One of the greatest challenges for any organization is execution. In order to execute, the mission needs to be clearly defined and communicated to every team member. The mission objective should be clear, measurable, achievable and be completely aligned with the vision of your company. Once each team member understands their mission, it’s easy to determine if what they are doing each day helps to accomplish that mission or not. If their day to day activities do not support the mission, they should stop doing it. You want your staff to be successful, right? Have you considered that they may be working against your true mission objectives? Now is the time to meet with your team and hammer Read more [...]

  I’ve been doing a lot of think lately about metrics. This might seem boring to some, but I’m realizing how critical metrics are for any organization, especially ours. When you start thinking about metrics, it’s a lot like peeling back layers of an onion. First, you realize that you need to determine how successful you are. Is each department in your company moving in the right direction toward your ultimate vision? The search begins with a drive to improve what you are doing as a company. Usually, the next thought that occurs is, “How do I measure the success of each department?” and then “What are the key indicators I should measure?” In order Read more [...]

I mentioned in my last post James Murphy’s book “Flawless Execution”. Murphy details the steps fighter pilots go through to execute each mission. A key element of achieving “flawless execution” is the “brief”. According to Murphy, the brief consists of 9 steps. These steps allow each team member to completely understand the mission and execute flawlessly. Here are the 9 steps: Set the Timing Mission Objectives The Scenario Weather and Environment Threats and Intelligence Standards Tactics and Timeline Contingencies Wrap Up After I read the 9 steps, I realized how much I was missing when communicating to our team. Typically I was just communicating Read more [...]

I’ve been away for awhile, but I'm back at my aggressive reading schedule. Currently, I’m reading a great book by James Murphy called “Flawless Execution”. Murphy outlines the ways in which fighter pilots ensure a “perfect” mission. The story really caught my attention where Murphy described the planning process for Desert Storm. All the parties responsible for executing the mission met together in a war room and planned the mission in literally 48 hours! Now think about your business. Think about how hard it is to get your people to do what you want them to. Many of our customers can’t even get their employees to ask for an email address! If we Read more [...]