Aligning Actions with Intentions!
Guest article by Sri Mandalaparthy. Photo by vramak
On May 25, 1961, President John Kennedy delivered a speech that ignited the dream of landing a man on the moon and to return him safely to the earth before the decade was out. This intention had a clear vision, a clear goal, a timeline, and defined results that rallied the efforts to make it successful.
Enterprises and its leaders should always strive to align their Actions with the stated Intentions.
First of all – define ‘North’. Very often, without a clear statement of where the enterprise is heading, it becomes a matter of interpretation by various units and their managers as to what the direction is. By the very process of definition, the direction (“North”) becomes specific enough for teams and leaders to articulate what the aspiration is. It could be the long term desired state, say market leadership in 5 years. It will also articulate what the goals are (e.g. achieve double-digit growth every year for the next 5 years) and what the targets are (e.g. current year growth target is XX %).
Second, define a “Roadmap” for how to get from ‘here’ to ‘there’. The roadmaps should be comprehensive enough to elucidate what each functional unit contributes to the short-term and long-term plans. When the end-goals are visible, they become rallying points for motivating and aggregating efforts across the units. This has the additional benefit of creating more collaborative enterprises leading to faster problem resolution.
Third, build “Execution plans” that evolve from the defined roadmap. Place the focus on the strategies and tactics to deploy (e.g. process improvements, new campaigns, expansion of product offerings) AND align them to the roadmap. The presence of a living roadmap that is updated periodically provides a litmus test on whether the initiative (strategy/tactic) is “one-off” or aligned to the overall vision.
Stated succinctly, articulation of “North”, presence of a defined “roadmap” and aligned “execution” plans all create the conflict-free enterprise – a pleasure to enjoy, engage and contribute to!
As Jack Welch says, “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage”.
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This post contributed by Sri Mandalaparthy, founder/President of Blissful Consulting Corp. Sri has 22+ years experience in enterprise software marketing, sales and services with major corporations (Microsoft. Xerox) and startups in Silicon Valley, Singapore, Boston and other locations with practice areas focused on business-technology alignment and driving corporate growth.
I agree with this article. Only an organization that learns and re-learns and adapts can change. I work for a company in the technology sector and it is a constant process of adaptation as things evolve. Thanks for posting.
I would like to hear more about your views on economic climate and how entrepreneurs should cope with unprecedented changes we face. please share. thanks.
Thanks … My perspective is that today’s climate requires entrepreneurs to focus on the ‘one thing’ they do better than anyone else (their competition, incumbent solutions or status quo).
That ‘one thing’ becomes the foundation of their value proposition, product/services differentiation, market positioning and will help drive value for their customers, partners and engender future offerings.
When you have built momentum with the chosen capability, then you expand, with agility, into newer opportunity spaces.
Entrepreneurs acting this way can sharpen focus, conserve capital and build on success – but it does require rigor to narrow down to the chosen differentiator.
I agree that an organization has to learn and adapt quickly, but sometimes we are too busy putting out fires or meeting expectation of wall street. How do us in middle management ensure that the actions of the top leadership has a long term focus? Thoughts?
Agree, aligning to a long-term vision can be challenging for middle management, especially when the enterprise’s planning horizon is fiscal quarter/year driven.
Very often, postive change begins to happen when company culture and thinking shifts to a longer-term perspective. This is enabled by enlisting leadership support for long-term strategic planning – carried out in the context of improving the annual investment/portfolio planning, especially in tough economic times!
Thank you, Raj. Another good inspiring.