FY'88/'97/'06 and FY'24... every new fiscal year calls for "fresh eyes and a fresh spirit"

 

Its hard to imagine that I have been in business for almost 40 years!!  Graduating from business school in 1985, fresh MBA in hand, I started my "sales and plant" training that summer as I dove into my new role as a Marketing Assistant for Kimberly-Clark.  Here I am 38 years later, in a great leadership role at Bolthouse Farms,  wrapping up our FY23 and getting ready to dive into FY 24 that kicks off next week.  While right now the immediate challenges and opportunities facing our business and team seem all encompassing... ( its been a very tough year and there is plenty to work on in fy24!!) ... the reality for me over the decades, and across multiple companies and circumstances is that EACH/ EVERY year has what seems to be an all encompassing set of challenges and opportunities and EACH/EVERY year calls for the business leaders to refocus and re-energize the team with "fresh eyes and a fresh spirit!"  Thinking back over the years, there are numerous examples of this dynamic that come to mind.... I will share just a few for context.

FY88: After a few years at Kimberly-Clark ( I loved that company and my old boss Bruce Paynter!  You can read more about him in the following essay: https://fylegacy.blogspot.com/2010/07/legacy-of-bruce.html) I went to work for Kraft Foods in their ice cream business as Assistant Brand manager, Sealtest Ice Cream.  In the summer of 1987, literally a few weeks after I started, there was a product recall because of Listeria contamination.... a major emergency!  All hands on deck... all plants closed .... all product recalled.... it was a mess and I wondered at the time if we would survive the next few months.  The plants re-opened and product began flowing back to store shelves after a few weeks but the brand/business damage was massive.  Business planning was put on hold that summer, but we hustled to build the fy88 budgets late that year and while the team was a wreck ( yours truly fully included!!), the leadership team helped guide us with a reinforcing "fresh perspective" that the focus off the fy88 business plan was one word... "Recovery."  Recover the trust of lost consumers and customers... recover lost space at shelf... recover quality and sanitation protocols across the plants.... it was all about "recovery"! Clarifying and focusing us all on the path ahead for fy88 was helpful to the entire division and early in my career, it was a galvanizing experience to work through a DRAMATIC challenge and not only endure the moment, but come through it in a better/stronger place.

FY97: In late 1990 I joined The Coca-Cola Company in a Marketing Manager role, based in Atlanta, and dove into a company and a wide set of roles that spanned the next 18 years.  In the summer of 1996, I was promoted and sent to Baltimore to take over the role as "NE Area V.P." for the Fountain Division of Coke North America.  It was a big job and a huge change for me... my first role out of a Marketing function, and my first GM job.  The NE Area had missed their targets for the previous number of years and I was the leadership change "to shake things up" at that moment.  Building the FY98 business plan and budget was critical and as a new ( and novice ) leader, I used the process to bring the leadership team together so WE could build the budgets and targets together.  Looking back, it was all about "re-engagement" for the team... to get a group of great folks to get excited about making ( or beating!!) budgets and to get the whole team to signup for that type of culture.  It was helpful that I was so new, and frankly so inexperienced.... I could ask a lot of dumb questions and no one thought I had all the answers.... some may have wondered if I had any answers at all, ha!  FY98 turned into quite a turnaround year for the old NE Area, and it began a string of years where that team, years after I left the role, continued to exceed its goals!  

FY'06: In 2005 I had the chance to be a big part of the launch of Coke Zero in North America.  I played a very senior commercial role at that time, and the rollout of Coke Zero was the biggest undertaking the company had done since the launch of Diet Coke in the mid-1980's.  To put it mildly, Coke Zero was a hit the execution of the launch went very well, and very quickly it grew to be a +$1bb brand (yes that's billion with a "b"!)  In the afterglow of that incredible success, it was time to build the 2006 business plan and budgets and I was stumped.... how were we going to cycle 2005??  Again "fresh perspectives" really helped... and with the drive of a new CEO at the company, we used 2006 to expand the Coke Zero footprint, strengthen the entire brand portfolio in the process, and use that year to redouble our efforts on leadership training and development.  2005 had been so busy, and so wild that we had lost track of succession planning, development plans and leadership development a bit and it was helpful across the board to refocus on building the team so they could be ready to do great things with Coke Zero and other innovations/M&A opportunities in the future.

