The Disciplines of Getting Things Done

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THE GROWTH PARTNERSHIP
The Disciplines of Getting Things Done
Secrets of Flawless Execution Presented to the
2020 Group
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Introduction

• People on your work team know the firms most
  important goals.
• People know exactly what they are supposed to do
  to help achieve the firms most important goals.
• Your team consistently plans together to achieve
  the most important goals.
• People on your team know how theyre doing on
  those goals.

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Sustained Superior Performance
Sustained Superior Performance
Todays Performance (P)
Long-term Performance (PC)
Execution Process / Strategy Implementation
Disciplined Thought/ Disciplined Action
Disciplined People
Level 5 Leadership
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Execution Check
Pg. 44
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Execution Framework
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Execution Happens When
Sounds Simple?
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Agenda

• The Execution Challenge
• 2. The 6 Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
• 3. The 4 Disciplines of Execution

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The Execution Challenge
Goal
How?
Who?
Do What Differently?
Question 2 What group of people must learn
something new or do something different for us to
be successful?
Question 1 What is the most important goal of
my organisation or business unit? What is it
worth?
Question 3 Who is modeling the behavior? Who is
not yet there, but could get there? Who is never
going to get there?
Enabling _____ Synergy _____ Accountability _____
Translation _____ Commitment _____
Clarity _____ Commitment ______
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Accounting Firm Execution Challenge
75 Client Retention
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Agenda

• The Execution Challenge
• 2. The 6 Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
• 3. The 4 Disciplines of Execution

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Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
Are they clear about the goal?
1. Clarity
Do they know what is most important?
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Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
Do they know the critical activities?
Are they clear about the goal?
1. Clarity
2. Translation
Do they know what to do and how to do it?
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Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
Do they know the critical activities?
Are they clear about the goal?
1. Clarity
2. Translation
3. Commitment
Are they committed to the goal and their role in
it?
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Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
Do they know the critical activities?
Are they clear about the goal?
Do they Do It?
1. Clarity
2. Translation
4. Enabling
3. Commitment
Do we make it easy for them?
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Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
Do they know the Critical Activities?
Are they clear about the goal?
Do they Do It?
1. Clarity
2. Translation
4. Enabling
5. Synergy
3. Commitment
Do we work effectively together?
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Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
Do they know the Critical Activities?
Are they clear about the goal?
Do they Do It?
1. Clarity
2. Translation
4. Enabling
5. Synergy
6. Accountability
3. Commitment
Do we hold each other accountable all of the time?
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Agenda

• The Execution Challenge
• 2. The 6 Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
• 3. The 4 Disciplines of Execution

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Agenda

• The Execution Challenge
• 2. The 6 Root-causes of Execution Breakdowns
• 3. The 4 Disciplines of Execution

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 1
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 1
Discipline 1 Focus on the Wildly Important
Common Thinking We can effectively accomplish
6, 8, or even 10 important goals at once with
excellence.
Reality The more we narrow our focus the greater
our chances of achieving our goals with
excellence.
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 1
A goal with significant consequence or value.
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 1
WILDLY Important Goals
(WIG) Our most leveraged goals. Goals that drive
our vision, make all the difference, and that
take us to a new level. Perhaps, failure to
achieve these goals renders any of our other
achievements inconsequential.
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General Electric - The Power of Focus
1980

• 45 business units
• 25.5 billion revenue

1981

• Jack Welch (CEO) announces that GE will leave any
  business line where they cannot hold the
  leadership position or a very close 2nd place

2000

• 12 business units
• 129.8 billion revenue
• 40-fold increase in stock price
• Outperformed SP 500 by more than three
  times over the two decades

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What It Takes to Focus
Discipline 1

1. Identify whats wildly important
2. Focus significant activity and resources on it

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The Focus JFKs Speech to Congress
Discipline 1

• I believe that this nation should commit itself
  to achieving the goal, before this decade is out,
  of landing a man on the moon and returning him
  safely to the earth.
• President John F. Kennedy

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The Commitment of Resources
Discipline 1

• I believe we possess all the resources and
  talents necessary. But the facts of the matter
  are that we have never made the national
  decisions or marshalled the national resources
  required for such leadership. We have never
  specified long-range goals on an urgent time
  schedule, or managed our resources and our time,
  as to insure their fulfillment.
• This decision demands a major national commitment
  of scientific and technical manpower, materiel
  and facilities, and the possibility of their
  diversion from other important activities where
  they are already thinly spread. It means a
  degree of dedication, organization and discipline
  which have not always characterized our research
  and development efforts.
• President John F. Kennedy

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Charan Bossidy on Execution

• Leaders who execute focus on a very few clear
  priorities that everyone can grasp.
• Execution The Discipline of Getting Things Done

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Jim Collins on Focus
Jim Collins, in Good to Great, calls this focus
the Hedgehog Concept. He found that great
companies tend to focus on one big thing, at
the intersection of their economic engine, their
strategy (or what they can be best in the world
at), and their organizational passion. (Recall
the 2005 2020 Conference)
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Peter Drucker on Focus

• I have never encountered an executive who
  remains effective while tackling more than two
  tasks at a time.
• Peter DruckerManagement Guru
• Harvard Business Review, June 2004

