Shift

This book helps organizations drive results in the short-term without compromising the long-term success of the company by introducing a unique cost incurred by organizations in executing their strategy. The Cost of Execution (COEx) is a novel performance indicator that differentiates organizations, departments and business units that execute well from those that do not. It evolved over a 5-year research program that examined execution in 750+ organizations to identify the execution barriers that impede short and long-term performance. Most novel is the categorization of execution barriers into three sustainable execution levers that explain why barriers arise and how best to resolve them. Structural levers allocate resources and drive alignment by formalizing roles and reporting relationships, and establishing appropriate controls and incentive systems to motivate and guide behavior. Rhythm levers accelerate execution and help organizations be more agile and pivot their day-to-day activities to adapt to change and turbulence. Awareness levers set our sustainable model apart from other execution approaches as it fosters the creation of a culture for execution that 'pays attention' to what is really going on and takes appropriate action. The book complements the conceptual approach with a practical Shift to Execute framework to help organizations design a pathway for improvement. The book includes multiple real case studies and describes specific tools and techniques that will help your organization SHIFT to more sustainable execution practices.