The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Bossidy and Charan - Article Example

The Discipline of Getting Things Done Name Institution Date The people process, the operation process and strategy process Bossidy and Charan (2002) discuss three important core processes that propel businesses to success. The strategy process, the people process, and the operations process when they are combined produce magnificent results for a company that has a clear vision and a course of achievement. Most strategies are good but the manner in which they are executed determines their failure or success. Managers, therefore, have to be very careful when it comes to execution. Disciple of execution determines the success journey of an organization’s strategic management plan. Ignoring the part of execution and concentrating on other issues perceived as big leads to failure of strategies of an organization. Leaders view execution as a tactical side of business and end up delegating that part while they divert their attention to less important areas. Shifting focus to other areas and ignoring execution in particular is losing the objective of achieving the dream or vision of the organization (Terpstra, 2008). Execution form the integral part of the business success. Execution is both a system and a disciple that need not to be ignored. The leader or the manager has to spearhead the execution part without delegating it to junior members of the organization. The process of execution has to be managed by the uttermost keenness in order to ensure that no part or connecting bit is left out. The process can be ruined by a small mishap. The strategy process, the operation process, and the people process are all blended together to come up with a fine process of execution in business. A strategy can be excellent but without thinking about how the organization will executive it. Execution is a way of bring out reality and having to act on it. Execution has to be supported by the strategy process, the operation process, and the people process. Leaders or the top management have an actively role to play in execution of the business plans. Quite a large number of managers tend to think that they do not have to be involved in the actual running of the business on the ground. As Bossidy and Charan (2002) encourage, leaders do not have to detach themselves from the actual running of business on the ground. The leader’s soul and heart should be fully immersed in the activities or operations of the company. The leader has to get things done through the running of the three core process. The leader should be involved in setting the strategic direction, picking other leaders, and conducting operations. By getting immersed in the company, the leader inspires other people to give their best and he is there to monitor the process as well as ensure that everything is on course (Spitzer, 2007). Just like a football team coach has to spend time with players on the pitch likewise managers or leaders have to get involved in the daily running of the business to ensure that strategies are executed according to plan. A coach who is never present with his team and spend a good time of his time in the office will not have adequate time to prepare his team for championship. The leader has to intimately engage in the business in order to have a comprehensive view and pose questions that will help the workers or other members of the organization to stay on course of the strategy as planned. Dialogue has been applauded to be the basic unit of work and the core culture. How people interact with one another determines to great extent the functioning of the organization. The people process cannot be ignored. People are very valuable ingredients to success in any organization. Everything should not be delegated to the human resource department without allowed the top management to take part in choosing leaders who are effective and passionate about their jobs. Presiding over an organization is different from leading an organization. Hands-off style kind of leadership does not give the leader time and opportunity to deal with real issues in the organization. It becomes difficult for the leader to point out workers who are responsible for poor performance. When a strategy does not yield the desired result, the manager who has not been involved in the process would not tell what went wrong or who sabotaged the process by his inefficiency. Execution is the vital part that breaks or makes a strategy. A strategy can come through as successful when it is executed well. Close supervision and being involved in the real operations will give the manager or the leader an insightful understanding of how best to achieve the desired results. Many strategies and plan crumble barely after takeoff due to lack of an execution plan. Execution has to a basic element of the culture of the organization in order to ensure that it is observed everywhere. Members of the organization do not have to be reminded of the importance of execution as an integral part of the strategy. The major job of the business leader as explained by Bossidy and Charan (2002) has to be execution. The leader has to be interested on the way things are being done in the organization. Lofty targets and aspirations can be set in boardrooms and if there is no clear path of execution, they will remain illusions. Execution building blocks Bossidy and Charan enumerate important building blocks that that form up execution. These building blocks include: knowing the people and the business, insisting of realism, setting clear priorities and goals, follow through, reward the doers, expanding people’s capabilities, and knowing yourself. It is encouraged that managers have to live their businesses. They have to understand and know their business and the people. The building blocks of execution have been ignored in many organizations leading to the peril of set strategies and goals as well as performing below par. Leaders have to know the challenges facing the business unit and try to look for solutions. Leaders will get to learn about the challenges if they get involved in the daily operations without allowing delegation to characterize their leadership style. The presence of the leader gives an opportunity to him/her to connect personally with workers. Through personal connection, the leader is able to develop intuitive feel for the business and the people running it. Business reviews will make the leader go through the running of the business and discover where they are running out of line. Organizations where the leader does not get involved on what is happening on the ground end up having their strategies ruined. The leaders have to run the business from the ground without calling the short from the offices. Without the leader taking part in the execution plan most of the time confusion reigns on the ground leading to failure of a strategy. The leader has to understand the business and know his people. Selecting the team to carry out the