I share these three examples, these three somewhat random years just as a way to highlight that while the years/circumstances change, the role of leaders in planning is always key and working to have "fresh eyes and a fresh spirit" is key for all of us.  For those readers turning the corner into FY24 like we are, I wish you a good year ahead.... for those of you getting ready to build those FY24 plans, keep your eyes and your spirits as "fresh" as possible and I know you will find you path with the challenges and opportunities that will face all of us in 2024!

Work the process & work ON the process!

 

It’s been a wild ride over these past 20 months since we bought Bolthouse Farms back from Campbell’s.  The challenges of turning around a business in steep decline, executing a “carve-out” of a business that had been integrated into a bigger entity, rebuilding a team across all functions/levels … and then Covid hit! In the midst of these significant challenges, the business is growing, the team stronger than ever, and we have learned so much and become stronger through facing and overcoming challenges in our way.  A great lesson was shared last week in a “zoom call,” that I want to pass along today.

 

Late last week, we had our weekly S&OP (sales & operations planning) call and one of our excellent, long-term Bolthouse veterans John (no last names on the blog!) was on the call early when I signed in.  He and I had a couple of minutes to catch up and were talking about our fast growing beverage business and how hard it was to get the right flavors, in the right size, in the right level of inventory, to the right customer …etc!  We were talking about how hard it was to run a tight S&OP process in a high growth business and John shared a powerful insight….” You know Bill, we have to work the process and work ON the process at the same time!”

 

That simple phrase really hit home in this moment/situation, but is so true broadly.  Too often we don't even do the first part very well; we often don't even have a consistent business process and if we do have one we don't execute it in a consistent, disciplined fashion.  Knowing this, the idea that we have to always “work ON the process,” identifying ways to improve WHAT we do and HOW we do it was the deep insight of John’s comment.  

 

Even though our business is booming, and so many good things are happening, we need to push ourselves to improve our processes broadly.  To often companies wait for things to go bad to start thinking about changes, the trick is to dive into this work when things are going well… that's the perfect time to work and work ON your processes!

 

A few helpful tips:

 

Ø  Think about your business/enterprise/organization and identify the key operational processes that are required to get the work done, and insure you have a structured, disciplined process in place.

Ø  Once those core processes are set, don't get bored with them!  Execute and lead those processes with intensity and efficiency and insure the broader organization knows that those process steps are key to the organization’s success.

Ø  Look for the processes and that need improvement and work ON those processes very publicly.  Identify and implement improvement steps and you will insure that your processes will continue to improve over time!

 

"Storm the Breach".... but come well prepared!

As many of you know, I am a bit of a history nut and enjoy looking back at history to look for clues or advice about how to face the challenges of today.  In past essays I have turned to many voices across time, including Plutarch, Ghandi, Dr. MLK jr, and many others to help illuminate and inspire; today I am turning to Wellington... the British general most well known as the leader who defeated Napolean at Waterloo.

While famous for that final battle in 1815, a few years before he lead the British forces in Spain in what was known as the Peninsula Campaign, driving French forces across Spain ( the Iberian "Peninsula") ultimately ending in the final battle in Waterloo Belgium.  As Wellington drove across Spain, the French forces would take up defensive positions in various small "cities" that were defended by ancient stone walls and attempt to stop Wellington's advance.  In many off those situations, none more famous than the "Siege of Badajoz," the British artillery would fire upon the walls until there was an opening, or a "Breach," where one part of the wall had collapsed and was opened, the British infantry would "storm" into the "breach" and fight their way into the city, ultimately routing the defenders into a panicked retreat.

The notes above are taken from Wellington's dispatches from that time, and are incredibly detailed in the plans and preparations for the soldiers preparing to "storm the breach!"  This wasn't some sort of wild, unplanned assault but instead a highly coordinated, and well prepared plan to take advantage of an opportunity and to drive it to its maximum impact. ( the fact that he highlights the number of ladders and that the troops should bring "light materials" to be thrown into the ditch is an incredible level of detailed planning!)

I have reflected back on Wellington this past week because of a competitive opportunity facing our company.  We have owned Bolthouse Farms for just over a year, and late last week we received word  that a long standing competitor had announced their plans to close operations in the next 30-45 days!  What an incredible opportunity and in appropriate fashion we gathered our teams and within a few hours were having calls with key retail buyers to maximize our ability to capture the opportunity.... we were "storming the breach!"  The reality that this competitive news came a year after buying the company back from Campbell's, not a few weeks after closing last summer, is so key because it gave us the chance to "come well prepared" to this moment! We had rebuilt the team broadly ( still more work to go of course but we are in good shape with a great group of people).  We have rebuilt our operational capabilities and our quality system, allowing us to run the plant at efficiency levels well above a year ago and has expanded our capacity levels to allow us to take on more business AND do so profitably..... and literally the list goes on!  We are "storming the breach" and have "come well prepared!"

