Steve

The key to this title is to focus on the principles being presented and visualize how they apply to your type and size of organization. Yes, the narration ranges from abysmal to entertaining at times but if you think about your business and listen for parallels, you?ll see the value.

Basically, there are 3 main pillars to execution; the Strategic, People, and Operational plans. These are components of every business regardless of market, size, etc. What the authors are stressing is that all 3 plans must be based on reality and be closely linked/aligned with the other two. Example: how does our People plan (recruiting, training, advancement, etc) support our Strategic and Operational plans? It doesn?t matter how well developed any/all of these plans are if they don?t accurately reflect reality AND support the other two. Leaders have to be deeply involved in all 3 areas to make this happen. They also stress that an ?Execution? based culture is driven from the top down through consistency, accountability, and a direct link with compensation and rewards. There are lots of other good points and examples but you?ll have to do your own interpretation of what an execution culture would look like for your organization. Overall, it?s a pretty long listen but has a kind of a ?storyteller? teller feel that?ll make the time pass easily. Of course, you may have to listen carefully and rewind a few times along the way ;)

Some reviews criticize this book for being ?too simple? or ?just common sense.? These observations are spot on, but are precisely why I find it so useful. I prefer a simple/practical approach and don?t want to be a time-management guru; I just want a system that works well and is easy to implement with minimal investment of time and money. Take the authors? challenge; he just asks you to give it an honest effort, and measure your own results. The results were nearly instantaneous for our organization and it?s so simple that it institutionalizes itself immediately.

There are 3 key concepts:

1. ?Put everything in a trusted system.? He gives you an organizational methodology of collection, processing, and action that is extremely efficient and lets you decide how to implement it. I wish they could post a PDF of the overall process flowchart because it really simplifies everything (we bought a hard-copy too.) We just took the flowchart and mapped it to tools we were already using.

2. ?What?s the next step?? This is a great technique for simplifying, tracking, and accomplishing complex projects by performing a series of concrete actions.

3. ?Mind like water.? Get everything out of your psyche and into your system. This sounds strange at first but does exactly what the author promises. It removes all the noise from your mind giving you greater focus and, ironically, lets fewer things fall through the cracks. I really like the way it gives you a new outlook on the projects you accept, the deals you make with yourself, and their affect on your mentality.