Managing More People - With Fewer Managers

"Since the 1930s, business researchers have maintained that bosses optimally should manage about seven to 10 people."

Today's Wall Street Journal, however, included an article "Overseeing More Employees With Fewer Managers" (subscription required) in which it showcases the trend of companies to reconsider the maximum team size.

Most notable, "researchers in Europe suggest that a manager can oversee 30 or more employees, in part, by using technology to communicate and help monitor work."

BOTTOMLINE: By giving frontline workers more responsibility, you need fewer bosses. The research above suggests that technology can help address the challenge.

The Six Disciplines strategy execution program includes a technology component, which we refer to as an execution system. This breakthrough system is optimized to:

• Automate a repeatable business-building methodology
• Address time management
• Enable real-time activity alignment
• Support weekly progress reviews
• Encourage total organizational engagement
• Measure and monitor strategy execution progress for each individual and team

The Six Disciplines execution system directly supports the ability to have fewer managers by "using technology to communicate and help monitor work."

Six Disciplines Becomes Corporate Sponsor of American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE)

Six Disciplines Becomes Corporate Sponsor of American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE)

Six Disciplines Named Titanium Sponsor of 2008 ACCE Convention in Pittsburgh

FINDLAY, Ohio, March 24, 2008 —Six Disciplines, the first complete strategy and execution program for small and midsize businesses, announced today that it has become a corporate sponsor of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). The Six Disciplines program is designed to help small and midsize businesses improve their ability to balance strategy and execution and to accelerate and sustain business excellence.

With the agreement, Six Disciplines plans to become a primary resource for local chambers interested in offering their respective memberships access to tangible and accountable methods to create a strategy and continually execute on it through all levels of an organization. Rooted in research and testing, Six Disciplines executives have a deep background as small-business owners and partners to thousands of rapidly-expanding businesses, a process that has produced a wealth of data about what keeps businesses from achieving business excellence.

“The ACCE and its members are the premier national organization focused on strengthening business in America,” said Gary Harpst, founder and CEO of Six Disciplines. “In this era of global competitiveness, it’s vital for the U.S. to accelerate the development of new and better ways of doing business. This is especially true in small and midsized organizations, which are the lifeblood of our economy. Six Disciplines is proud to be a corporate sponsor of ACCE because our goal of revolutionizing business performance aligns with the mission of chambers perfectly.”

“ACCE is delighted to welcome Six Disciplines not only as a corporate sponsor, but also as the lead sponsor of our annual convention taking place this summer in Pittsburgh,” said Mick Fleming, ACCE president. “We look forward to introducing our chamber members to this award-winning company and their business excellence program.”

Six Disciplines also is the titanium sponsor of the ACCE National Convention. The agreement provides for exposure of Six Disciplines through advertisements in the ACCE’s industry magazine, Chamber Executive, as well as via the organization’s Web site and e-newsletters.

The annual ACCE Convention, to be held in Pittsburgh July 30-Aug. 2, will host more than 1,000 Chamber CEOs, CFOs and management staff to keep pace with the latest issues affecting businesses and their communities. Harpst will speak at the ACCE Convention, with a presentation titled “Solving The One Chamber Problem That Makes Solving All Other Problems Easier.”

About American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE)
Established in 1914, ACCE serves the professional development needs of chamber executives throughout the United States and Canada. Representing more than 7,000 individuals, ACCE enhances the knowledge, leadership skills, and management effectiveness of chamber executives and their staff through education, benefits programs, trend analysis, benchmarking, and network development. ACCE supports and develops chamber professionals to lead businesses and their communities. Visit http://www.acce.org/.

About Six Disciplines
Six Disciplines, founded in 2000, has developed the first complete strategy execution program, specifically for small- and midsized businesses. The Six Disciplines program integrates a repeatable methodology to drive organizational learning, ongoing external coaching to ensure accountability, an execution software system to align daily activities of every stakeholder, and community learning to accelerate and sustain business excellence. The program is offered exclusively through a growing national network of locally-owned Six Disciplines Centers. Businesses that have implemented the Six Disciplines program include those from the Inc. 500, ISO-9000 certified companies, and a 2007 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award recipient. Visit http://www.sixdisciplines.com/.