While success is never assured, and we will have some ups and downs in "storming this breach," this moment has reminded me of an important lesson; in business and in life you never know when an unexpected opportunity will present itself, but you are always able to build capabilities and become "well prepared" when the opportunity breaks to "storm the breach!"

The "Silver Arrow" dynamic in planning

It may seem an odd place to start, but this essay comes from an experience I had at a boy scout camp in Western Pennsylvania as a kid.  The setting is the early 70's, I was a young scout and my brother was five years older than me and an emerging Eagle Scout ( who also earned the "Order of the Arrow" which is quite a distinction) and my dad was the Scoutmaster of our troop in Murrysville Pennsylvania, my home town.  Every summer the scouting calendar was very active with hikes, campouts, etc. but  every year we went as a troop to a local boy scout camp,  Camp Conestoga in Somerset County.  This lesson on planning comes from an experience I had there on the archery range more than forty years ago!!

Unlike my older brother who excelled in scouting, I was always a bit more of a plodder.  While I worked on my merit badges, outdoor skills and the required knot tying and first aid activities, I was a more "middle of the pack" scout.  One area where I did have some unique proficiency was on the archery range, which stemmed from my dad owning archery equipment and us all learning how to shoot as young kids.  When I got to Camp Conestoga that summer and realized they had a serious archery range and a "end of camp"  competition, I was all set!  Early in the week I signed up for the camp wide archery competition and was excited for the event to start at the end of our time at the camp.  While not a widely attended event, I was excited to see a good number of other scouts coming out to shoot and to watch the event and was exhilarated to learn that the winner of the event would win "The Camp Conestoga Golden Arrow Award"( note gold not silver) and the winner and his troop would be announced at the end of week all scout campfire!!  Now that was big-time!!!

The event was set for each shooter to have three arrows to shoot, and to shoot those arrows from three different distances, with the low scoring scouts dropping off as the distances increased.  The first set-up was very easy, maybe 10 yards, and I had three great shots and advanced easily to the next distance.  The second position was from 25 yards out and while harder, I knew that distance, adjusted my trajectory and made three good shots and made it to the final round.... the long distance shot!  Now I would love to say that the third position was 100 yards or more and while it felt like a mile, it was probably in the 50-75 yard range.

My first arrow flew and dug into the ground well short of the target, a total miss!  My second shot hit the edge if the target, but just barely, and glanced off .... zero for two!  My third shot actually hit the target but was in an outer ring, nowhere close to the bulls-eye!  The two or three other scouts who made it to the third distance were also challenged, but one fellow got two of his three arrows to hit the target, and one stuck pretty close to the center.... I had come in second and was to receive the "silver arrow" (no plaque and no camp wide announcement) which was a pretty generic aluminum shafted arrow....pretty disappointing after all of my buildup!!

While not a very high-water mark in my scouting career, that experience at Camp Conestoga taught me an invaluable business lesson that I have reflected on often.   At the third and longest distance, In order to be successful in actually hitting the target, one needs to imagine the arrow's flight in the air and actually aim for the curve of the flight, not the target itself, in order to be successful.  I really needed to imagine a series of hoops in the sky that my arrow needed to fly through in order to be successful .... the exact same discipline needed to be proficient in business planning!!

I am in the middle of a project currently where we are focused on hitting key five-year metrics, and instead on being myopic on those specific out-year results, I keep reminding myself to focus on the annual and quarterly metrics in years 1-3 (the hoops in the sky) knowing that the only way we can achieve those results in five years is to meet and exceed the closer-in targets/"hoops."  It may seem overly simple, but across my career I have been part of or consulted with too many groups that get inspired by but at times consumed in "destination planning", myopic on the end results completely forgetting the "required flight" of the business required to accomplish that destination.

My advice today is to stay focused on and active in the discipline and work of planning in your business. Take the time to look out to the horizon and imagine/dream about where you are trying to take the business/department/team that you are responsible for but always remember the "silver arrow."  Before you start shooting your "professional arrows," refocus/re-aim on the "hoops in the sky" and insure your close-in action plans will guide your arrow to the farthest target!

