Performance Principles

Working in and around best-in-class organizations like the U.S. Marine Corps, GE, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte, Ed assembled a list of critical performance principles that have worked well in practice. In addition, these performance principles closely define his professional philosophy and work.

  • Principle 1
  • Principle 2
  • Principle 3
  • Principle 4
  • Principle 5

Think…then Act

Execution gets a lot of attention these days, but the reality is, executing a poor strategy is of little value. What little is learned in the process comes at high price—lost time and money. Worse yet, the strategy must be redone or undone, wasting additional resources. The saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is appropriate in achieving business results. High-performance organizations think through problems—carefully and deliberately—before beginning execution, ensuring they choose the best course of action.

Use the Right Tools

There's no shortage of management tools available to the practicing manager. Management consultants Bain & Company profile the top 25 firms every year, and not surprisingly, their evidence shows that those with better management practices outperform less capable competitors. Unfortunately, a manager's lack of knowledge of what tools exist and how to use them properly shows up in similar evidence. Spend time learning about the right management tool—and then apply it. Your business performance will benefit from the results.

Execute Rapidly

Speed and tempo matter in competitive situations. Rapid-moving organizations capitalize on emerging opportunities and confound competitor responses. But too many organizations remain focused on their own inner workings and bureaucracies—even in the face of mounting competitive pressures. This dampens their responses, leaving them further behind. Best-in-class performers consistently move forward on a quest to sustain and maintain competitive advantage.

Maintain Focus

In a world of shrinking budgets and workforce downsizing, focus is more important than ever. While leaders readily acknowledge this, they are reluctant to scuttle their scores of critical programs to a number that their team can effectively complete. Worse still, their efforts to revamp practices—like strategic planning—end up adding initiatives to the to-do list, further spreading their limited resources over a widening range of projects. High-performing organizations focus on a handful of critical, strategic initiatives and aggressively work to complete them before the next.

Keep Learning

In the era of the knowledge workers and service-driven organizations, individual and group capabilities are the real source of lasting advantage. Regrettably, the training budget is the first to be reduced when budgets tighten up. Senior managers must not simply support—they must lead their team's efforts to increase their skills. Organizations that consistently demonstrate high performance make major investments in their people at all levels.

 

Align These Principles to Your Strategy

Have questions about customizing Ed's Five Performance Principles to your strategy? Call Ed at 508-400-1774 to find out how.