Julien Dionne, editor at Incentive, Compensation and Sales Performance Management, has published his review of the new book by Gary Harpst, Six Disciplines® Execution Revolution.

An excerpt of his review:

"I was particularly interested by this book because not only does it talk about how a business can achieve excellence, it also focuses a lot on performance management. Throughout the book Gary acknowledges the importance of performance measurement, performance measurement, business intelligence and analytics, and performance management systems. Overall, this book is straight to the point, well-organized, and as the title suggests, focused on execution."

Read the entire review here.

Where is your organization, in terms of strategy vs. execution?

Six Disciplines, developers of the first complete strategy execution program for small and midsized businesses, is developing a free, interactive tool that enables organizations to rate how well they execute their strategies.

The Execution Revolution Challenge only takes one minute to complete, but the results will cause you to begin thinking and acting differently about how you address the biggest challenge in business: execution.

“The purpose of the Execution Revolution Challenge is to prove whether everyone in your organization is on the “same page” or not, in terms of the strategy execution capability of the organization,” said Gary Harpst, founder and CEO of Six Disciplines. “Businesses are not alone in their struggle to grow predictably and profitably. Very few businesses have this mastered. Taking the Execution Revolution Challenge is the first step in understanding what you need to do differently to solve the biggest challenge in business.”

“We’re encouraging every person within an organization to take the Challenge. When completed, the tool provides the CEO with a crystal clear view into the level of alignment within their organization. Most come away with a sense of urgency that something needs to be done differently, in order to execute strategy more consistently and predictably,” added Harpst.

The Idea Behind The Execution Revolution Challenge
The idea behind the Execution Revolution Challenge comes from Chapter 1 of the new book Six Disciplines® Execution Revolution – Solving the One Business Problem that Makes Solving All Other Problems Easier,” by CEO and award-winning author, Gary Harpst.

“The Challenge brings the Six Disciplines Business Excellence Model™ to life,” said Harpst. “The model reveals that every organization, during its life cycle, moves around on a four-quadrant matrix, characterized by weak and strong strategy and execution. The breakthrough idea is there is a revolutionary new way for businesses to move to the upper right hand quadrant, where strategy and execution are balanced and predictable, indicated by profitable growth,” added Harpst.

(Check back here soon - we'll let you know when the Execution Revolution Challenge is "live"!)

Robert Bruner, Dean of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, observes:

"Economic indicators suggest that growth of the world economy is slowing. High commodity prices and fear about future conditions are driving investors and customers out of the market. What would it take to restore us to sensible growth?"

His answer? "Probably many things. But among these would certainly be good general management."

Recent research at Darden reinforces this notion in the context of the growing firm. Ed Hess, professor at Darden has been studying the role of general managers in producing long stretches of organic growth within companies.

Hess's research confirms that: ...building a stretch of strong internal growth depends on creating “a seamless, consistent, self-reinforcing alignment across strategy, execution processes, structure, leadership, culture, HR policies, accountability, technology, measurement and rewards. In other words, good growth leaders are able to think in a systems integrative mindset across functions."

Bruner's research shows that "...to be a consistent high performance company, strategy is not enough- you must be a great execution company. And to be a great execution company you need a deep bench of good servant leaders, high employee engagement, customer centricity, and a good technology platform across your company-especially your supply chain."

BOTTOMLINE: "This is the power of integration and alignment. General management is a way of thinking - a mindset which appreciates the integrative complexity of human behavior.”

According vice dean of Wharton Executive Education Thomas Colligan:

"Many companies are seeing significant turnover in middle management ranks, and with significant turnover, they don't have the ability to execute strategy. Top management can spend all their time creating strategy, but without someone there to implement it, where are you at the end of the day?"

From the Knowledge@Emory article article: "Caught in the Middle: Why Developing and Retaining Middle Managers Can Be So Challenging," here are the key findings:

• Middle managers are essential in organizations, in part because they link senior management and the rest of the company. They are "the glue across upper and lower levels as well as horizontally with other departments."
• According to a 2007 Accenture survey of middle managers around the world, 20% reported dissatisfaction with their current organization and that same percentage reported that they were looking for another job.
• If middle managers are so valuable, why would they report dissatisfaction and leave their companies? A primary reason is lack of advancement opportunity.
• While most organizations don't readily admit to neglecting middle managers, it can happen because senior managers tend to be so consumed with strategy, particularly in today's rapidly changing markets.

Given the high cost of turnover and the importance of middle managers in executing strategy and change, how do you "do the right things" to help those people move up?

• Individual plans that are connected to corporate goals, and access to educational opportunities can play a big role in increasing retention rates.
• Another solution gaining popularity today is coaching: "You don't think you need a coach? Tiger Woods has three."They are mostly used for top managers, but you are starting to see them used for middle managers as well.
• Participation can also be key in reducing turnover. "Really involving middle managers and allowing them to participate in a change decision, design and implementation will lead them to have more buy-in and ownership so when they have more accountability."
• Communication is a key element for finding ways to engage midlevel managers in understanding a company's new strategic initiatives -- "helping people at the middle understand in more tangible terms what they need to do. This may include more concrete objectives, examples and messages so that people who interface with customers or run processes understand where the company is and what it needs to do differently."

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