Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times

that you thought

have to become more strategic and focused and drop a lot of the extraneous stuff that weighs you down and becomes a distraction, all those obligations

The best way to learn is to teach. It’s a commonplace that the teacher learns far more than the student. If you really want to internalize the insights you’ve learned in this chapter, in the next day or so, find someone—a co-worker, a friend, a family member—and teach him or her those insights. Ask the provocative questions here or come up with your own.

In times of crisis, trust makes all the difference. Why is this so? What measurable difference does trust make?

“Widespread distrust in a society…imposes a kind of tax on all forms of economic activity, a tax that high-trust societies do not have to pay.” — Francis Fukuyama, Economist. Ask your partner what this quotation means. How is trust an economic issue?

What “Trust Taxes” do we pay because of widespread distrust?

What “Trust Dividends” come to people or organizations who are highly trusted?

What happens to speed and costs in a low-trust situation? What examples can you think of?

What happens to speed and costs in a high-trust situation? What examples can you think of?

Why is trust a question of processes and systems, and not just moral qualities?

Why is complete transparency so important to building trust? What is the opposite of transparency?

Why does trust depend on keeping commitments? What happens if you fail to deliver on your commitments?

Why is it important to trust others in order to be trusted?

Why do you need both good capabilities and good character to be trusted?

rust Action Plan

This planning tool will help you pinpoint the actions you need to take now to build trustworthiness.

Part 1: Where are you paying Trust Taxes that you could turn into Trust Dividends?

Rate your team’s systems and processes to determine where you need improvement:

Trust Taxes or earning Trust Dividends:

Teach to Learn
The best way to learn is to teach. It’s a commonplace that the teacher learns far more than the student. If you really want to internalize the insights you’ve learned in this chapter, in the next day or so, find someone—a co-worker, a friend, a family member—and teach him or her those insights. Ask the provocative questions here or come up with your own.
What generally makes the difference between the first and second teams in any competitive situation?
Why do some teams and organizations perform so predictably well year after year, regardless of the conditions?
Every organization works hard at developing a strategy. Why do so many good strategies fail?
Which is more important—a good strategy, or good execution? Why?
Is it better to have many goals, a few goals, or no goals at all? Why?
It’s one thing to have a goal—it’s another to know how to achieve it. How do you decide what to do to achieve a goal?
What’s the difference between a lag measure and a lead measure? Which measure do you watch more closely if you want to achieve a goal? Why?
Which is better—to let the team run with a goal without input from the leader, or to check progress regularly and frequently? Why?
Which is likely to have more impact on your success—a grand new strategy, or doing better the things you already know how to do? Why?
Why is there so much variation in performance across an organization? What would you do to reduce the variation and get better results?
If you were a leader, what would you do to help people move beyond the mindset of doing just what’s required toward a mindset of making a real contribution?

“Moving the Middle” Plan
This procedure will help you improve the performance of the middle performers in your team or organization.

Strategy Execution Plan
These questions will help you pinpoint the actions you need to take to ensure excellent execution of your strategy. Take time with each question. Pose the questions to your boss, your team, and your peers in the organization.

To “move the middle”—to move your performance “righter and tighter”—you’ll want to do two things:
Identify islands of excellence. Where in your organization are people already performing in exceptional ways? What can the “right and tight” ones teach the rest of the organization?
Ask the team how to improve performance. No one knows better than the team members what could be done better, faster, and at less cost.

In summary, to get to the point of excellent execution, a leader has four basic jobs to do:
Focus on the top goals.
Make sure everyone knows the specific job to be done to achieve these goals.
Keep score.
Set up a regular cycle of follow-through.