Strategic Speed: Mobilize People. Accelerate Execution
(Harvard Business Press, 2010)
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It’s a fact: success in business goes to the swift. It’s about who can create the most value—smarter and faster than the competition. Yet the majority of strategic initiatives fail to implement successfully and on time—even with streamlined processes in place, detailed graphs to chart your course, and plenty of resources on hand to get the job done. Why?
In Strategic Speed, the authors argue that an exclusive focus on pace and process often leads to only superficial speed: lots of activity, but little forward motion. To achieve “strategic speed”—implementing strategies both quickly and well—leaders need to make people the key ingredient in their success formula. The authors show how three people factors can provide a powerful accelerator for organizational speed and performance: clarity (understanding the goal), unity (cross-company collaboration), and agility (adapting quickly).
Using extensive global research and in-depth case studies of diverse companies including Tata Sky, Vodafone, and Holiday Inn, the authors illustrate four critical leadership practices that put strategic speed in motion:
Co-authors are (L to R) Ed Boswell, Henry Frechette, and Jocelyn Davis.
- Affirm strategies: Ensure everyone knows the destination and wants to go there
- Drive initiatives: Create real momentum and behavior change
- Manage climate: Increase confidence, motivation, and teamwork
- Cultivate experience: Harness employees’ insight and capture learning
It also provides tools and assessments for diagnosing where your execution efforts are in trouble and choosing specific actions for accelerating results in your firm.
From big change initiatives to everyday work projects, Strategic Speed will help you move past paying lip service to faster execution—and arm your people with the tools to make it really happen.