In an expanding and evolving world, executives and staff alike hear catch phrases of the day without much explanation behind them. Problems are opportunities. There is no glass ceiling. Proactivity over reaction. And here’s another one for you:
Business is about strategic execution, not operational action. It’s number 23 on my 50 strategems for best practice in business.
While oftentimes bosses throw cliches around the office in an effort to motivate team members, seldom do they explain how to go about utilizing the phrases for success. What I mean with this strategem is that business is planning and implementation, not simply a schedule of daily activities.
Let’s use the standard activity report as an example of focusing on the past rather than the future. Some executives require activity reports, and they often overlook staff members who are simply cutting and pasting from last week or month’s activities and updating them with current events. Activity should be alive, obvious and not necessarily reported. Activity should be … empowering.
This may be at first frightening for the mico-managing executive. Letting go of employees is scary. But realize that employees who operate in this day-to-day monotonous world can’t and don’t break into the opportunities of innovation. Activities become “something to be reported” rather than “something to be achieved.” Staff members work for the job rather than the future.
Strategic execution means employees are planning instead of reporting. They’re looking toward the future instead of panicking over whether their activity will match with the hours clocked. Make an office for innovation and forward thinking rather than one that focuses constantly on the past. This is just one example of how executives can focus their business in the direction of strategic execution rather than operational action.