Seat 27D... a lesson in disciplined pre-planning!

Its seems hard to believe but three years ago this month I had knee replacement surgery.  Today, three years later, I am doing great and my knee is strong (much stronger than before the surgery!!) and I am more active today than before the surgery.  Like many of my knee replacement brothers/sisters, the recovery process was VERY challenging and I am so thankful to have friends and close family members who really took care of me (physically and emotionally) in those first few weeks/months after the surgery.  It may seem far fetched, but its in this context that I want to explore the elements and focus points of "disciplined pre-planning!"

My surgeon and his team had been very clear with me, "no driving for 6 weeks, no flying for 8 weeks" and while I heard those words, I was "certain" that I would be an exception and already started thinking about car trips and flights ahead of that schedule; wow was I wrong!!  Once I came home from surgery, I was blown away by the pain management issues and the mobility/flexibility limitations so after a few days I forgot all about "beating the timetable," and started trying to imagine how I would every be able to navigate a car, or an airport again.  While at that moment it seemed a distant aspiration, I dove into my PT regimen and really started feeling better and more myself after four or five weeks.  It was then, that I booked my first flight, ATL-PHX (atlanta to phoenix) and started working on really "pre-planning" the details of that trip.

Let me pause to say that I am so fortunate to have a trusted friend and work partner, Cathy, in my life now for over 22 years!  Cathy and I have worked closely together in numerous work situations, back when I was at Coke, when I was at Bolthouse Farms and most recently over the past four years with Levisay Consulting.  Wherever I am working/traveling, I try to start the day with a checkin with Cathy to get grounded on the issues and priorities at hand.  I am deeply appreciative for the past 22+ years and am looking forward to many more ahead!!  Back to the flight , ATL-PHX.

Cathy and I worked on the travel logistics together for that trip and I was obviously nervous and worried.  I was moving around without a "walker," but needed a cane for support at that moment and knew I wasn't going to be able to run or even walk very fast to make a flight.  In addition, my knee was VERY tender and any bumping or banging was going to be a disaster, so lots to consider when making arrangements.  Cathy worked on the travel logistics and got me into a large, exit row aisle seat (27D if I remember correctly) on the Delta 757 and the trip went without a major hitch!!

The reason for this story comes from my flight last week to LA where I sat in seat 27C of the same kind of airplane and had a fellow passenger coming down the center aisle of the plane completely banged into and jammed my right knee, my surgery knee!!  While painful and surprising, it wasn't devastating since I have had such a good recovery over the past three years.  While no big deal last week (I felt fine the next day actually,) it did make me wonder what would have happened if that had occurred on that ATL-PHX flight back in 2016!  It would have been devastating and a total mess and as I was imagining the pain (yow!!) I realized that it probably wouldn't have happened at all since I was in Seat 27D, not 27C on that historic flight.  Think about it, 27C is an exit row aisle seat with my right knee open to the aisle..... right in the action zone, where 27D is an exit row aisle seat where my right knee is protected from the center aisle and adjacent to the middle seat passenger.

This may all seem trivial and a bit technical, but it struck me last week how we ( probably totally Cathy!!) had really thought thorough the planning for that trip back in 2016 and insured that i not only got a exit row seat with a lot of room, but also one where my "weak knee" would be protected from the center aisle passenger traffic.  That was the lightbulb moment for me, "disciplined pre-planning" kept me safe on that trip ATL-PHX!  Really thinking though a situation allowed me to avoid the "bump" and the "jam" of the passengers in the center aisle that happens so frequently.  having a work partner like Cathy who really knew my challenges and issues at that moment allowed me to have a successful trip without accident or issue!

As you think about your future trips, or business plans, customer meetings, candidate interviews, board discussions, etc.,  take an extra second and ask yourself if you are looking hard enough at the situation at hand to determine the seat 27D (vs seat 27C) option that will allow you the most success at the challenge that lies ahead for you.  Take an extra moment to do the "disciplined pre-planning" and I am confident that you will benefit from the time and energy spent!

Contingency Planning: work the "backup to the backup" plan!

Over the course of the 175+ essays on this blog, I have often commented on the importance of executional excellence in achieving success in business.  I have been so focused on this idea that I have captured a subset of 48 essays (this will be #49) in my "topic archive" (found on the left side of this blog's homepage) that is themed "Performance Management and Execution."  Rather than being inspired by a current client challenge, or a historic business experience, today's essay was inspired by the birth of a friend's first child.

