683329 781419 9

ISBN 978-1-4196-8332-9
Tis book is recommended:
If you want to develop your personal leadership skills and business
knowledge to dierentiate yourself among your peers.
If you want to be successful and build solid
relationships that achieve results.
If you want an easy-to-understand explanation
to the world of business, nance and leadership.
Whether you are part of a large organization or
a small one, whether you have a senior role or an
entry-level position, How To Tink Like A CEO and
Act Like A Leader: Practical Insights for Performance
& Results! by author and business consultant
Michael Andrew educates the novice, sharpens
the pro, and shares easy-to-implement directives
on how to succeed in business and life. Filled with
resonating insights that will guide you, this book simplies the true
nature of business to teach readers the CEO perspective on strategic
thinking and nance, while providing practical leadership directives to
be productive and results-oriented.
Consider this a mini-MBA and introduction into the world of strategic
thinking, nance, leadership and business so that you will be able to act
like a leader and think like a CEO.
How to Tink Like a CEO
and
Act Like a Leader
Michael F. Andrew
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Chapter 20
A Perspective on Execution
Do, or do not. There is no try.
Yoda, from The Empire Strikes Back
A longtime colleague of mine introduced me to this insight
years ago. There is a lesson here that applies to many aspects of
business and life, especially around issues like strategy execu-
tion, which, by its nature, includes change.
We always want to do the right thing. Organizations want to do
the right thing. The right thing in business can be to focus on a
challenging goal or to focus on executing a difcult strategy. Of
course, the opposite of doing the right thing is doing the wrong
thing. We can do it well, or we can do it poorly. See below:
112
How To Thi nk Li ke A Ceo And Act Li ke A Leader
113
Mi chael F. Andrew
Do the
Right Thing
Do the
Wrong Thing
Do it Well
Do it Poorly
Do the
Right Thing
Do the
Wrong Thing
Do it Well
Do it Poorly
Where is the best place to be? Of course, do the right thing and
do it well. Lets assume doing the right thing in this scenario is
about executing a strategic imperative.
Where is the worst place to be? Think about this one.
The initial temptation may be to say the worst place to be is do-
ing the wrong thing poorly. I would argue that the worst place
to be is doing the wrong thing but doing it well! Why? Your
company or organization can be bogged down, unable to gain
momentum in executing a strategic imperative, or be unwilling
to recognize the change that needs to take place. You are doing
the same thing over and over again, to the point where you
try harder (moving farther to the top right corner) until you
become world class at doing the wrong thing, but doing it re-
ally well! According to Will Rogers, If you always do what you
always did, you always get what you always got. Thats why
change is sometimes (or oftentimes) necessary.
So, how do we get from doing the wrong thing well to doing
the right thing well? With change, it is not about taking a direct
line across so that we are doing the new thing well from the
get-go. It is really about doing the right thing, but poorly, or not
so well, at the beginning (see below).
Do the
Right Thing
Do the
Wrong Thing
Do it Well
Do it Poorly
114
How To Thi nk Li ke A Ceo And Act Li ke A Leader
115
Mi chael F. Andrew
Do the
Right Thing
Do the
Wrong Thing
Do it Well
Do it Poorly
Do the
Right Thing
Do the
Wrong Thing
Do it Well
Do it Poorly
Here comes the important part. So much in life is about learn-
ing and continuous improvement. Professional athletes are
constantly honing their skills, and continuously learning and
improving to stay on top of their game. The same goes for ex-
ecuting any change and/or strategy. Though we would love to
have everything be perfect right out of the gate, it doesnt work
that way. Executing strategy or executing a major change initia-
tive is about doing the right thing, but perhaps not so well at the
beginning. Oftentimes, as systems thinking teaches us, when
doing the right thing, such as executing a strategic imperative
or major change initiative, things may get worse before they get
better. The key, and the important key, is to be on the upward
track of continuous learning and improvement as we strive for
doing the right thing, and doing it well. As the saying goes, You
can tell when youre on the right track; its usually uphill.
What is the risk of boldly thinking we have actualized our goal?
The risk is complacency. What happens when complacency sets
in? There is a good chance we will eventually fnd ourselves
back in the box of doing the wrong thing, very well. Change is
a constant part of our lives, and a constant part of our business
lives. Watch out for complacency. Companies cannot aford
complacency. Appreciate the value of learning and continu-
ously improving and evolving.
Can you identify where your organization is
doing the wrong thing, very well? What can
you do to take your organization to the path
of doing the right thing and continuously
improving?