Lecture 4: Execute with commitments (9 February 2006)

Strategic agility requires making it happen, and here is where many companies lose traction. Many managers equate execution with hierarchical power or standardized processes. But hierarchy is often slow and leads to silos, while standardization limits a firm’s flexibility in adapting to unforeseen contingencies. To consistently execute on unexpected demands, executives should focus on commitments, the personal promises employees make up and down the chain of command and across units. The most effective commitments are made and monitored publicly, negotiated actively, voluntary, explicit and clearly linked to an important rationale. Public monitoring of promises can improve their quality and ensure consistent execution.

Key take away: Use commitments to execute on non-routine activities.

Readings:

Donald N. Sull and Charles Spinosa, 2005, “Using commitments to manage across units,” Sloan Management Review, 47,1 (Fall): 73-82. (Order the article from Harvard Business School Publishing online).

Lawrence Bossidy and Ram Charan, 2002, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, (New York: Crown), chapter 8, “How to conduct a strategy review.” (Order the book from amazon.com)

Success against the Odds, chapter nine, “The flexible hierarchy.” (Download the book as a PDF file)

Worksheet:

Are your commitments effective? People are more likely to honour promises that are public, active, voluntary, explicit and mission-based. This worksheet lists some questions to help you evaluate the quality of commitments made within your organization. (Download the worksheet as a JPG file).

Book of the day:

Robert Jackall, 1988, Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers (Oxford: Oxford University Press). A classic study of corporate bureaucracy. Although the research was conducted more than twenty years ago, the observations still ring true. Like an anthropologist dropped into an alien tribe, Jackall tries to make sense of the dynamics of power in bureaucratic organizations. His most powerful insight is how bureaucracies breed moral decay. (Order from amazon.com)