My good friend Cory and his wife Spenser celebrated the birth of their son Eliot in the past week or so and the pictures brought back all of my memories of the birth of our son Bryson almost 20 years ago.  We were living in Baltimore at the time and living on the northern edge of the city.  Jennie had a great relationship with a local doctor who was all set to deliver young Bryson.  We had attended all the "pre-natal" classes, and had not only practiced our route to GBMC (Greater Baltimore Medical Center), but had figured out a backup route in case of traffic.  I thought we were all set .... little did I know!

Jennie's pregnancy was going along well, but towards the third trimester (in mid June) it became clear that Bryson was positioned "transverse", and that unless something really changed we were probably heading to a planned c-section when he came to term in mid July.  After a regular appointment, Jennie's doctor let us know that she was heading out of town for a week or so on vacation, and introduced Jennie to her backup doctor "just in case."  All seemed set and we left that appointment thinking that we would probably see the doctor again in about a month for the planned c-section that was discussed .... again, little did I know!

Just a few days later (thank goodness I was in town!!) Jennie called my car phone (this was 1998, the early days of mobile phones) and said that her had water broken, that she was going into labor, and that I needed to get home immediately!!  I was right around the corner so I pulled into the driveway in just a few minutes and found Jennie VERY upset.  Not only was our doctor out of town on vacation, the backup doctor was nowhere to be found, and we were being connected with the "backup to the backup" doctor who practiced at a different hospital in a different part of Baltimore.  A total freakout! My wife was going into labor and were were heading to meet this "backup to the backup" doctor for the first time at a hospital that we had never visited (Mt. Sinai Hospital on Northern Parkway) ... to say the least this was not what was planned!

While a crazy ride, it all worked out ok in the end, Bryson was born the next day (an emergency c-section after all)  and mom and baby were both fine ... a bit freaked out but fine!  This memory stays with me as a reminder of how I had missed planning for the "backup to the backup" plan!  I should have taken contingency planning to the next level!

 Think how rarely we take the time or have the discipline to work a contingency plan in business, none the less take it to the "next level."  The next time that you are in planning/work session and you do some work on a "backup plan," take a few minutes and ask yourself "what if the backup plan blows up, what then??"  While it might be a freakout, ask yourself, how would I get to Mt. Sinai hospital ( or your "backup to the backup") if the chips are down?  These few minutes of work may seem like overkill, but I can assure you that in hindsight I wished I had asked some of those questions 20 years ago, and try to ask them now in business situations that I face today!

Present, Presence, & Prescient … The “Three P’s” that will help in every context!

I have been thinking about this essay for some time, and have continued to “bump” into examples of how these three concepts, the “ Three P’s” are too often NOT executed or even considered in personal and professional contexts at times with detrimental consequences!  Lets start this essay with a brief definition of each of the “Three P’s:”

“Present,” In a particular place, in attendance, here, there, nearby, available

“Presence,” The bearing, carriage, or air of a person, a noteworthy quality of poise and effectiveness.

“Prescience,” The foreknowledge of events, human anticipation of the course of events, foresight.

These three characteristics, especially in combination, can have a very effective impact in both personal and professional contexts, and equally impactful negatively when one or all three are absent.  Lets explore each idea individually then review the idea of bringing all three to bear in combination.

“Present,” this idea is probably the simplest of all three but maybe the one that is most often abused.  How many times have you been in a meeting, and while someone is speaking the rest of the room/audience is “multi-tasking” on their PC’s doing emails/social media/etc.  While everyone was in the same room “physically,” most of the attendees were not actually “present” in the meeting underway.  I was recently at a board meeting, a small and fairly intense setting with 6-7 board members seated around a table.  An hour or so into the 2017 financials review it became clear that one of the board members was actively doing something on his pc and at a key point of debate with the company’s CEO, pulled his head up and asked to “go back” so that he could “catch-up” with the discussion at hand. While we did just that the first time, the same situation occurred a few hours later and I suggested that the board member should “choose” which meeting he planned to be “present in, the one in the room or the one on his PC.  While a bit of a heavy hand on my part, we all refocused on the board meeting at hand and we all chose to be very “present” for the rest of the meeting!

