The 3 C’s of Execution

Removing Roadblocks to Follow-Through

Having just written about the 3 C’s of Strategy, I guess I have C’s on the brain. Even scarier is that two of the C’s of Strategy are the same as two of the C’s of Execution!

Whether you’re a boss, coach, or head of a household, you’ve undoubtedly struggled with someone with a task that just stays on the to-do list forever. Maybe it’s even you who can’t get it in gear!

Let’s look at three potential causes of that execution logjam.

Clarity

One of the biggest causes of procrastination is a lack of clarity. If we have two tasks before us and we know exactly what to do on one and not sure what to do with the other, most of us will tackle the task that we’re clear on. The ambiguity will keep pushing the foggy task to the bottom of the queue.

Tools like “S.M.A.R.T. Goals” provide one way to help with clarity. A SMART Goal has these characteristics:

• SPECIFIC and MEASUREABLE There shouldn’t be any wiggle room to say it was “sort of” done.
• ACHIEVABLE and RELEVANT Achievable means that the person doing it believes it’s doable in the time allotted. Relevant means you both believe the goal is a meaningful step toward success. Setting a goal for something that will happen without the goal is irrelevant.
• TIME-BOUND. There is a clear point in time when this goal is to be completed.

Competence

Even if you believe the person has the skill, do they believe it? Don’t assume. Ask them to describe how they’ll approach it to confirm they know what to do. Give them help or training if they need it. Also ask if there are other resources they need to complete the task. Identify obstacles and eliminate them!

Commitment

One of the most common excuses we get (or give!) for not getting things done is that “other things came up” that interfered with this task. Time management is really about committing to proper priorities. Have them list the interfering tasks and discuss whether they were correctly prioritized. If they were good choices, you may need to admit that this assignment wasn’t as high a priority as you thought. Or you may need to coach them on how to stay focused and say “no” to important but lower priority tasks. You may also need to run interference if they’re getting “urgent” assignments from other high-ranking people. 

Your success as a leader is measured by your ability to lead others to be successful. You need to push them to be their best and grow without discouraging them or burning them out.

Assuming the problem is their prioritization and not your unrealistic expectations (a dangerous assumption, by the way!), recognize that you’ll get better results if you secure their commitment to the task rather than just compliance with your instructions. So make sure they’re clear why the task is important and how doing it successfully will impact the organization. It’s energizing to understand why your work matters.