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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Execution Economy

A while back, Rob May (formerly the BusinessPundit), referenced this piece at Bubble Generation, on one of our favorite topics: execution.

The premise?

  • He's not saying that strategy doesn't matter.
  • He is simply pointing out that in the past, good strategic planning could separate the great companies from the weak ones, but that everyone has been doing it so long that strategic thinking is a skill most successful companies already possess.
  • That makes it difficult to say that your competitive advantage is a better strategy.

Rob's take:

"Creativity certainly helps, and definitely matters in the current economy, but my experience has been that poor execution is the single biggest downfall of most companies."

"It is just hard to get everyone to say what they mean, mean what they say, and do what they need to do. Speed of execution is more important, and distractions are more abundant, so as a result, execution is usually subpar."

Rob added: "I think lower barriers to entry, the commoditization of more things that once provided competitive advantage, and increased access to information are leading us into an execution economy where the winners will be the people that can get things done. I suspect that Michael Porter may be replaced by David Allen as the guru of the next decade."

BOTTOMLINE: Strategy is important (Porter), as is Execution/Getting Things Done (Allen). However, the Execution Revolution - the balance of both strategy AND execution (Harpst) - may be the most holistic approach to tie it all together.

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