“Presence,” This concept is more about “how” you show up in the moments or situations where you have decided to be “present.”  While I don't want to explicitly reference one’s “posture”, (another “P” that might be worth it’s own essay) this does refer to how one physically and intellectually “carries” them selves.  If you want to have an impact with a group in any context, one needs to pay attention, take notes, make eye contact, ask relevant questions, make appropriate connections, etc.  all actions that reinforce your “presence” in the moment.  It seems so simple but how many times have you seen the opposite?  Think about the times that you have been with someone who “says” that they really want to know your opinion on a topic, only to not completely pay attention, take no notes, ask no questions, etc.  While “present” in the moment, their “presence” contradicts their stated desire to listen and learn!

“Prescience,” this idea may be the most abstract of the “three P’s” but is a vital attribute of taking action to find success, either personally or professionally.  This concept is not one of “magic” or “fortune telling,” but how do you take in all of the facts/data/evidence if the moment and turn those experiences into an approach to anticipate the future.  I often find in my consulting work, if I really dig into the situation at hand, and connect it to the myriad of experiences from my past 30+ years of business experiences, I can often anticipate the challenges that my clients are facing not only today, but also in the coming months, quarters.  It’s never perfect, and while I am learning a ton in this new phase of my professional life, I often find a helpful insight or two as we look at the challenges ahead.

The combination of these three ideas, the “three P’s” is where the real magic happens; a recent airport experience brought the lack of all three to a dramatic point, and triggered me to write this essay!  At the Raleigh Durham Airport (RDU) there are escalators just past security that lead down to the gate level.   My gate last month just happened to be at the base of the escalators and I had a prime view to everyone coming down after gathering their luggage.  One young man, with a roller bag, backpack, and a belt strung around his neck, and carrying his cellphone started making his way to the top of the escalator.  Without paying much attention while he was texting/emailing on his phone, he stepped onto the escalator and all “heck” broke loose.  He quickly lost control of his roller bag that tumbled down the escalator, his belt flew off from around his neck as he grabbed for the roller bag.  He managed to hold onto his backpack only to drop his cellphone, which joined his roller bag at the bottom of the escalator, and he was only a third of the way down … absolute mayhem! 

The good news was no one was hurt and he was able to collect his bag and phone without knocking anyone over… I never did see any sign of the belt in all the confusion, but that “escalator incident” triggered me to write this essay.  That young man was absolutely NOT “Present” as he stepped onto the escalator, his mind, focus and headset were scattered and clearly not centered on successfully descending the escalator.  He had POOR “Presence”, not operating “with a poise of effectiveness”… far from it!  And finally he had limited or non-existent “Prescience,” not only not aware of his environment not able to have the “foresight” of the negative impacts of his actions.

Plan “the How” not just “ the What”

It may seem like a simple idea, but I have often been faced by the reality of great (or even just “good”) ideas failing in the marketplace because of a lack of implementation planning.   Too often most of the time is focused in the planning stages of a business on the “whats”; “what” has worked in the past, “what” is competition doing, “what” has been successful in a limited market or region, “what” do our customers need from us, “what are our ready-now innovation plans, etc.

 A litany of “whats” but very little time spent on the “hows.”

This came to life recently in a meeting that I had with a client in my consulting business.  We are working on a major brand/organization restructuring project and at a break I asked one of our client contacts about past “change initiatives” that have been executed by his company.  He described a few different examples of initiatives over the past few years, each of which had “gone off the rails” at one point or another.  I asked his opinion on why the initiatives had struggled, and quickly he responded that once they got 80% of the way to a conclusion, they “pulled the trigger” and moved on to the next issue/opportunity, not waiting to insure the first idea was executed fully and successfully.  That conversation reminded me of this dynamic of businesses and their leadership teams being so focused on the initiatives to deploy they forget the critical importance of executing those initiatives well…. Too focused on the “whats,” not the “hows.”

While the following is not an exhaustive list of ways to insure the “hows” are anticipated and planned for, these three ideas should be helpful in taking steps to insure that “the hows” get the right amount of focus:

Implementation Map

Before completing any project plan, ask the question to see the implementation plan or “map,” and if you are part of the project team, remember that no project is compete without one!  While not a hard and fast rule of thumb, if you haven’t spent at least 10-15% of your project planning time in building the implementation map, you have probably NOT given it the right amount of attention.  Insure that you map the steps required to “get the job done” with distinction.  Think of yourself as the general contractor on a building site, and push yourself to see what steps need to be taken to complete the project ahead of time, under budget, and at a very high level of quality!  No small task but if you don't take the time to ask yourself how to accomplish those outcomes, it is rare to accomplish them!

