Strategic Speed

by Davis, Jocelyn

• ISBN13: 9781422131527
• ISBN10: 1422131521
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-06-01
• Publisher: Harvard Business School Pr

Summary

Only 30 percent of strategic initiatives are successfully executed. Of those that are, most CEOs view the process as too slow. What's going on? And how can you accelerate execution in your company? In Strategic Speed, the authors provide the answers. Start by understanding the barriers to execution: Employees don't grasp where an initiative is going. They don't adopt new behaviors. They're not committed to working together to achieve results. Most leaders try to speed things up by changing processes or installing new technologies. But better processes and systems won't remove the barriers. Instead, you need to unleash three people factors--clarity (understanding the goal), unity (collaborating across work groups), and agility (adapting quickly). The authors explain how to unleash these factors by exercising four leadership abilities: Affirming strategies: Ensuring everyone knows the destination and wants to go there Driving initiatives: Accelerating projects called for by your strategy Managing climate: Controlling what it feels like to work in your team Cultivating experience: Harnessing employees' knowledge and expertise Strategic Speed provides real-world examples--from companies as diverse as Tata Sky, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Ameriprise, and Fender Guitars--showing these practices in action. And it's packed with tools and assessments for diagnosing where your execution efforts are in trouble and choosing specific actions for accelerating results in your firm.

Author Biography

Edwin H. Boswell is the President and CEO of The Forum Corporation. He specializes in consulting with senior leadership teams on executing strategic change.

Jocelyn R. Davis is the Executive Vice President, Research and Development for The Forum Corporation. She leads Forum's strategies for creating and leveraging intellectual property - including original research, learningware, consulting, and coaching tools, assessments, and all other core content.

Henry M. Frechette, Jr is Vice President, Research for The Forum Corporation.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Prologue: The Hazards of Speed	p. 1
Speed: A New View	p. 9
The People Factors: Clarity, Unity, Agility	p. 33
The Strategic Speedometer	p. 50
Leaders Affirm Strategies	p. 59
How Are You Doing on Affirming Strategies?	p. 81
Leaders Drive Initiatives	p. 83
How Are You Doing on Driving Initiatives?	p. 104
Leaders Manage Climate	p. 107
How Are You Doing on Managing Climate?	p. 128
Leaders Cultivate Experience	p. 131
How Are You Doing on Cultivating Experience?	p. 155
Tools for Achieving Strategic Speed	p. 157
Time/Value Assessment	p. 160
Team Survey	p. 163
Leadership Profile	p. 165
Speed Matrix	p. 170
Epilogue: The Future of Speed	p. 173
The Forum Corporation and Economist Intelligence Unit Global Speed Survey	p. 177
The Cultural Aspects of Speed	p. 183
Notes	p. 189
Index	p. 193
About the Author	p. 203
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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