Execution is key to achievement of goals and objectives

One of the challenges given by the 8th Habit is being able to share the lessons learned from Stephen Covey with the intent of enlightening others in the process. I started with this last 2005 and have done a series of blog post at that time. One of the lessons learned I shared then was the 4 Disciplines of Execution as experienced with one of my consulting projects at that time where the lack of clear vision and goals badly affects the potential success of a project.

I saw this interesting video of Stephen Covey online. Those who have a copy of the 8th Habit book may have seen this video already in the CD that comes along with it.

In gist, Covey shared his observations such as:

• Too often, teams are not familiar with the goals and objectives of the organization. Everyone is running on different directions instead of working together on the same goal.
• Failure of achieving goals is often caused by poor execution. Not enough time is spent on most important goals.
• Most can't identify important goals although the leaders maybe aware of it.
• Sometimes team members are not passionate about the goal. Perhaps due to lack of ownership. No involvement, no commitment.
• Some don't understand what to do to achieve the goal.
• Only when goals and objectives are clearly communicated can team members understand and contribute effectively towards its achievement.
  

More often than not, the best way to attain something that you haven't succeeded before is to start doing things you've never done that way before.

The More You Know, The More You Don't Know

In my past readings of both John Maxwell and Stephen Covey, one phrase that I won't forget is "the more you know, the more you don't know." The year 2005 is a time of awakening for me. I came to realize that as the Internet empowers more individuals to share their knowledge and put their content online, there are a lot of things that one must learn.

Perhaps that is the reason why my website and blogs will have a sudden surge of content and followed by a period of silence. I've decided to listen and read more. Give listening, reading, and processing at least 80% of the time, and spend 20% writing, interacting, and sharing that knowledge. In this manner, my mind shall be able to process multiple sources of information thoroughly, think through in a variety of perspective, then speak out.

The deluge of information, I must say, numbed me from speaking and made me just want to read more. It also amazed me to a greater extent as to how the things that I've read and listened to have affected my actions and decisions lately.

2006 is a very uncertain year. Our country is going through a major political maturity process. Despite politically challenged times, businesses and the Filipino have become resilient, wanting due process to proceed, no longer heeding the calls of those who played a major role as to why we are all in this situation to begin with.

Hang in there my friends. Think big picture and be vigilant at all times.

Thinking Effectively: Six Thinking Hats

While catching up with a good friend lately, I got the chance to buy a copy of Edward De Bono's "Six Thinking Hats."

I'm so happy in finally getting the chance to get a copy of this book. It is a good compliment to books like Blink (by Malcolm Gladwell) and Thinking for a Change (by John Maxwell). However, I consider it more of a wrap-up as reading this alone won't be enough in developing good thinking skills.

In meetings and in communicating with people, face-to-face or e-mail, we usually encounter weird reactions. Some, instead of seeing a communication as a straight request for facts, will see it from a negative point of view, perhaps from prejudices, lack of trust, among others. This usually hampers us from getting things done. That is why there are some who will just vent in frustration, "can't we all just get along?"

No matter how much we try to learn in enhancing our thinking process, we have to go to the next level and set the tone of thinking with our peers too. This coincides with the 8th Habit of Stephen Covey, where one has to take the initiative of sharing knowledge and empower peers to think better and eventually lead effectively.

Misunderstanding and arguments often stems from looking at things in a different point of view concurrently. As a result, one will be very optimistic, the other takes the stand of a devil's advocate, another will just be plain obnoxious for personal reasons, among others. In this set-up, hardly anything gets achieved. Although Stephen Covey's 8th Habit taught us about Ethos, Pathos and Logos and the Think Win-Win concept, it is easier said than done.

The Six Thinking Hats method intends to make us broad-minded and multi-discipline in analyzing a situation being presented to us. In looking at a specific situation, everyone gets asked to wear a particular hat at a time, therefore allowing everyone to discuss thoughts at a specific point of view, where participants are on the same page, looking at the same thing.

For every situation or discussion we encounter, where a resolution must be arrived at the end, it is good to take the following pattern:

1. The discussion leader wears the Blue Hat. This is the control hat that organizes the thinking needed to explore the subject at hand. Like a conductor of the orchestra, the blue hat thinker calls for the use of other hats. Although peers can also give comments and suggestions in this context as well.
   