Jump-Start Your Plan of Strategy

Eric Kurjan, president of Six Disciplines Northwest Ohio, brings us this article called "Jump-Start Your Plan of Strategy," as published in the Toledo Free Press.

An excerpt of the article:

Clearly, it takes more than an annual meeting to lead a company toward its goals. A 2007 survey by the American Management Association found only 3% of executives said their companies are successful at executing strategy. Over 60% admitted only moderate success - or worse - at strategy execution.

For small and mid-sized organizations, executing strategy is hindered by three primary challenges:

1. Economics. While larger businesses can invest significantly in resources like consultants, coaching, systems and software, small and mid-sized businesses cannot afford these investments.

2. Expertise. Larger enterprises have experts in disciplines like strategic planning, performance management, business intelligence, and balanced scorecards. Small and mid-sized businesses don't have access to this wide array of expertise.

3. Human Factors. All businesses have the same fundamental challenge: they're run by people. We know the right things to do, but we don't always do them. Organizational behavior, attitudes, motivation, habits and resistance to change are just some of the factors that contribute to poor execution.

Read the entire article here.

Balancing Strategy and Execution

Excellence is the enduring pursuit of balanced strategy and execution.

Strategy requires choosing what promises to make to all stakeholders and a roadmap for delivering on those promises.

Execution requires getting there, while overcoming unending surprises.

Of the two, execution is far more difficult to achieve, but is fruitless without solid strategy.

Learning how to balance these two is the key to excellence, and excellence is a journey that never ends. It’s an enduring pursuit that requires an enduring approach.

Somehow on this journey we often lose sight of what the real problem is. And surprisingly, it’s not what most business leaders think it is.

Most describe their biggest challenge as the issue(s) they’re facing right now (growth, control, communication, productivity, generational transition, hiring, competitors, and many others.)

Whatever issues an organization faces today, they will be different and bigger tomorrow.

Planning and executing, while at the same time, managing the unknowns of the real world, is the biggest challenge in business. Overcoming this challenge is what we mean by solving the problem that will make solving all other problems easier.

It builds an organization that is preparing for an ever increasing set of future challenges that are the natural result of overcoming today’s challenges.

Given the pace and unpredictability of the business world, we leaders often feel there’s not much that we do control. This book, however, describes the first complete program for a business to take control of the one thing it can, so that it is better equipped to deal with all the things it can’t. It’s my hope that the real-world experience of our team, the investment that’s been made, and the completeness of the program will help you realize this isn’t just another book. It’s the beginning of a revolution – an Execution Revolution.


(Excerpted from EXECUTION REVOLUTION: Solving The One Business Problem That Makes Solving All Other Problems Easier, by Gary Harpst)

The Impact of Balanced Scorecards

The balanced scorecard, which is used extensively in business and industry, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide, was originated by Harvard professors Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton as a performance measurement framework that added strategic non-financial performance measures to traditional financial metrics to give executives a more ‘balanced’ view of organizational performance.

According to recent survey of more than 1,000 organizations:

• 80 percent of the organizations that regularly use the balanced scorecard (BSC) reported improvements in operating performance.
• 66 percent of them also reported an increase in profits.
• 61 percent, a significant majority, reported improvements in bottom-line financial results.

“Employing the balanced scorecard leads to new business processes that can be used to link long-term strategies to short-term decisions,” concluded Dr. David Norton, the founder and president of Renaissance Solutions, a global consulting organization. “But in order to implement the balanced scorecard successfully, a business unit must effectively communicate the organization’s strategies for increasing shareholder value to all employees. That helps to get everyone behind the overall strategy.”

Engagement Powered By Strengths

In an interview about the book StrengthsFinder 2.0 for the Gallup Management Journal, Tom Rath discussed the strong link between a leader’s focus and employee engagement.

The three powerful conclusions from Gallup’s research on conversation, engagement, and strengths:

1. If your manager primarily ignores you, your chances of being actively disengaged are 40%
2. If your manager focuses on your weaknesses, your chances of being actively disengaged are 22%
3. If you manager focuses on your strengths your chances of being actively disengaged are only 1%

BOTTOMLINE: "How could we not be talking to each other, all the time, about our strengths?"


(Thanks to David Zinger, and his great passion and work over at The Employee Engagement Network!)