Competency Grid

Once the implementation map is drafted, start piecing together the “competency grid,” in other words the skills that are required to achieve success on this initiative.  If we want or need to rebuild a planning system, do we have the talent in-house to achieve that goal or do we need to go outside for the resources?  Don't get stuck on “how many” or “how much” you need (that is coming in the next phase), stay focused on the needed skills.  Working with a client recently who is in the middle of a major new product rollout, we realized that the organization didn't have any resources to call on or cover the targeted retail stores and check shelf placement and on-shelf pricing post rollout and have now scrambled to put that in place.   A better approach would have been to identify the competency required (in-store merchandiser coverage) as part of a “competency grid” and had that in place before the rollout.

Capacity Plan

Now we need to work on the “how many” and “how much” of the project plan.  Remembering the “implementation map” and the “competency grid,” now we need to actually analyze and build a model of the quantity of the capacities needed to fulfill or exceed the requirements of the “implementation map.”  This is so crucial in order to accurately build an implementation budget, so often either forgotten or only built at a surface level to fulfill project plan requirements.

As you dig into the work ahead, remember these three steps and most importantly remember to put your attention on the “hows” of your project/business, not just the “whats.”  As I have shared in earlier essays, “good” ideas executed brilliantly typically exceed the impact of “brilliant” ideas executed adequately…. Focus on the “hows!”

First ask “why” … then do it 5 times!

Its interesting how many times I see senior executives (and maybe a few consultants like yours truly) feel like they need to have the answers … all of the answers … and they always have to be right.  As crazy as that sounds, think about your own situations.  Consider how many times you have been in front of a senior exec, a board member, or a highly paid consultant and you DIDN’T expect them to have all the answers.  No leadership team or single executive, nor a board member or board, nor a consulting practice or a single consultant can or ever will have all the right answers.  It’s unrealistic and frankly not appropriate.  What is key is that we need to expect and require those same senior executives, board members, and consultants to ASK the right questions all the time and that process starts, and always starts by asking “why?”

While it may seem simple enough, we often start with the two “wrong” questions if we even start with questions versus misplaced proclamations.  Typically, we start with “who” … (“who’s in charge?”, “who’s responsible for these results,?” “who is working with whom to get this mess fixed?”, and the list goes on.) If we don’t start with the “who” questions, we often go straight to the “how much” set of questions …( “how much are we behind plan,?” how much did this budget variance cost?,” etc.)    I want us to consider that we all need to first start by asking “why”, trying to understand the core issue at hand before we do anything else.  “Why has this situation happened?” or “why is this problem continuing to recur?” or why do you feel we aren’t making progress against our goals?” are all three good places to start.  Using “why” questions is a good way for everyone, senior execs, board members and consultants in particular, to frame the issue at hand and to use the discipline of “questions” to work to gain common alignment on the problem that is trying to be solved.  A HUGE step forward in all strategic work is to define the problem you are trying to solve and to have a common understanding of the problem at hand.

First asking “why” is key and in my experience it is pretty rare especially at senior levels.  While I clearly think it's a “required” first step, it is rarely “sufficient” to do the job at hand … thus my encouragement to then “ask why” 5 times!  While there is no magic specifically in the number 5, there has been a lot of work done in this approach, focusing on the best approach to get at the “root cause” of any issue and the “ask why 5 times” is a fundamental element of that approach.  Pioneered by Toyota in the 1950’s, this discipline/technique has been applied broadly across industries, companies and functions and is one of those fundamental business skills worth NEVER forgetting.  I learned this approach in early training classes at

The Coca-Cola Company in the early 90’s and I still refer back to them today.  The image above is a simple tool that helps the process and I have filled quite a number of flip-charts over the years with these “fishbone diagrams.”  To understand more of the approach, it’s background, and application, take a look at the following link,  https://open.buffer.com/5-whys-process/

Regardless of the intensity of the moment or the risks at stake, work hard to try to start with a question and hopefully that question begins with “why.”  If you can frame the situation with a “why” question, then gather the team to do some “digging” and work your way to keep going, “ask why 5 times” to get underneath the veneer of the problem at hand and have a deeper understanding and deeper alignment on the root cause of the problem that needs fixing!