We talked about his passion for business execution, his solutions for making business excellence possible through consistent execution and the need for businesses to create a culture of learning that grows leaders at all levels of a business.
I asked him:
You write that all revolutions are based on a core set of ideas, premises. What are the three core premises for your book?
The first one is the most significant. If you talk to most business leaders and ask what their biggest problem is they will give you an answer that’s not their biggest problem. As President of Solomon Software I saw we worked with 60,000 organizations around the globe. Our channel of distribution was 1000 partners that were small and midsized organizations. I’ve been immersed in this market for 30 years.
As CEOs we all fall into the habit of seeing the problem ahead of as the most important. The real problem is that we will always have new problems. And a different one after that, and a different one after that. The real problem is not the problem in front of us but it's building an organization that recognize there’s going to be a another problem and another problem after that and how do we build an organization that is increasing in its capacity to solve the future problems.
This first point is the biggest aha that needs to get through to CEOs. If you are growing your business and executing well your problems will get bigger. Because execution drives growth and growth creates bigger problems. And until you learn to manage with the idea that you will have bigger problems next year you will never build an organization that’s predictable.
The first premise of this book is we don't understand what our biggest challenge is.
The 2nd one is that there is one problem if you solved makes solving all the others easier. I stole this from Holman Jenkins a WSJ writer. That’s what execution revolution is all about. It’s about organizations coming to grips with the idea they have 2 products. You're building two things: A machine to build your widgets and the widgets, themselves. Solving the one problem that makes solving all other easier is focusing on crafting strategy and executing it .
The 3rd premise is that every once in awhile we reach a market where technology and expertise can be assembled in a new approach. Ford didn’t invent the industrial age. It had been around for 100 years when he created his first car. So you had a whole series of Technologies emerging for a 100 years and all of a sudden Henry Ford comes along with the idea to put a combustible engine on a frame and add rubber tires... he figured out how to integrate all these pieces into making cars.
SUMMARY:
1). The first premise ... is we don't understand what our biggest challenge is.
The real problem is not the problem in front of us but it's building an organization that recognize there’s going to be a another problem and another problem after that and how do we build an organization that is increasing in its capacity to solve the future problems.
2). The 2nd one is that there is one problem if you solved makes solving all the others easier. That’s what execution revolution is all about. It’s about organizations coming to grips with the idea they have 2 products. You're building two things: A machine to build your widgets and the widgets, themselves. Solving the one problem that makes solving all other easier is focusing on crafting strategy and executing it .
3). The 3rd premise is that every once in awhile we reach a market where technology and expertise can be assembled in a new approach.
Do you see these premises at work in your business? You may be ready for an execution revolution.
Look harder if you do not see them at work. Share with us why they are not at work in your industry. I have known Gary and his work for 5-6 years now. His principles and his solutions seem more universal every year.
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