At the heart of it, Enterprise Strategy Execution (ESE) means managing an organization differently. In most businesses, "strategy" is owned by and almost protected by the C-suite. It is rarely well communicated to the masses, let alone deployed. By contrast, ESE is about enabling people at all levels to take ownership for their piece of the strategy. For many executives, this requires a pretty big leap of faith. They must trust that letting go of some of the control (or at least the perception of control) will pay back dividends.
If your executive team is not fully bought into the idea of ESE, how can you help them make the leap? (Just as importantly, how do you keep them engaged and supportive of ESE for years to come -- especially given the fact that a fairly high proportion of executives seem to have at least a little ADHD? Keeping them bought in is another topic entirely. Watch for more on that.) To get other players on board, here are some ideas.
- Find someone they respect who has done it. Many leading organizations are employing Strategy Execution techniques to some degree, whether they are deploying Balanced Scorecards or using Green Belt improvement to narrow performance gaps. Research and networking can help you find someone that your executives will relate to (and in many corporate cultures, advice from someone from outside seems to carry more weight, somewhat paradoxically).
- Identify your organization's "burning platform" -- the critical business issue that must be resolved to be successful in the near future. Common culprits include plummeting profitability, rising costs, shrinking market share, customer complaints, key talent loss, and compliance issues. By their nature, burning platforms are almost always complex issues that cut across many departments and functions, hinder an organization’s ability to achieve its mission, and are simply not fixable with “business as usual” approaches (which is why they tend to linger and continually frustrate executives).
- Help your executives understand that the systematic approach of ESE is a proven way to address this high-level problem that is just not going away otherwise. Pitch ESE not on its own merits, but within the context of how it will impact your Burning Platform.
- Once they are on-board, set expectations for what you need going forward. Be explicit: you need their visible and ongoing involvement, a full allocation of necessary resources, a financial commitment, and enough time to let the plan work.
- Share early success stories broadly, including the executive team when possible. One client gave awards to "Scorecard Pioneers" to recognize the early adopters and build momentum. The CEO of the organization handed out these awards to elevate the importance for the teams and to keep the CEO actively involved in the ESE deployment.
Obviously every corporate culture is different and your challenges will reflect your situation. What challenges have you run into? Do you have unique approaches to getting executives on board that have worked for you?
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