills to ensure successful execution.
⏭️ Realistic Planning: Effective execution requires realistic and achievable plans. Leaders must assess
resources, timelines, and potential obstacles realistically to avoid overpromising and underdelivering.
⏭️ Continuous Improvement: Execution is an ongoing process that requires continuous improvement.
Organizations must constantly review their performance, identify areas for improvement, and make
necessary adjustments to enhance execution effectiveness.
⏭️ Alignment: Alignment between strategy, goals, and actions is critical. All efforts within the
organization should be aligned towards achieving the overarching strategic objectives.
⏭️ Decisiveness: Successful execution requires timely and decisive decision-making. Leaders must be
willing to make tough decisions and take calculated risks to move initiatives forward.
⏭️ Communication: Effective communication is essential for successful execution. Leaders must ensure
that information flows freely within the organization, and everyone is kept informed about goals,
progress, and expectations.
⏭️ Empowerment: Empowering employees to make decisions and take ownership of their work is key to
successful execution. Leaders should create an environment where individuals feel empowered to act
and innovate.
⏭️ Results Orientation: Execution is ultimately about delivering results. Leaders must foster a resultsoriented culture within the organization, where performance is measured, recognized, and
rewarded.Here are 7 life applicable lessons from the book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things
Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan:
-Have a clear vision. What do you want to achieve? What are your goals? Once you know what you
want, you can start to develop a plan to get there.
-Set priorities. Not all tasks are created equal. Some tasks are more important and urgent than others.
Focus your time and energy on the most important tasks first.
-Break down large goals into smaller tasks. Large goals can seem daunting and overwhelming. Break
them down into smaller, more manageable tasks. This will make them seem less intimidating and more
achievable.
-Delegate tasks. You don't have to do everything yourself. Delegate tasks to others whenever possible.
This will free up your time so that you can focus on the most important tasks.
-Communicate effectively. Communicate your vision and priorities to your team. Make sure that
everyone knows what they need to do and how their work contributes to the overall goal.
-Monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. Things don't always go according to plan. Monitor
your progress and make adjustments as needed. This will help you to stay on track and achieve your
goals.
-Celebrate successes. It's important to celebrate your successes, no matter how small they may seem.
This will help you to stay motivated and keep moving forward.
These lessons can be applied to all areas of your life, from your personal goals to your professional
career. When you follow these principles, you will be better positioned to achieve your goals and live a
more fulfilling life.
Here are some additional tips for applying these lessons to your daily life:
-Take some time each day to reflect on your goals and priorities. What do you want to achieve today,
this week, this month, and this year? Once you know your goals, you can start to develop a plan to get
there.
-Make a list of your tasks and prioritize them. Focus your time and energy on the most important tasks
first.
-Break down large goals into smaller, more manageable tasks. This will make them seem less
intimidating and more achievable.
-Delegate tasks to others whenever possible. This will free up your time so that you can focus on the
most important tasks.
-Communicate your goals and priorities to your team or family. Make sure that everyone knows what
they need to do and how their work contributes to the overall goal.
-Check in on your progress regularly and make adjustments as needed. Things don't always go according
to plan, so it's important to be flexible and adaptable.
-Celebrate your successes, no matter how small they may seem. This will help you to stay motivated and
keep moving forward.
By following these tips, you can apply the lessons of Execution to your daily life and achieve your goals.
Get it: https://amzn.to/3M1CPDu
This week I have the opportunity to tell you all about a book that I read for my Creativity
to Entrepreneurship class at Cedarville University. “Execution: The Discipline of Getting
Things Done” by Lawrence Bossidy and Ram Charanis is a cover to cover read and its
goal is to help give perspective about the importance of execution in business. The book
gives examples of real companies and real reasons they have “failed” or taken a
“misstep” in business. But then it circles back and helps to give ideas of how execution
could have been done better. In this article, I will give the rundown of the book, explain
the personal connection I had to the book, and how it influenced my Cedarville
capstone project.
A brief synopsis of the book...
