Written by Martin Harshberger
Everyone makes new years resolutions, lose weight, be nicer, whatever. Research shows almost nobody meets those new goals.
Businesses are no different, after the holidays everyone comes back to work energized and committed to starting the New Year with a clean slate. The success rate for businesses is no better than our personal resolutions, most businesses simply fail to execute strategy and sustain improvement programs.
Why is that? Common sense tells us if we keep doing the same things we'll keep getting the same results, but that's exactly what most of us do.
I've written numerous times that change is hard but there has to be more to it than that. We can change we just need to proper motivation. One quote I heard on change that made the most sense was "we change only when the pain of changing is less than the pain of staying the same". Unfortunately then it's often too late.
I'm convinced that most leaders understand that things need to happen in their business, they simply don't know how to make them happen. Most have tried new programs in the past and have had less than satisfactory results, so they justify their inaction by convincing themselves that it won't work anyway.
Kind of a self-fulfilling prophesy in the repeat mode.
Well here's a news flash, one time programs, seminars, motivational talks, short term exposure to new things have virtually no chance of producing lasting results. Strategy execution, sustained improvement programs all require a repeatable methodology, and commitment from the top down.
Sorry to be the one to break this to you bet dictating strategy or product quality from the CEO's office isn't going to get it for you, you need to be involved.
If you don't know how to make it happen hire a coach that specializes in strategy execution. It is absolutely a learned process and it doesn't happen on it's own.
So what will you do differently in 2011? Will you commit to learning the process to sustained business excellence, or will it be more of the same?
