Leadership Lesson #1 : Execution trumps Examination
(Implementation over Intentions & Inspection)
If all you do is identify solutions to the problem, but never implement steps to solve the problem, then you are part of the problem.
Every organization, every team and every set of relationship is going to have problems. The questions is not “Do we have problems?” But, rather, “How do we solve this particular problem in a way that we don’t have to repeat it?” The key is execution over examination. Examination is needed, but it’s easy.
Execution is the hard thing and hard things need hard hats! (Well get to that analogy in a moment).
The challenge in many of our organizations is that we have given the millennial generation new titles, new responsibilities, new salaries and new authorities, but we haven’t taught them how to solve old problems. We’ve created a culture of constant feedback, which devolves into a bunch of solutions with little to no implementation. A bunch of discussion never solved a problem, but a bunch of people might. Thus, it is critical to bring your people into a progression that leads to more implementation, not more discussion. Solutions are only solutions if they lead to results, otherwise, you’ve created more examination without execution. Don’t miss this, there is a time for a examination, but examination never solved a problem. Identification is not execution. Be careful in your leadership that you don’t mistake assessing the problem as correcting the problem.
A solution without implementation only creates more frustration.
Organizations have learned that Millennials need feedback like no other generation before. This has contributed to more meetings, more discussion with fewer results. Healthy organizations avoid round-and-round discussions that don’t lead to implementation. Unhealthy organizations, teams and groups come up with constant solutions from frequent discussions that lead to action but no traction. This is more than coming up with a list of action items at your next meeting. Implementation requires a problem, a priority, a plan and implementation. You can have action without implementation.
What is Implementation?
Implementation is traction. Implementation is execution. Implementation is not an idea. Implementation is the process by which a plan is executed. Implementation requires intentional and definitive steps. These steps lead to points of no return. Until a leader, an organization and a team determines that collectively “they will not go back,” then implementation is not a reality.
Implementation is a serious commitment by those involved in the direction, activation and accountability of the organization to address a problem and execute a plan to correct the issue.
Inspectors vs. Hard Hats
Leaders are not inspectors, they are hard hats. A hard hat is someone on a construction site who has a tool belt, tools and the knowledge to “go to work.” Hard hats wear their hat every day, because they are going to place themselves in a potentially dangerous place to make progress and execute the building plans. Hard hats see the difficulty and address the solutions in reality that produces a stable outcome.
Leadership is hard work, thus it requires a hard hat.
Inspectors are around the work, but not in the work. Inspectors like to walk around job-sites to examine how things are going to be done. Remember, implementation is not examination, it is execution!
A good construction supervisor or general contractor will do such an efficient and effective job on his job that the inspector has little to see or do. Inspectors don’t get dirty, they simply identify problems, address what code is unmet, and then, talk about solutions. It is up to the hard hats to go to work and get it done. Leadership meets and exceeds the standard. Leadership is more than talking about solutions, it is getting results. This is the same mentality that leaders in any organization must take in order to implement real solutions to real problems. Inspectors love to diagnosis problems and dream up solutions. Hard hats love digging in and getting dirty to solve the problem. Only math problems are solved on paper, every other kind of problem is solved by real people who actually implement a solution.
Many organizations correctly diagnosis a problem and identify a solution, but then fail to actually implement that solution to completion. A construction project is not finished until the “punch list” has been checked off and the job completed. Too many leaders leave unfinished work for someone else to come along and try to solve. Leaders who fail to implement their solutions are immature, weak or lazy. None of which inspire confidence in their followers.
Leaders who fail to follow through will ultimately fail to keep followers.
If you read this article and you realize that you don’t have as much trust from senior leadership in your organization or no one ever implements your solutions, then most likely you are largely ineffective as a leader. You are carrying the clipboard of an inspector, instead of strapping on your tool belt of a hard hat and getting the job d0ne. A leader, by definition, has influence and can influence others toward a goal or result. If you are constantly frustrated by the lack of others’ willingness to embrace your ideas and solutions, then you probably need a healthy dose of self-examination.
(c) Alex Vann. 2017.
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