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The book is broken down into three parts of what execution is and how to strategize it.
Part one: Why Execution is Needed
The beginning of the book helps to frame up what some companies have failed at when
implementing new ideas or changes. There are many examples and the more you read,
the more likely you are to find a story that resonates with you. The main topics include
failure, lack of discipline, and cultural effects. Execution is intended to make positive
change, but when done poorly, the effects are generally large and impactful to the
company.
Part two: The Building Blocks of Execution
Part two focuses on the building blocks which include what a leader should be, the
culture, and position expectations. “Execution” defines a leader as someone who knows
their business and people. A leader is realistic and follows through with their goals and
priorities. A leader can recognize when the team deserves praise and willingly shares a
victory. A good leader can make a company’s culture or break it. A good leader should
be bold and take ownership of their decisions. If a leader was to blame others for any
negative feedback, there would be little respect or trust. Leaders need to make sure that
their employees are treated well and their role is with the right people or place. Many
businesses have many departments. It is important to make sure the right people are
doing their jobs. When you assign people who are not capable of doing the job or are
aware, that will negatively affect all aspects they touch (Bossidy, Larry, and Ram Charan.
Page 113).
Part Three: The Three Core Processes of Execution
The book concludes with the core of execution. Those processes are the people process,
the strategy process, and the operation process. The people of the organization are
everything. They are the ones doing the work. They are running the machines or serving
the customers or working the numbers. The people are what will define success with the
other two processes. The strategy process is all about making a plan. You need to have
the people in the operations to work on a strategy though. This is essentially an action
plan. These need to be planned and executed to a “t”. The operation process is the final
part of the execution. This is the part of the process where products are made and margins
are hit. The operations process needs the plan from strategy and the people to work the
process. If all these pieces can work together, execution can take place.
Personal Connection
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When I think about “Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done”, I think back on
the case study at Xerox (Bossidy, Larry, and Ram Charan. Page 40). The Xerox case told
the story of Richard C. Thoman became COO in 1997. As he began in his role, he was
brought in for a change. He launched many programs that included cost-cutting
initiatives, layoffs, and perks. These were tough calls that had to be made for the good of
the company, but once the call was made… it needed to be fully executed. Unfortunately,
that did not happen. Administration messages, invoices, and calls started to go
unanswered. The staff that was left could not handle the load of work and clients began to
leave. The morale in the company began to drop because the plan was executed poorly.
In May of 2000, Thomas was fired. The book indicated that the strategy failed because
there was too much happening at the same time. One change would have put a major
strain on the company, but breaking major changes effectively tripled the company. I
relate to this case because I have worked in environments where too much change was
happening at once. Many times, employees are left confused and annoyed. Clients are
hearing excuses and the culture begins to change. Culture takes a long time to create and
very little time to break. Leaders need to be intentional and transparent with execution.
Failure to do that may cause damage that is permanent.
Developing Capstone through the Book Teachings
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Execution is something that I have always strived to do. Many times I will hold back
from saying ideas out loud because I don’t want to develop the reputation of empty
words. When I was in school, I had a plan on where I wanted to work. I never spoke to
people as I had it in the bag until the day I started. Those are logical words for some, but
entrepreneurs are different. Entrepreneurs need to be bold and speak their goals and then
execute them to the best of their ability. They need to be flexible to change the plan when
needed and humble enough to take the fails. The authors close the book by giving advice
to a new leader named Jane (Bossidy, Larry, and Ram Charan. Pages 265- 269). They
encourage her to know the organization well. They tell her to create a productive
environment. They remind her that people are her most important asset. She should
always be looking to improve and better understand the customer’s needs. And lastly,
Leadership is earned. When I read those lines, I couldn’t help but apply the philosophy to
my capstone. I need to understand who my followers are and what they believe.I need to
be productive with creating a platform that is inviting to others. My following is my
biggest asset. I should look to fill the entertainment or escapism needed for my following.
And my platform is earned.
