Key learning point:
A lofty aspiration (bhag/vision) without a management tool to turn it into concrete reality is only a dream.
Characteristics of an Effective Management Tool:
- Produces results without bureaucracy
- Delegates authority for the benefit of the enterprise
- Clearly identifies individual accountabilities
- Exposes and ejects mediocrity
- Is a process rather than an event
Developing an Effective Management Tool:
- Don’t just add, remove (develop a “stop doing” list)
- Create, don’t copy (results, not activity)
- Align rewards with objectives
- Mold to fit the organization
- Build an integrated management tool
Excerpts from: Turning Goals into Results: The Power of Catalytic Mechanism by Jim Collins, Harvard Business Review, July/August, 1999
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