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 1
Creating Goals that ? Are Focused (3 or fewer)
? Create Line-of-sight ? Are Well-crafted
(specificcleardeadline driven) ? Have Team
Commitment
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WIG Filter
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 1
Firm Level WIGs
Litigation Support
Auditing Accounting
Tax
Manufacturing
Construction
Professional Services
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Multiplication of Goals
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 2
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 2
Discipline 2 Create a Compelling Scoreboard
Common Thinking Once we have communicated the
goal people will know we are serious about it.
Reality They wont believe were serious until
we start keeping score.
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Three Types of Measures

• Must drive the lag measures
• Should be sensitive enough to move every week
• Behavioral, not quick lag measures

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 2
Lag Measure
Measures Goal Achievement
Predictive of the Goal
Difficult to Influence
Easier to Influence
Easier to Measure
Harder to Measure
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 2
Compelling Scoreboards ? Are Simple
? Are Visual and Highly Visible to the Players ?
Exist at all Levels ? Have the right Lead and
Lag Measures
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Accounting Firm Example
Wildly Important Goals and Measures

• Develop and Professionalize the Automotive
  Niche to achieve desired market position .
• Develop marketing campaign by June 30.
• Meet with 15 prospects by October 31.
• Convert 5 clients by December 31.
• 2. Develop online accounting systems
  capabilities for top 50 clients within 12 months.
• Get system up by June 30.
• Complete first five pilot companies by November.
• Bring five live every month until August of
  next year.
• 3. Achieve the most successful product launch
  in firm history with Cost Segregation Studies.
• Generate 20 percent of sales from new clients.
• Generate 30 percent of sales from referral
  sources.
• Generate 50 percent of sales from existing
  clients.
• Achieve total revenue of 500K by year-end.

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Personal Scoreboard for Jeff Pawlow
Recovery
Debtor Aging
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 3
Discipline 3 Think Differently, and Translate
New Goals Into Specific Action
We think new and better and have a process for
individually selecting and activating the
critical few weekly objectives that will drive
the goal.
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 3
Discipline 3 Translate Goals Into Specific Action
Its not uncommon to think
However, in reality
The best ideas come from interaction between
leaders and the front line. Goals will never be
achieved until everyone on the team thinks
critically about what must be done to achieve
goals and then does it.
The best ideas come from the leaders. If people
know the goal and see the scoreboard, they will
know what to do about it and do it.
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 3
Key Questions
Do you think new and better What are the three
most important things I can do this week to
impact the scoreboard?
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 3
New and Better
Einsteins definition of Insanity? Getting to
Synergy 11
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10
100
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 3
What would it be worth if everyone in your firm
actually did the three most important things they
could do to move the goal forward each week?
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An Important Question
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A Typical Week
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Th
F
Sa
Su
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An Effective WIG Week
M
T
W
Th
F
Sa
Su
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Translate Goals into Specific Action
Discipline 3
?1 ?2 ?3
3 Team Goals
Increase Number of Referral Sources
Identify 3 New Sources
1_______________
2 referral meetings
ID 3 Sources
Taylor Assoc. Meeting
2_______________
Citibank Win-win
3_______________
Nic Jones Meeting
Citibank Win-win
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 4
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 4
Discipline 4 Hold Each Other Accountable All the
Time
Its Not Uncommon to think As long as goals are
clear and compelling and people know what to do
to achieve them they will remain focused and
committed to doing it.
However, in reality The certainty of weekly
accountability to the team ensures focus and
commitment.
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Hold Each Other Accountable
Follow-through is the cornerstone of execution,
and every leader whos good at executing follows
through religiously. Following through ensures
that people are doing the things they committed
to do. Larry Bossidy, Execution The Discipline
of Getting Things Done
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The Weekly Cadence
Discipline 2 Maintain and Review the Scoreboard
Disciplines 3 4 Make Individual Commitments
and Report on Activity and Results
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
1. Focus on the Wildly Important
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
1. Focus on the Wildly Important
2. Create a Compelling Scoreboard
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution
1. Focus on the Wildly Important
2. Create a Compelling Scoreboard
3. Translate Goals into Specific Action
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The 4 Disciplines of Execution

• We must all inevitably suffer from one of two
  pains. Either the pain of discipline or the pain
  of regret!
• Jim RohnBusiness
  Philosopher and Speaker

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Quote
There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which
taken at the flood, leads on to fortune Omitted,
all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows
and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now
afloat. And we must take the current when it
serves, or lose our ventures. William
ShakespeareJulius Caesar
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Quote
The critical ingredient is getting off your butt
and doing something. It's as simple as that. A
lot of people have ideas, but there are few who
decide to do something about them now. Not
tomorrow. Not next week. But today. Nolan
BushnellFounder of Atari Computer
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If This Is All Just Too Hard
The nicest thing about not planning is that
failure comes as a complete surprise rather than
being preceded by a period of worry and
depression. Sir John Harvey-Jones
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Thank You!
Jeffrey S Pawlow CEO Managing Shareholder The
Growth Partnership, Inc. jpawlow_at_thegrowthpartner
ship.com www.thegrowthpartnership.com (314)
209-0922