Number 156 – Ownership or Execution

Encourage and support the attainment of stretch goals that focus on increasing customer value.

Practitioners: strategic

It Starts with Strategy Deployment

The first system of the four that shows up in my thinking, with this concept in mind, is the strategy system.  Our annual strategy deployment process evolves out of the three critical agreements between the board and the executive.  They are customer value, resource allocation, and culture.  We are always faced with the ownership or execution challenge in strategy deployment.  Let me explain.

If we are pursuing management through requests, a sponsor might begin with the following request.  “I would like to see a 20% increase in perceived customer value in the next product release scheduled in 18 months.  How do you think we can accomplish that?”  As I coach my executive clients, your next move is silence.  The process owner is responsible for the method.  The executive is still responsible for the outcome and now takes on responsibility for the evaluation of the method.

Whatever the process owner suggests as a method, there is great leaning to be gathered.  What does this leader understand about creating and evaluating the value our customers receive?  What does this leader understand about the market currents regarding our product and its changing value in our customers’ hands?  I see executives steal this from their teams all the time.  Of course you have an opinion.  If you lead with it, you lose. 

Ownership or Execution

To encourage and support our teams in attaining any stretch goal requires leaving ownership of their ideas in their capable hands.  Your role becomes protecting them from gaps in their ideas, not making their ideas your own.  If they already think like you, then their ideas and your ideas will be close if not identical.  Credit for the idea is insignificant in comparison to executing on the idea.   

The reason this concept is strategic alone is simple.  If the sponsor destroys the ownership of the method and the outcome by keeping it for themselves then it will go no further than the strategy system.  To build momentum in the execution requires handing ownership to the process owners in the organization. 

Questions For Your Consideration

What is the usual response to anything that is mandatory?

How do you respond to being given permission to pursue your own ideas?

How would you define the difference between coercion and influence?

Which of these two looks more like the culture you create and curate in your team?

Which of these two looks more like the culture of your broader organization?