   He or she defines the subject, sets the focus, defines the problems, and shapes the questions. He or she is responsible for summaries, overviews, and conclusions. The blue hat thinker monitors the thinking, stops abusive use of other hats, and insist on map type of thinking.
   
   
2. The meeting or discussion is started by putting facts on the table. The person providing this information wears the White Hat. The white hat thinker is (or strives to be) neutral and objective, much like a computer, when processing and displaying information. No personal interpretation or opinion is provided. However, another person's interpretation or opinion can be mentioned, putting it forward as a fact. Two types of facts are presented by a white hat thinker. The first are the proven, checked or validated facts. The second are believed-to-be facts or likelihood that have not been checked or validated.
   
   
3. It is ideal at the start and before ending a meeting or discussion, or whenever necessary, participants put the Red Hat. This gives the participants the right time and chance to vent their feelings about the subject matter without requiring or voluntary giving any form of justification to explain it. These feelings can vary from strong (fear, dislike, positive euphoria) to subtle emotions (suspicion). It also includes complex judgements type of feelings such as hunch, intuition, sense, taste, aesthetic feeling, and the non-visible justified types. The red hat thinking process allows participants to see if there is a change of perception at the start to end of discussion.
   
   I believe that wearing the red hat at the proper time, putting it under control, will give all participants greater level of productivity as they had to think through properly and take the necessary self-control of their feelings.
   
   
4. Perhaps the most important hat is the Black Hat, as the thinker is concerned with caution and being careful. The black hat thinker considers risks, dangers, difficulties, obstacles, potential problems, and the downside of a suggestion. He or she checks if the suggestion put on the table fits the organization's past experience, policy, strategy, ethics, values, resources, known facts, and the experience of others.
   
   Black hat thinking should not be allowed to degenerate into argument. As its being cautious is the basis of a project's survival or success.
   
   
5. If black hat thinking is considered as negative assessment of ideas being presented onto the table, Yellow Hat thinking is positive assessment. The yellow hat thinker probes and explores for value, benefit, logical fit, practicality, dreams, vision, speculation, opportunity seeking, and hopes. It is constructive and generative, resulting to concrete proposals and suggestions (creative new ideas are not included). He or she is concerned in making things happen or operational, effectively.
   
   
6. If red and black hat thinkers are not controlled, green hat thinking hardly prospers. Green hat thinkers are the creative thinkers. The green hat is not only worn by the person presenting the creative output, but the listeners as well. The green hat thinker is in constant search for alternatives. The green hat thinker does not base one's decision on judgement but the movement resulted by an idea, as a provocation. Things that we see online and offline today that are totally or partly new, but very interesting, that caused us to act or adopt, can be seen as an output of those who were never afraid taking things further using the green hat.

The Six Thinking Hats can work in one organization if everyone is familiarize with it and will strictly enforce it during discussion. On a personal level, it also allows us to see beyond what is initially presented to us, triggering us to wear our red or black hat immediately and solely. We have to wear the six thinking hats to see things clearer and better.

How do you want to be remembered?

As the Honorable Raul Roco passed away, it made me thought of the legacy this great person has left behind to our country. In studying the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey gave us the challenge to think about, "how do we want to be remembered?"

He has done a lot of good that his legacy is what people remembered the most, not his assets, controversies that hounded him, nor his imperfections. It is all about the good that he has done to teachers, the public school education system, protection of women, and the clamor for new leadership.

What happened to Honorable Raul Roco is also a reminder for all of us about the 4 intelligences (physical, social, mental, and spiritual) that we must take seriously. As we take one for granted, physical intelligence in particular, the achievement of our vision and mission is hampered.

Physical intelligence is about taking care of ourselves. It is like imagining ourselves to had a heart attack lately and live our life accordingly, if we want to live longer, completing our personal mission in life. Of course, all of us have our time and death will happen to us sometime or someday, but we also control our destiny. Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa.

We are all urged how do we want to be remembered as this will guide us in our actions. In my case, I hope to be remembered as:

• a loving wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend.
• a supportive mentor and educator who ensures that the people she trained will survive and grow without her.
• an emphatic co-worker, boss, and leader who ensures that the organization she leaves behind will grow after her stint.
• a determined innovator who invests her time, resources, and effort to her projects, on a long-term until critical mass in achieved.
• a forgiving and simple person who has no room for vanity and will always give way to others.