Being a long-time GE employee (albeit from more than 15 years ago), I was interested to dig into
this book, as it has been on my reading list for a while. It’s all about execution…and, as the authors
discuss at length, I too have seen many terrific visions, plans, and opportunities go unfulfilled
due to a lack of effective execution.
The objective of “Execution: the discipline of getting things done” is to dispel some myths or
inaccurate thinking regarding execution, and to provide some concepts and tools to improve
outcomes. Execution is not something that just does or doesn’t get done. Execution is a specific
set of behaviors and techniques that companies need to master in order to have competitive
advantage. It is a discipline of its own.
What follows is a summary of some of the key points that I took away from this book.
Many well-known and even presumably “good” companies, with smart CEOs, inspiring visions, and
talented employees, regularly fail to produce promised results. When companies fail to deliver on
their promises, the most frequent explanation is that the CEO’s strategy was wrong. But the
strategy by itself is not often the cause. Strategies most often fail because they aren’t executed
well. Things that are supposed to happen don’t happen. Either the organizations aren’t capable of
making them happen, or the leaders of the business misjudge the challenges their companies face,
or both. The gap between promises and results is the gap between what a company’s leadership
wants to achieve and the ability of the organization to achieve it. Execution is the missing link
and, as such, should be the major job of a business leader.
The authors contend that leaders place too much emphasis on higher-level strategizing,
intellectualizing or philosophizing, and not enough on implementation. That a fundamental problem
is too many people thinking of execution as the tactical side of business, something that leaders
delegate to others while they focus on the perceived “bigger” issues. Execution has to be a part of
a company’s strategy and its goals. No worthwhile strategy can be planned without taking into
account the organization’s ability to execute it.
Execution is often thought about as doing things more effectively, more carefully, or with more
attention to the details. To understand execution, you have to keep three key points in mind:
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Execution is a discipline, and integral to strategy.
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Execution is the major job of the business leader.
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Execution must be a core element of an organization’s culture.
Most companies don’t face reality very well and, in its most fundamental sense, execution is a
systematic way of exposing reality and acting on it.
The core processes are tightly linked together and need to be connected to the everyday realities
of the business by creating a discipline of execution around:
1. People
2. Strategy
3. Budgeting/Operations
The leader must be in charge of getting things done by running the three core processes: 1) by
picking other leaders, 2) setting the strategic direction, and 3) conducting operations. Businesses
that execute prosecute these core processes with rigor, intensity, and depth. But leading for
execution is not about micromanaging or being “hands on,” it’s about active involvement and doing
the things that leaders should be doing.
Let’s explore some of the key elements of these core processes:
People
1.
1. Defines who’s going to achieve the strategy. If you don’t get the people process right, you will never
fulfill the potential of your business.
2. Use leadership messaging to guide the culture, clarify the goals and issues, and to change
employees’ attitudes.
3. Behaviors are beliefs turned into action, and behaviors deliver the results.
4. Focus on how people execute, not merely the outcomes.
5. Coach others and help them learn how to execute.
6. Hold people accountable and provide constant feedback on progress.
7. A big shortcoming is to be backward-looking; focused on evaluating the jobs people are doing today.
Instead, focus on whether individuals can handle the jobs of tomorrow.
Strategy
1.
1. Defines where the business wants to go.
2. Corporate-level strategy is the vehicle for allocating resources among all of the business units.
3. In shaping the plan, involve all of the people who are responsible for the strategic plan’s outcome.
4. Set goals based on the organization’s capabilities for delivering results. An astonishing number of
strategies fail because leaders don’t make a realistic assessment of whether the organization can
execute the plan.
5. Set milestones for the progress of the plan (they bring reality to the plan).
Budgeting/Operations
1.
1. The operating plan provides the path for people to execute the plan.
2. Set contingency plans to deal with the unexpected.
3. Budgets often have little to do with the reality of execution because they’re merely numbers and
gaming exercises.