Gary Harpst Interviewed On WRAL.com

Gary Harpst, CEO founder of Six Disciplines and author of the soon-to-be-published book "Execution Revolution," says execs must balance day-to-day tasks along with planning and execution.

Here is Gary Harpst, being interviewed on Tech Talk: What's Biggest Problem Facing Execs Today? on WRAL Local TechWire.com in Raleigh, NC.

Overcoming The Obstacles To Effective Execution

Formulating strategy is a difficult task. Making strategy work—executing or implementing it throughout the organization—is even more difficult.

Ivey Business Journal has published an article entitled "Making Strategy Work: Overcoming The Obstacles To Effective Execution" featuring Lawrence Hrebiniak, professor in the Strategy Group, Department of Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Hrebiniak's latest work on execution is a book by the same name (Making Strategy Work Wharton School Publishing, 2005.)

Six Disciplines Featured in The Toledo Blade

Eric Kurjan, president of Six Disciplines Northwest Ohio, is shown coaching clients and is featured in the Toledo Blade article "Findlay firm offers ways to improve businesses" written by business reporter Ted Fackler.

In the article, Kurjan and Six Disciplines founder and CEO Gary Harpst talk about what makes Six Disciplines different:

• The Six Disciplines program advocates action for company strategy, planning, organizing people and processes, execution management, innovation, and organizational learning. It's based on years of field testing and a $20 million investment.
• "The biggest difference between us and other [management services] is that we're execution focused," explained Mr. Harpst. "It's easy to produce a plan. It's not easy to implement it."
• The typical Six Disciplines fee is less than that of a client's single employee pay, and is available long term.
• Within 10 years, Mr. Harpst said, his company will have annual revenues of $250 million to $350 million, employ nearly 700 workers, and be in 70 cities.

Employee Reward Programs of The Most Admired Companies

Hay Group, a global management consulting firm, and FORTUNE magazine, recently released the eleventh annual rankings of The World’s Most Admired Companies list and America’s Most Admired Companies list, prepared in collaboration with FORTUNE.

Hay Group also conducts supplemental research each year to identify business practices that distinguish companies on the lists from all others. This year’s analysis focused on how these companies manage their employee reward programs, and found that they do a much better job of leveraging their reward investments than their peers.

Some of the research findings include:

• 79% regularly provide employees with total reward statements, versus 53% of peer group respondents
• 82% regularly reinforce the company’s reward philosophy in communications with employees, while only 64% of peer companies do the same
• 74% state that their employees understand and appreciate that rewards consist of both tangible and intangible components, compared with 61% of their peers
• 41% say that line managers in their organization create a positive work climate, whereas only 21% of peer companies respond similarly
• 28% state that line managers utilize financial and non-financial recognition programs, compared with 16% of peer companies
• 41% believe that their reward program is internally fair, while only 27% of their peers believe the same
• 48% report that their reward programs support efforts to retain their best talent, versus 28% of their peers
• 45% say that their reward program allows them to attract the talent they need, compared with 25% of their peers

BOTTOMLINE: Companies that make these lists haven’t stumbled on a silver bullet for making employee reward programs work more effectively. They are simply able to execute more successfully on a number of basic HR best practices, and tend to have a cultural understanding and recognition of the value brought to their organizations,” said Hay Group Insight Senior Consultant Mark Royal. “Implementation (execution) is really the primary differentiator between employee reward programs at companies on America’s Most Admired Companies list and their peers – communication, aligning reward programs with business priorities and operationalizing the pay for performance relationship.”

Six Disciplines: A Program For Balanced Strategy Execution During Economic Uncertainty

Six Disciplines Provides Growing Businesses with a Balanced Program for Strategy Execution During Any Economic Environment

New Clients and Continued Market Acceptance Increase Momentum in 2008

FINDLAY, Ohio, Feb. 25, 2008 —Six Disciplines announced today that momentum continues to build nationwide for its breakthrough strategy execution program, evidenced by enrolling new clients from the healthcare, manufacturing and furniture industries. The Six Disciplines program, delivered by a growing network of local centers, consists of a repeatable business-building methodology, local accountability coaching, an execution software system to ensure individual and team activity alignment, and the economic advantages of accelerated community learning.

Based on years of field testing, 100 man-years of research and development and a $20 million investment, the Six Disciplines program provides organizations with a holistic approach toward strategy, planning, organizing people and processes, execution management, innovation and organizational learning.