May Honorable Raul Roco remind us to remember the legacy we intend to leave behind in everything that we do. May his death remind us as well, the great responsibility of taking care of ourselves to achieve our mission and vision, ensure completion of tasks and continuity of important causes by the people we leave behind.

4 Disciplines of Execution

If you want to learn more about this topic, I encourage you to attend CLCI's 4 Disciplines of Execution Workshop this August 30 and 31. Contact John for more info. The first version of this article was published in Sun.Star.

If your organization is having a hard time achieving business goals or missing critical deadlines, perhaps it is time to review your organization’s Execution Quotient.

I first discovered this while reading the 8th Habit. I was on a middle of a process improvement project but noticed and felt that there are a lot of challenges and issues that hampers me from getting the work done.

As a consultant, your role is to support, facilitate, and contribute your expertise. In order to create a lasting impact, every effort must be taken to ensure that the organization will do well on its own after your term of service. This is what Level 5 Leadership is all about where empowerment of peers, discipline, and consistency is a normal culture in the organization.

The Execution Quotient survey looks at the level of employee commitment, whether organization goals are properly understood, and identify issues or barriers that prevent them from meeting their organization and team goals.

I believe this survey should be undertaken by all organizations every six months as it gives you a realistic perspective on the health of your organization with metrics supporting it. It will also guide you in coming up programs and set-up appropriate metrics to monitor its progress.

My interpretation and understanding of the 4 Disciplines of Execution taught me the following:

1. Focus on the Wildly Important Goals
Having a clear organizational vision and goals are important. They serve as a point of reference for each employee to base his/her actions, activities and contributions on. Team or department goals can be created to support the vision. Personnel would be able to define their individual goals to ensure that they hit the target.

Without it, the employees will base their initiatives on perception and personal understanding of what is best for the organization. This could result in lack of trust among personnel, as issues are not openly discussed or are used against the personnel raising it.

This may sound easy but it is easier said than done. Baseline is needed and the metrics that we define should be realistic and challenging enough for the entire organization to pursue.

2. Create a Compelling Scoreboard
Once clear vision, goals, and metrics are identified and disseminated, a visible and compelling scoreboard needs to be made available to everyone in the organization. This is how achievement can be monitored and evaluated.

3. Translate Lofty Goals into Specific Actions
From the identified goals, specific actions have to be identified. They must be realistic. Management must also take every effort to ensure that proper resources and support are provided, avoiding favoritism. It is not fair to ask employees to meet goals if resources are insufficient. This can only result in loss of morale.

4. Hold Each Other Accountable - All of the Time
Assignments must be clearly identified and be aware of the dependencies that rest on their work output. The scoreboard can help greatly in monitoring progress. If we have problems on delivery output by our peers, we need to be upfront in raising our concern. We should leave no room for "I noticed that in the past but I kept quiet." These remarks don't help, they only intend to point blame on people. Being quiet does not take your accountability away as well in getting a project done according to plan.

However, in a supportive environment, if we have finished our work ahead of schedule, there's no harm in helping out others (who may have taken more than what they can chew or underestimated the task)

An evolving process
These are not easy tasks, especially for organizations that have been around for a while. Also, only those who are in pain may succeed in instituting changes.

It is important for an entity to first address its basic organizational problems before embarking on serious projects that require a lot of resources and change in process, such as ISO certification and the like. I remember an ending pitch that the host of American Top 40 TV and radio edition would say, as he wraps-up the program, "Keep your feet on the ground and (or as you) reach for the sky!"

The Choices I Make

We are always in conflict with ourselves. After doing a lot of thinking in the night as to the things that we be doing, sometimes, it doesn't get followed as intended to. These lapses are conflicts within ourselves that we had to overcome. In Stephen Covey's "The 8th Habit," he talked about the need for strengthening our spiritual intelligence. With the mindset of reporting to our Maker on a regular basis, it sets as a guide as to how we deal with others and recognize when we sin.

Over the weekend, I finally got hold of an old book that was given to me in one of my speaking engagements. It is Max Lucado's "Grace for the Moment." I have so much books that I haven't read yet. At first, I will feel bad but realized that the right time just usually comes. Perhaps with God's intervention too.

The first part of the book tackled the choices Max Lucado makes daily in his dealings, to constantly remind him. In this blog post, I'll do the same and pattern much of it to Lucado's Each Day.

The Choices I Make

I'm rushing this morning to get ready for the day. There'll be decisions to make and deadlines to be met. I control my own choices, decisions, and will let the following constantly remind me of what humility, courage, and wisdom is all about in everything I do.

