4 ways of execution break down

Covey et al. —The 4 Disciplines of Execution (Sean Covey, Jim Huling and Chris McChesney)— have studied the topic of execution for several years in thousands of teams and in hundreds of organizations. Their research shows that execution breaks down in four ways:

1. People and teams don’t know the goals. Either there are too many goals, or the goals aren’t clear.
2. People and teams don’t know what to do to achieve the goals. The goals are not translated into day-to-day activities.
3. People and teams don’t keep score. Few can tell at any moment if they are on track to achieve the organization’s critical goals.
4. People and teams are not held accountable. For results, employees need relevant and timely feedback and regular accountability.

Common sense, not really new, but definitely many organizations (the majority?) do not execute these disciplines with excellence.

Knowing the goals, understanding the goals, being passionate to achieve them by believing and owning them. And measure, measure and measure to be able to do the needed course corrections to achieve them.

Measure the knowledge, measure the understanding, measure the belief, measure the ownership, measure the confidence to execute with excellence, and measure the key execution parameters critical to achieve the end goals.