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 August 2012    |    www.senalosa.com
Hello!
Welcome to my August newsletter.   

This month I'm challenging you to examine the effectiveness of your Strategy Map by applying three simple, but critical tests. Before you create a Map you should, of course, have a compelling strategy. Please visit the Articles page at www.paulniven.com for my latest thinking on the 'new imperative of dual value propositions.' As always, please contact me if you have questions you'd like me to address in future tips, blog posts, or articles. 

 

I invite you to check out what's new at Senalosa.com and follow me on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
 

This Month's Tip: 
The Three Tests of an Effective Strategy Map
 

Research consistently demonstrates that many employees, even so-called knowledge workers, don't know where their organizations are headed or how they can contribute to overall results. Strategy Maps, one-page graphical representations of what you must do well in order to execute your strategy, act as a powerful antidote to this confusion by clearly describing and communicating strategic direction to your team and beyond. So important are Strategy Maps to the overall Scorecard process that co-creator Robert Kaplan has suggested the Strategy Map is every bit as important an innovation as the Scorecard itself. So once you've gathered your executive team and put in the intellectual sweat to create a Strategy Map for your organization, how do you know it will be effective? Here are three tests you can apply right away to judge the efficacy of your Map:

 

(1) Balance - The Strategy Map is an integral part of the overall Balanced Scorecard process and thus we would expect a roughly equal mix of objectives across the four perspectives of the model. If you're preaching teamwork, quality, and responsiveness to customers, yet your Map is overwhelmingly dominated by Financial objectives, you're not adhering to the principles of balance. Despite your calls to the contrary, what you'll ultimately communicate in that situation is that the bottom line is all that really matters.

 

(2) Story - The objectives appearing on your Map should weave together through the perspectives to tell your strategic story. This is accomplished through cause-and-effect linkages among the objectives, demonstrating how they work together to produce strategic results. A compelling story is told when we see how investments in intangibles (Learning & Growth perspective) yield improvements in key processes, which drive customer buying decisions, ultimately resulting in improved financial results.

 

(3) Realistic Objectives - Developing objectives for a Strategy Map is challenging, but rewarding work and it's not uncommon for over-zealous Map builders, often with the best intentions in mind, to get a bit carried away in their ambitions and populate the Map with objectives that are unfocused, could take years to complete, or both. A case in point is the seemingly valid objective of "Re-engineering all processes." Even the smallest organization could have dozens of key processes and critically examining each one is simply not feasible in the timeframe of the Map. A more beneficial approach would be to choose one crucial process and re-engineer it during the next twelve months.

 

Constructed properly, the Strategy Map can be a transformational tool in your execution efforts. To ensure you're getting the most from your investment, gauge your Map using the criteria above.

 

Paul's Bookshelf

  

Here are two books I recently read and recommend:

 

The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals 

by  Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, 

and Jim Huling 

Free Press, 2012

 

Early in this fast-paced and practical book the authors cite research very similar to what I laid out at the beginning of this month's tip: the vast majority of employees aren't aware of their organization's goals and aren't held accountable for success on those goals. They pin a good portion of the blame for this lamentable state on what they term 'the whirlwind,' that is, the energy necessary just to keep the operation going on a day-to-day basis. To overcome the vortex of the whirlwind and execute strategy, a four-step process is outlined: Develop a wildly important goal (WIG), create leading measures that will help you achieve the WIG, build a compelling Scoreboard, and create a cadence of accountability through regular meetings (WIG sessions). Much of their work is consistent with the Balanced Scorecard and while reading I found myself nodding in recognition as the authors detailed some of the challenges organizations face in implementing this seemingly simple program. If your team lacks the ability to focus on a vital goal, the methods described here may help you get un-stuck and back on the path to execution.  

 

Einstein: His Life and Universe
by Walter Isaacson 
Simon & Schuster, 2007

 

If you stroll around your building for just a few minutes, peeking into the offices
and cubicles of co-workers, I'm willing to bet you'll find at least one (but probably more) references to Albert Einstein. Scientist, iconoclast, and cultural icon, Einstein's sage words and artfully disheveled image can be found everywhere from college campus walls to virtually any PowerPoint presentation. Given his widespread influence it's only appropriate we know more about the man behind the considerable legend. Isaacson, in this comprehensive and stirring volume, provides a rich portrait of Einstein in all facets of his life and work: scholarship, capitalism, and geopolitical relations to name just a few. You're sure to find many new quotes to sprinkle in your next presentation as well as discovering the essence of Einstein's humanity.
That's it for this month. Please stay in touch!   

Paul R. Niven, President
The Senalosa Group  *  www.senalosa.com