“What most business leaders think is their greatest challenge really isn’t. There is one business problem that, if solved, makes solving all other problems easier,” said Gary Harpst, founder and CEO of Six Disciplines. “Knowing how to plan and execute, while overcoming today’s surprises is the most foundational capability any organization can have. We show our clients how to balance strategy and execution, a key competitive advantage--particularly during times of economic uncertainty.”

Six Disciplines nationwide has seen continued success through the acquisition of new clients, increased staffing hires based on market demand and secured speaking engagements to small and midsized business executives. Leading center initiatives across the country include:

• Six Disciplines North Carolina (Raleigh; Research Triangle Park): Managing partner, Craig Landwehr, recently completed the first year of Six Disciplines program implementation with the global IT organization of Research Triangle Park-based Family Health International, a non-profit organization focused on improving lives around the world through public health research, education, and services. The center has also begun working with several other regional non-profit organizations including Planned Parenthood of Central NC and the Triangle YMCA. Landwehr will be conducting a monthly series of Executive Briefings focused on “Getting the Right Things Done: A Leader’s Guide to Strategy, Planning, and Execution.”
• Six Disciplines Central Indiana (Indianapolis): General Manager John Boomershine recently formalized a client relationship with ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Inc., an Indianapolis-based provider-owned health plan offering healthcare benefits and solutions to employer groups of all sizes. Additionally, the center recently held executive briefings with 29 local organizations to discuss goal setting for not-for-profits. To support their growing client base, the center hired two new executive coaches, Marianne McLean and Jennifer LeMieux. McLean is responsible for offering strategic advisory services to clients in pursuit of continual business improvement process; she was a founding partner at Advanced Interface Solutions, Inc., previously. LeMieux, an employee of Six Disciplines Central Indiana since 2006, will aid clients in successfully adopting the Six Disciplines program. She will also continue to support the center’s ongoing marketing initiatives.
• Six Disciplines Tampa: President Sean Burke will speak at the St. Petersburg College Business Solutions Showcase on Feb. 29. The center also recently launched a six-part “Business Excellence” podcast series on strategic planning. The series can be found at http://www.ceo-podcast.com/.
• Six Disciplines Ohio: President Eric Kurjan recently formalized relationships in Jan. with Waterville, Ohio-based BioFit, an industry-leading manufacturer of ergonomic seating, tables, and stools; and Total Fleet Solutions, a Toledo, Ohio-based one-stop shop for material handling equipment needs of Fortune 1000 corporations. Additionally, the center has added Jeff Sprague as a coach to support their overall regional growth. Sprague is responsible for offering enduring strategic advising services to organizations that adopt the Six Disciplines methodology. Senior Client Coach Scott Gray will present to entrepreneurs and business owners at both the University of Toledo Center for Family Business and the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce in March, April and May. The center also recently established a partnership with the Ohio Manufacturer’s Association and will be presenting a seminar to members in April.
• Six Disciplines Atlanta: On Jan. 1 a new center office was established at 1755 North Brown Rd. in Lawrenceville, Ga. On Feb. 4 President Riz Shakir was a guest lecturer at the J Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, where he spoke to more than 30 students taking the school’s “Managing the Family Business” class. Of those participating, the majority are part of families that own small or midsized businesses. His presentation, “Ownership of an Enterprise Built to Last,” addressed the importance of strategic planning.

Six Disciplines Books Gain Awareness

Based on recent media exposure, momentum also continues to build for the top-rated handbook Six Disciplines for Excellence, authored by Six Disciplines founder and CEO Gary Harpst. Six Disciplines for Excellence received the 2007 USA Book News Best Books finalist award, and was rated the No. 1 business book for 2007 by The Center for Workplace Excellence. Six Disciplines for Excellence is also consistently ranked in the top ten books of the Organizational Learning category on Amazon.

As a follow-up to the success of Six Disciplines for Excellence, Harpst has finished a new book, Execution Revolution: Solving The One Problem That Makes Solving All Other Problems Easier, which is scheduled to be published in April 2008. In Execution Revolution, Harpst details the elements of a complete strategy execution program, explains why it could only have happened now, and clarifies why such a program will become a mainstream requirement for successful small and midsized businesses.

