Everyone struggles with implementation both personally and professionally. Dr. Ichak Adizes highlighted several areas that organizations should focus on to improve strategic execution.

Actions You Can Take Right Now

  1. Establish clarity around your organizational structure. Strategy follows structure. Your organizational structure is the foundation for your strategy.
  2. Determine what stage of the life cycle your company is currently in. If you know where you are in the life cycle, you can predict where the company is going and plan for the future.
  3. Implement rules for running effective meetings. Come on time & leave on time. No interruptions.
  4. Face the conflict - don’t try to eliminate or hide it. If you create a culture of mutual trust and respect conflict becomes constructive.
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Episode Highlights and Excerpts

  • The problem of implementation: Everyone struggles with implementation both personally and professionally.
  • It's better to have a mediocre strategy that you implement, then to have a credible strategy you don't implement.
  • Determine the life cycle of your company – are you young or old? Young companies are like young people; they're very flexible but not easily controlled. Old companies are like old people - they demand a high amount of control but are inflexible.
  • A company is in its prime when it has controlled flexibility - we are flexible, but we are in control of our flexibility.
  • Healthy companies institutionalize entrepreneurial spirit. An over emphasis on control can bring the adolescent organization to its knees and stagnate growth. The organization must learn how to balance control while continuing to nourish its entrepreneurial spirit.
  • In order to make better decisions we need a complimentary team. A team who thinks differently from one another – in order to learn from each other and make better decisions. 
  • Although dictatorship is good for implementation, it is terrible for decision making. How can we get the two together? Dr. Adizes calls this "democraship"
  • What causes aging in a company and makes you lose that entrepreneurial spirit?
    • Major stakeholder wants to preserve what they’ve built rather than to build more.
    • Perceived relative market share: the company achieved a certain level of success and doesn't feel the drive to push to greater heights. 
    • The most important factor is your organizational structure. If your organizational structure is wrong, people step on each other's toes and get into internal conflict. Misunderstanding & conflict absorbs all of the energy that should be spent on the market.
  • When you look to implement structures, first you divide the tasks – don’t look at the people (because people leave). Start from scratch. What is the optimal structure for our organization? Determine your structure then fill it with the right people.
  • How to effectively manage your team – don’t let people out pace each other. We need to learn how to advance together and come to conclusions with one another.
  • Implement rules for running effective meetings. Come on time & leave on time. No interruptions. When somebody is talking – respect it. The only person that knows that they’ve finish saying what he wants to say, is the person speaking.
  • How do you create your own rules? Anything that violates mutual trust, respect is forbidden, and everything that increases mutual trust, respect is encouraged and rewarded. Create your own rules that achieve these goals.
  • Conflict & change: when there’s change – inevitably, there is conflict. That’s one of the main reasons people fear change. 
  • Don’t try to eliminate or hide conflict. Face the conflict and deal with the conflict. Build mutual trust and respect.

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Dr. Ichak Adizes, Ph.D.

Dr. Ichak Adizes, Ph.D., is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading management experts. Over the course of 40 years, he has developed a unique methodology that enables corporations, governments, and organizations to manage accelerated change without destructive conflict.

In recognition of his contributions to management theory and practice, Dr. Adizes has received 19 honorary doctorates. He has advised prime ministers and government officials throughout the world, as well as corporate start-ups and members of the Fortune 100. He serves on Boards of Directors among the CopPay. He lectures in four languages, and is the author of 26 books that have been translated into 31 languages.

He is the President of Adizes Institute, a global organization focused on helping create healthy and high performing organizations.

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Each episode of Unleashed is hosted by Results’ CEO Jeff Tetz who spends most of his life deeply caring for others, exploring what makes high performers tick, and helping people unleash their full potential. You’ll find Jeff here on Twitter. 

Article by Katherine Turner