The Monday MOVE Idea
Each Monday until the launch of my upcoming book MOVE, I’ll be sharing an important idea from the book. This week: Leaders never have all the data.
Are you implementing your strategy or studying it?
I was working with a CEO and his executive team on their strategy when we came to an interesting point in the day about their business needing a game-changing initiative. They had three good choices.
But they didn’t make a choice. They chose “further study”.
“Why not decide right now?” I asked.
The team had entered this meeting wanting to get aligned on their strategy and come out with clear actions to implement it. Now they were going off for more study.
So, I asked,
What will you learn in 3 weeks that you don’t know today? How likely is it that the additional data you will learn will make you choose something different than you would choose today?”
Leaders never have all the data
So they decided. They picked one. Instead of leaving the meeting with a bunch of tasks to study three choices, right there in the meeting we worked on the action plan to get one of them started.
Think about how much time this team saved. Without a decision, multiple people would have left the room with a task to study for three weeks. That would have created a 3 week delay in their day job, AND a 3 week delay in starting work on the new strategy. Instead they chose to MOVE forward. They left with productive tasks to make actual progress.
You are allowed to decide!
Ask, “What will be materially different after more study?”
By all means, if there is knowable data, go find it. But if you’ve exhausted the knowable data, stop studying! Start moving something forward and learn as you go.
Pre-Order MOVE and win a 6 Hour 1-1 Coaching Program with Me
MOVE will be available February 28, but if you pre-order your copy now you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a 6 hour executive coaching program with me. There will be TWO winners!
Click to pre-order and enter.
I’m really excited to share the important ideas, and all the tools I put in my upcoming book MOVE to help you get your team (at any organizational level) to execute your strategy more decisively. Click to download a preview
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About Patty
Patty Azzarello is an executive, best-selling author, speaker and CEO/Business Advisor. She became the youngest general manager at HP at the age of 33, ran a billion dollar software business at 35 and became a CEO for the first time at 38 (all without turning into a self-centered, miserable jerk)
You can find Patty at www.AzzarelloGroup.com, follow her on twitter or facebook