About Six Disciplines

Six Disciplines Corporation, founded in 2000, has developed the first complete strategy execution program, specifically for small and midsized businesses. The Six Disciplines program integrates a repeatable methodology to drive organizational learning, ongoing external coaching to ensure accountability, an execution software system to align daily activities of every stakeholder, and community learning to accelerate and sustain business excellence. The program is offered exclusively through a growing national network of locally-owned Six Disciplines Centers. Businesses that have implemented the Six Disciplines program include those from the Inc. 500, ISO-9000 certified companies, and a 2007 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award recipient. Visit http://www.sixdisciplines.com/.

Six Disciplines Showcased In Findlay Courier

Six Disciplines was showcased in the Findlay Courier's 2008 Progress Report, "Six Disciplines: Findlay company showing others how to meet goals - Helps businesses define where they want to go, build and execute strategy."

Six Disciplines Northwest Ohio president Eric Kurjan (pictured above) highlights the variety of growing companies that are Six Disciplines clients.


View the PDF of the article here.

Advance Review of Gary Harpst's Execution Revolution

Anita Campbell, the editor and trend watcher over at Small Business Trends has just posted her advance review of "Execution Revolution: Solving The One Problem That Makes Solving All Other Problems Easier" authored by Six Disciplines founder and CEO, Gary Harpst.

According to Anita:

"This is not a “how to start a business” book. Execution Revolution is designed for businesses that have been in business at least a few years and made traction already. If you’re purely a startup, say 6 months old, you may find parts of the book helpful, but you won’t be able to put all the lessons into practice. That’s because your business is too new; you’re still figuring out how to get enough customers just to survive.

It’s also not a book for businesses in dire trouble. For that you need turn-around help.

However, if you’ve been in business a few years, gotten your small to midsize business to a steady-state level of success, and are itching to get to the next level, this is the book you need. You will want to read Execution Revolution."

Read the entire review here!

Keeping Yourself Accountable

Finding it tough to keep yourself on track?

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has posted a great article on "Keeping Yourself Accountable."

"There will be times in which it will be impossible for you to do something you said you wanted to do in the initial time you allotted. Business conditions change, emergencies crop up and unexpected challenges will likely cause some goals to be put on hold. But if you are constantly making plans only to leave them halfway completed or not started at all, consider the following suggestions for taking yourself a little more seriously:

1. Write goals down.
2. Use deadlines.
3. Employ the buddy system.
4. Hire a coach.
5. Offer rewards or punishments.

Read the entire article here.

Six Disciplines Client Video - Deborah Wood Associates

Watch this short video "The Road to EXCELLENCE : Deborah Wood Associates - Part One" which showcases how this high growth company decided to enroll in the Six Disciplines strategy execution program.

Strategy, Execution and Organizational Alignment

One of the toughest challenges that a CEO faces is connecting their strategy to execution. It's considered to be the major reason why CEOs fail.

The strategy execution process looks like this:

• Clear strategic planning - mission, vision, values, strategic position
• Crisp 1 year goal setting - financial, customer, production, people goals and measures
• Align resources - processes, policies, measures, technology, people
• Individual plans to execute against the goals - prioritized daily, status updated weekly
• Continual measurement of progress

The strategic planning process begins with an annual strategic planning process that involves reviewing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), as well as internal and external trends. This information helps to update or renew the mission, vision, values and strategic position of the company.

Next, the organization's VFOs (Vital Few Objectives) are decided upon in the 1 year goal setting process. Priorities for each quarter are identified, along with responsibilities assigned and measures established. These VFOs are decomposed into key Initiatives and Projects. Individual Plans for each team member are created that tie directly to these Initiatives and Projects. Each team member is accountable for their quarterly plan, which assures alignment with corporate goals.

Quarterly planning sessions are held to assess held to assess how well the organization has accomplished their priorities. Short monthly team meetings help to stay aligned and to make adjustments early enough to ensure progress. Brief weekly individual status meetings are held to keep progress on track. Any "at risk" items are flagged and addressed immediately.

The combination of all of these activities contribute to organizational alignment. The key driver of organizational alignment is a organizational "fitness." By fitness, we're referring to an organization's ability to be both efficient (doing things right) - and effective (doing the right things). By building accountability within an organization, continual alignment and organizational fitness occurs.