I Choose Love
No occassion justifies hatred and bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I Choose Joy
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to serve God.

I Choose Peace
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I Choose Patience
I will overlook the inconvenience of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him/her to do so. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I Choose Kindness
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich and powerful, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I Choose Goodness
I will go without a peso than take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I Choose Faithfulness
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My family will not question my love. My family will never fear that I will not come home.

I Choose Gentleness
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I Choose Self-Control
I am a spiritual being...
After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced and taught only by God.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek God's grace.

Dealing with position power

As I'm learning from Stephen Covey's 8th Habit, it made me thought of the people I met in the course of my advocacy work.

The biggest challenge for me is dealing with people who draw their strength from position power. As they exert no effort to build moral authority, they've build a lot of weakness into themselves and in the relationships they had.

As a result, codependency conspiracy comes into play. The people who are fearful or may benefit from this position power work in a "wait until told" mode.

Disagreement is denied and ignored. It creates a silent audience that resents the heavy-handed treatment and resist the announcements these people make through a silent boycott.

The people in position power are not interested in seeking for win-win and the third alternative. Worst and sadly, they want to control all. Those who are in this codependency conspiracy as well are most likely to benefit from it. There's no quality relationship existent as authentic openness and trust never develops. As they get enlightened, they fall out and become part of the silent boycott with all shame to the support they have initially given.

I share the belief of Robert K. Greenleaf, founder of the servant leadership movement. The only authority deserving one's allegiance is that which is freely and knowingly granted in response to clearly evident servant stature of the leader. I chose to follow them because they are proven and trusted as servants.

I refuse to accept authority of existing institutions just because they have position power. However, there are instances that I've changed my perception when they refuse to use that authority and power except as a last resort. Their moral authority increase as they subordinate their ego and worked hard to build trustworthiness. Kindness is not enough. It's their actions that count the most.

As Abraham Lincoln said, "the surest way to reveal one's character is not through adversity but by giving them power." It is sad when you see good people turning to dangerous chameleons because of power. May we have the strength to resist in becoming part of a codependency conspiracy and not be afraid to speak of what we believe is right.

Think Win-Win or No Deal

Whenever we negotiate, we always have the mindset that one will get a better deal than the other. This is where the context of win-lose or lose-win comes to mind as stated by Stephen Covey in his 8th Habit book.

However, the ideal state should be a major win-win for both parties in the negotiation table. If this can't be achieved, then both should be ready to agree to have a no-deal in mind. Unfortunately, this is hard when the issues are too sensitive too handle and where one has to lose inevitably.

This is where leaders must look for the third alternative and achieve synergy between the parties in conflict. To get it started, the parties must be trained to listen and work hard to earn each other's trust. This is hard if some of the panel members have no ethos or credibility to begin with and have personal bias or gain if the party in conflict loses.

Getting the right people, preparing them through training, and agree on ground rules such as win-win or no deal, will help in resolving controversial conflicts.

For the young generation, educators must train them to listen emphatically in order to become broadminded, unselfish thinkers, and effective problem solvers.

Ethos, pathos, logos

In the book "The 8th Habit", Stephen Covey talked about the Greek Philosophy of Influence called ethos, pathos, logos. Upon reading it yesterday, it reminded me of a recent event where a draft research output being presented was heavily lambasted by several well-known people in the audience.

The resource team gave a reaction but was not good enough in substance. A lot of it relied on their personal opinion and expertise. It almost reached the point where the reactors obviously showed no confidence on the methodology and reasoning used by the researcher.

Looking back, the team who did the research lacked ethos or credibility. Perhaps, they were not able to package themselves well, in order to be seen as trustworthy, by having the integrity and competence with the work that they do.

During the discussion portion of the forum, as comments and challenges were hurled, the resource team failed to demonstrate pathos or emphaty. They listened but at the same time defend their findings. No step was taken to truly demonstrate the intent to understand the concerns first. Instead, the research team pushed logos or logic immediately. Instead of calming the reactors, it spurred further criticism to the body of work presented.

The timing and sequence of execution between ethos, pathos, and logos is critical. No amount of pathos and logos will work if the team presenting was not able to establish their ethos first.

Logos, no matter how accurate and relevant, will be vaguely accepted if the participant asking was not given pathos, recognizing how they feel.