4. Debating the assumptions is one of the most critical parts of any operation plan and review.
If you have leaders with the right behavior, a culture that rewards execution, and a consistent
system for getting the right people in the right jobs, the foundation is in place for operating
and managing each of the core processes effectively.
For leaders who are in charge of execution, the authors suggest these seven essential behaviors:
1. Know your people and your business
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Leaders have to “live” their businesses and be in touch with the day-to-day realities.
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Search for people with an enormous drive for winning; with energy and enthusiasm for execution.
These people get their satisfaction from getting things done.
2. Insist on realism
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Realism is the heart of execution but many organizations are full of people who are trying to avoid or
shade reality.
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You cannot have an execution culture without robust dialogue, which starts when people go in with
open minds.
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Harmony can be the enemy of truth. A good motto is to observe “Truth over harmony.”
3. Set clear goals and priorities
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Leaders who execute focus on very few clear priorities; ones that everyone can grasp.
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Getting things done through others is a fundamental leadership skill.
4. Follow through
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The failure to follow through is widespread in business and a major cause of poor execution.
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Follow-through is a cornerstone of execution; ensuring that people are doing the things they
committed to do.
5. Reward the doers
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Many companies do such as poor job of linking rewards to performance that there’s little correlation
at all.
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Reward not just strong achievements on numbers but also the desirable behaviors that people
actually adopt.
6. Expand people’s capabilities
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Coaching is the single most important part of expanding others’ capabilities, and the most effective
way to coach is to observe a person in action and then provide specific useful feedback.
7. Know yourself
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It takes emotional fortitude to be open to whatever information you need, whether it’s what you like
to hear or not. The four core qualities that make up emotional fortitude are authenticity, selfawareness, self-mastery, and humility.
As Jack Welch quotes in this book, “A great practitioner (Bossidy) and an insightful
theorist (Charan) join forces to write a compelling business story of ‘how to get it done.’”
I hope this book summary helps in your endeavors to fulfill your visions, plans, and dreams.
If there is one book that has inspired me to act, this is the one: Execution, the
Discipline of Getting Things Done. In their 2002 groundbreaking book, Execution, the
Discipline of Getting Things Done, authors Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan highlight
the importance of strategic execution.
Yes; this book is all about action.
So if you ask me what this book is all about, here is the essence in 2 lines:
1. In order to execute the strategies that they develop, companies have to integrate
their people, strategy and processes. Without proper execution, even the best
strategies fail.
2. By focusing on execution and framing it as a discipline, the authors show how to
tackle the source of so many organizational problems that often go unnoticed
and unattended.
We have come across many leaders and managers who fall victim to the gap between
promises they have made and results their organizations delivered. The ‘diagnosis’ often
varies from their team’s lack of accountability to their design of inapt strategies. They do
not know, however, if their people are doing the things they are supposed to do to
implement a plan. They desperately want to make changes of some kind; but what do
they need to change?
So, what is it that the authors are proposing? Here are the highlights:
Execution is a specific set of behaviors and techniques that companies need to
master in order to have competitive advantage.
Execution is not just about ‘doing’ things; leading for execution does not simply involve
following a set of directives – on the contrary, it is a way of doing things that calls for a
leader to be deeply and passionately engaged in your organization and honest
about its realities with others and yourself. It is a way of leading that is assertive
in getting others to bridge the gap between understanding what should be done
and actually following through with the tasks.
To illustrate their points, the authors cite snapshots from the professional lives of
Richard McGinn, a former CEO of Lucent Technologies, Richard Thoman from Xerox, and
Michael Armstrong from AT&T – leaders with strong character, intelligence, and vision,
who nonetheless were unable to achieve success for their respective organizations.
Bossidy and Charan highlight the importance of analytical thinking in transforming
conceptual ideas into measurable outcomes.
The authors also draw readers’ attention to the importance of leaders demonstrating
“emotional fortitude”. This idea relates to a larger concept of emotional intelligence and
its integral role in effective leadership. This emotional fortitude would also help one
facilitate cultural change and make sure that the right people are doing the jobs that
they can accomplish and flourish in best.