BOTTOMLINE: A clear strategy can only be of value when it is translated into crisp goals, and when a organization's resources are continually aligned toward execution.

Barriers To Goal Setting and Execution

The good folks over at TEC have a very deep and rich set of best practices for a variety of management concerns.

In particular, is their extensive list of suggestions on Goal Setting.

Listed here are 10 Barriers to setting - and executing organizational goals:

1. Lack of clear-cut responsibilities around the goals
2. Lack of a tracking system
3. Lack of an accountability system
4. Lack of commitment
5. Lack of buy-in from people who are expected to fulfill the goals
6. Ineffective communication
7. Lack of time or resources
8. Too many goals are financially driven
9. Focusing on too many or too few goals
10. Goals aren't tied to a longer-term vision

BOTTOMLINE: Get agreement on the appropriate goals for your organization. Write them down. Keep them close by. Get buy in and alignment from those executing the goals. Make them realistic and attainable. See Discipline II - Set Goals That Lead from Six Disciplines for Excellence.

What Keeps CEOs Awake At Night - Part IV

In our continuing research comes this recent indication that the fear of recession tops the list of worries that keep CEOs awake at night.

PriceWaterhouse Coopers's 11th annual Global CEO Survey (as reported in Management-Issues) has revealed the first fall in CEO confidence for the year ahead since 2003, with the spectre of a U.S. slump overshadowing over-regulation as the number one risk to their business for the first time in the survey's history.

• Terrorism and the threat of pandemic, once major CEO concerns, were cited by only 31 percent and 28 percent of respondents, respectively. Other risks to growth such as energy supply, global climate change, and terrorism also declined as business threats.
• The survey also underlined the fact that the war for talent is continuing to rage, with more than two-thirds of all CEOs –85 percent in North America – saying that their time was best spent dealing with people issues.

BOTTOMLINE: Notice These are all externally-focused issues. While important, it's more critical to focus on issues you can have a direct influence upon, which are internally-focused. According to the survey's administrators, "Regardless of the other issues swirling around them, CEOs clearly understand that having people with the right balance of commercial, technical and management skills is the key to success in their organization."

Gary Harpst Interviewed on Indie Business Radio

Founder and CEO of Six Disciplines Corporation, Gary Harpst, was recently interviewed on The Indie Business Radio.

On the showentitled "The Six Disciplines of 21st Century Business Leadership," Gary shares his Six Disciplines Methodology that every business can use to improve business and achieving long term success.

You can download or stream the audio of the interview here.

LA Times Features Advice from Gary Harpst

Karen Klein, of the Los Angeles Times, published a short Q&A article featuring entrepreneurship advice from Six Disciplines founder and CEO, Gary Harpst.


Learn volumes on opening a store

Dear Karen: I'm considering opening a store. What books should I read?

Answer: Becoming a business owner requires a personal evaluation. To help see if you're suited for entrepreneurship, author Gary Harpst suggested "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and "StrengthsFinder 2.0" by Tom Rath.

"These books will objectively identify whether starting a business is aligned with your personal and professional strengths," said Harpst, chief executive of Six Disciplines Corp.

If you decide to go forward in business, he recommended Guy Kawasaki's "The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything" and Michael Gerber's "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It."

After the company opens, Harpst said, his own book, "Six Disciplines for Excellence, Building Small Businesses That Learn, Lead and Last," provides small-business owners with advice on planning and executing strategy in a simple, effective way.

Execution Revolution: Another "Must Read" from Gary Harpst

According to Dan Bobinski, CEO and Director of The Center for Workplace Excellence:

"Never have I heard it explained so well. This one’s going to be a “must read.”

That was Dan's summary reaction to an early read of Gary Harpst's new book, "Execution Revolution: Solving The One Problem That Makes All Others Easier."

In his review, Dan begins:

"Longtime readers know that I’m a fan of Gary Harpst’s work. His Six Disciplines for Excellence book made the top of my recommended reading list for 2007, and his Six Disciplines company is helping companies do what they NEED to do to achieve excellence.

So I was pretty tickled when the Six Disciplines company asked me to give some feedback on an advance copy of Gary’s next book, Execution Evolution."

Intrigued?

Read the entire review here.

