The Challenge
Most strategic initiatives fail. Study after study has shown: Timelines slip, financial goals are unrealized, and synergies do not materialize. Yet organizations spend millions of hours, and tens of millions of dollars, trying to get it right.
Most organizations suffer from one or more of the following ailments:
- The vision, mission and values are posted widely, with little impact on day-to-day employee behavior.
- There is a general lack of enthusiasm, ownership and accountability for the overall strategy and vision of the organization.
- Executives, managers and employees identify primarily with their own group, division, function, business unit and geography in ways that are detrimental to the organization as a whole; silos and empires trump cohesiveness, alignment, unity and collaboration.
- Distrust, suspicion, politics and fear between levels of management and functional areas displace open, honest and productive communication.
- People debate issues and problems endlessly, but rarely succeed in implementing lasting improvements.
- No one owns accountability for solving problems and initiating solutions; excuses, finger-pointing and CYA are more prevalent than commitment and responsibility for generating outstanding results.
- Executives spend significant time and energy on strategic plans, only to go back to embedded habits and practices.
So, why do these dysfunctional, sub-optimal conditions exist in most organizations, despite the fact that everyone knows that they hinder productivity and morale? Why does no one seem to be effective at transforming them? Why do so many initiatives fail?
The missing ingredient is Commitment
Everyone says commitment is critical, and many believe they have it. But more often than not, what they call Commitment is really Compliance.
Commitment means that people are giving their all, challenging the status quo and operating as owners of the business, independent of position or title. Compliance, on the other hand, manifests as political correctness; people are going through the motions, doing only what is asked, and staying "under the radar."
Most leaders settle for compliance because they either can't tell the difference, underestimate the consequences, or simply because they don't know how to shift people from compliance to commitment.