The format and style of the book makes one reflect; it gets the readers to understand
why execution is essential; clarifies what one would call execution and what one would
not; provides examples of how to create the discipline of execution; and shows how to
put the principles discussed into practice.
This why-what-and-how-to guide consists of three parts: in Part I, the authors explain
the value of execution, which is based on three building-blocks discussed in Part II (the
leader’s behaviors, a framework for cultural change, and having the right people in the
right jobs).
The authors see these building blocks as critical to implementing the three core
processes of execution – the people process, the strategy process, and the operations
process –outlined in Part III.
The essence of each part is briefly outlined below.
In Part I, Why Execution Is Needed
The authors refer to execution as a systematic process of rigorously discussing how’s
and what’s, questioning, tenaciously following through, and ensuring
accountability. The authors emphasize the need for leader’s direct engagement with
the people and processes in organization, and they attack a common notion that the
top dog is exempt from the details of actually running things which
actually creates immense damage.
This point is elaborately detailed by quoting the example of Dick Brown, who took over
EDS when it had a culture of little accountability and pervasive indecisiveness which later
was transformed into a performing organization through his new leadership style of
clearly defined decision-making and accountability.
Part II of the book talks about seven essential leader behaviors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Know your people and your business
Insist on realism
Set clear goals and priorities
Follow through
Reward the doers
Expand people’s capabilities
Know yourself
The theme of this section is 'connectedness' and 'immediacy' – a leader needs to be
consistently present in the organization, show up with an open mind and positive
demeanor, and form personal connections with the people.
Part III of the book talks of Three Core Processes of Execution
In this section, the authors show how the ideas already discussed all fit into making an
organization achieve its objectives. Among the three processes, the people process is
the most important. After all, the people are the ones making the other two happen. The
strategy process, in turn, makes the link between people and operations. The authors
zero in on what matters in a strategy process review by saying that in evaluating an idea,
the leader must assess its feasibility – how realistically it fits into the environment where
it will be implemented.
The third core process of execution – operations – connects strategy and people. The
strategy process defines where a business wants to go, and the people process defines
who’s going to get it there. The operating plan provides the path for those people. … It puts
reality behind numbers.
A good way to appreciate the value of an operations process is to consider its outcomes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
It identifies goals that can be realistically achieved.
It encourages substantive learning.
It creates opportunities for coaching sessions.
It builds confidence and engenders success.
Conclusion
We don’t think ourselves into a new way of acting; we act ourselves into a new way
of thinking.
Execution offers more than a quick fix to these issues – it inspires action.
As Bossidy and Charan point out, 80 percent of learning occurs outside of the
classroom – and every leader needs to be a teacher, giving the employees the tools
they need.
In their book, the authors practise what they preach – they give you the tools you need
to create the discipline of execution.
The next steps are reading this book and using those tools!
10 lessons from Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy, Ram
Charan, et al.:
1. Execution is the ability to turn strategy into results. It is the most important discipline in
any organization.
2. Execution is a discipline, not a talent. It can be learned and improved with practice.
3. Execution requires a culture of accountability. Everyone in the organization must be held
accountable for their results.
4. Execution requires clear and measurable goals. Goals must be specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
5. Execution requires relentless follow-through. Don't give up until the job is done.
6. Execution requires a willingness to make tough decisions. Sometimes, you have to say no
to good ideas in order to focus on the most important things.
7. Execution requires a focus on the details. The small things matter when it comes to
execution.
8. Execution requires a willingness to experiment and learn. Things don't always go
according to plan, so be prepared to adjust your approach as needed.
9. Execution requires a commitment to continuous improvement. Always look for ways to
improve your execution process.
10. Execution is the key to success in any business. By following these lessons, you can
improve your execution and achieve your goals.
Here is a bonus lesson:
Execution is a team sport. No one person can execute a strategy on their own. It requires
the cooperation and collaboration of everyone in the organization.
I hope these lessons help you to improve your execution and achieve your goals