intended plan has to involve the top leadership or managers. The leaders have also to insist on realism and not live in denial. They should acknowledge the strength and weaknesses of the business; appraise opportunities and prepare to mitigate or cancel out threats. Assuming that the business is doing well without acknowledging challenges faced by the business can lead to disaster. Weaknesses of the business have to be pointed out and turned into strengths over time. The business should not set to implement a strategy that it cannot implement. Being practical or pragmatic on the part of the business leader will lead to realization of the goals and mission of the business. Employees should be trained on skills that will be useful to the business and not only for ornamental purposes or simply to show off. Of course clear goals and priorities have to be set. A few clear priorities have to be chosen and the leader has to focus on them. Best results can be achieved if there are only few priorities that are clear to be followed. The goals and priorities have to be actualized into reality. Lofty ideas lead to waste of organization resources as leaders lack focus of the specific thing that they want. People who are responsible for attaining specific results have to be compensated accordingly. This is a very important building block of execution. Doers have to be rewarded. People’s capabilities have to be expanded through coaching. Employee training and development is a means of expanding the ability of workers in an organization. Workers have to be equipped with skills that will enable them perform their functions competently and effectively. Emotional fortitude has to be used to put the right people in the right jobs. The process of hiring or recruitment is important in ensuring that the organization has the right people to accomplish its priorities and goals. The self-awareness aspect provides the ability to learn from mistakes as well as past success. Self-mastery will ensure that a leader has self control and knows what should be done in every situation. Standards of integrity and honesty have to be adhered to. Being real to oneself makes a leader to be a good master who understands what can be achieved. Creating the framework for cultural change Bossidy and Charan (2002) make an accurate observation that most efforts directed towards cultural change do not achieve the desired results because they are not connected to the improvement of the outcomes of the business. Cultural change can be realized if it is aimed at execution. Many business leaders realize that the underperformance of the business is due to the existing corporate culture and seek to initiate changes. Whereas the behaviors and beliefs of the people are important in execution of strategies, the effort at cultural change are rendered useless because they are not directed towards improving the outcomes of the organization. The cultural change initiative has to focus on adding value to the organization. Changing the reporting time and introducing reward schemes can contribute towards changing the outcome of the business. Changing the motto and uniforms may not have an impact on the operations of a business. Whatever cultural change has to be initiated, it has to have an impact on the outcomes of the business. Bossidy and Charan (2002) propose that holding each other accountable and infecting the culture to the rest of the organization will help in transforming the culture. Cultural change has to begin with an individual. Culture has to be cultivated in the business operations. The members of the organizations have to act into the new way. Members of the organization have to be accountable and committed to the success of the organization. The organization has to be to client’s success and collaboration should be a vital tool to this success. The top management has to link and rewards to performance. The culture of the business defines what gets respected and appreciated, and finally rewarded. It will be agreed that workers have to get motivated when they perform well through a transparent reward system. When the organization effect cultural change through involving all member, positive results are realized. I agree with this assertion because positive results have been witnessed in organization that reward creativity and innovation like the success behind Apple Inc. Having the right people in the right place Top managers have to participate in the choosing of leaders of teams within the organization. Through interaction, the leaders know the weakness and strengths of their employees and understand who should do which task. The external environmental is beyond the control of the business but the internal environment like the choice of the right workers can be controlled. Consequently companies have to pay attention on the aspect which they can control like the assignment of duties and responsibilities. Human beings are most crucial resources that are used in the attainment of goals and priorities of the business. Therefore, the leadership should know who to accomplish a specific task within the stipulated time. If incompetent leaders are allowed to deal with sensitive issues, the organization is likely to get a negative feedback from clients (Spitzer, 2007). The quality of the workforce has to be vetted to ensure that the organization has the right skills to achieve its goals and priorities. Leaders focus on outside competition and rivalry and forget to concentrate on the arsenal they have in terms of human resource. Choosing the right people for the right job is critical to the success of the organization. Careful attention has to be directed towards the quality of workers being hired for specific jobs within the organization (Terpstra, 2008). Performance appraisal can be affectively be used to determine the usefulness of a worker towards the achievement of organizational goals. Proper training and orientation has to be used to empower workers who are passionate towards achieving positive results for the organization. Hiring people with the right skills and promoting qualified ones helps in steering the organization towards the course of being successful. If human resources are used effectively within the organization, the organization can achieve success using specified strategies. Bossidy and Charan (2002) provide an insightful and thought-provoking master piece that can be applied by leaders in organizations to achieve success. The operation process, the people process, and strategy process can be integral part of success if they are used in the right manner. References Bossidy, L. & Charan, R. (2002). Execution: The discipline of getting things done. New York: Crown Publishers. Terpstra, N. (2008). The Art of Executing Well: Rituals of Execution in Renaissance Italy. Rome: Truman State Univ Press. Spitzer, D.R. (2007). Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure And Drive Organizational Success. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt. Assn. Read More