Gary Harpst Interviewed On BusinessWeek Podcast

Gary Harpst, CEO and founder of Six Disciplines, and author of the highly-rated business improvement book Six Disciplines for Excellence, was recently interviewed by Karen E. Klein, as part of the BusinessWeek Smart Answers program.

Listen to the podcast interview with Harpst as he discusses "The Six Disciplines Approach" to planning and executing strategy.

Listen to this MP3 episode (requires QuickTime 7 or iTunes)

Strategy and Execution- The Balancing Act

Strategy execution has always been one of the most difficult challenges in business. Yet it's the appropriate balance between strategy and execution that's the toughest part of the equation.

Let's take a look at both elements:

Creating strategy requires making intelligent choices and tradeoffs. Yet, the effort involved formulating strategy is miniscule compared to executing it successfully. It's much easier to create a strategic plan than to it is to actually do it.

So, in other words, while both are important, (but not equally important) what is needed is an appropriate balance between strategy and execution. The emphasis needs to be placed on the tougher of the two: execution.

There is one problem ,that if solved, will make solving all other problems easier. Our contention is that planning and executing, and at the same time, dealing with the unknowns of the real-world, is the biggest problem in business.

Overcoming it is what we mean by solving the one problem that will make all other problems easier. Failing to solve it destines your organization to a reactive, fire-fighting future.

Six Disciplines is the first complete strategy execution program for a business to take control of the one thing it can, so that it is better equipped to deal with all the things it can’t.

Six Disciplines Atlanta Featured in Gwinnett Business Journal

Riz Shakir, president of Six Disciplines Atlanta, was recently showcased in the Gwinnett Business Journal, in an article entitled "Smoothing The Curve."

Gary Harpst Interviewed on On-The-Money Radio

In this recent radio interview, On The Money host, Steve Pomeranz, chats with Six Disciplines founder and CEO Gary Harpst about what it takes for businesses to make and keep their New Year Resolutions.

(On The Money is a southern Florida radio station, affiliated with NPR Radio. )

Click here to download the MP3 of the interview.

The Importance of Succession Planning

Successful organizations understand that succession planning is both an art and a science.

All too often, organizations react to the succession challenge too late. They wait for someone to step down or even worse, be removed. Then, and only then, do they consider who or what should happen next?

Why?

Succession planning needs to be part of every organization's strategy plan, reviewed annally and updated quarterly. And remember: succession planning is NOT just for the CEO! It's for every major contributor in your organization!

BOTTOMLINE: It is becoming increasingly more important that your leadership team develops a comprehensive perspective of the challenges and disciplines they are responsible for. Get out of reactionary mode - incorporate succession planning into your annual strategic plan.

Strategic Plans and Business Plans - Not The Same

What kind of plan does your organization need--a strategic plan or a business plan?

The easy answer is that you need both. But... you may need one more than the other.

Hank Harris with FMI, offers these differences between strategic plans and business plans:

• A strategic plan sets the direction for the firm in the mid- to long-term future. It spells out the company's mission statement, primary goals, and measurable objectives, and explains the basic strategies for fulfilling the mission and achieving the goals.
• The purpose of the business plan is to define the steps necessary to achieve the short- or mid-term objectives. The business plan aims to improve the effectiveness of the organization without significantly changing its direction.

BOTTOMLINE: "The value of strategic planning lies in the process. Engaging team leaders - and eventually team members - is essential to the success of a strategic planning effort. Different viewpoints on directions, goals, and strategies will emerge, but they can lead to creative solutions. Alignment begins to occur as a consensus is reached on vision, values, mission, goals, strategies, and objectives.

Six Disciplines Client Video - Sun State International Trucks

Watch this five minute video about Sun State International Trucks, which engaged with Six Disciplines Tampa.

In this video, Oscar Horton, President of Sun State International Trucks, talks about his company and how the Six Disciplines Program has impacted his business.

Innovation and Execution

A recent McKinsey study offers the following findings on the importance of innovation:

• Innovation has become a primary force driving the growth, performance, and valuation of companies - however, there is a wide gap between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute.
• Many companies make the mistake of trying to spur innovation by turning to unreliable best practices and to organizational structures and processes, however, executives who focus on stimulating and supporting innovation by their employees can promote and sustain it with the current talent and resources—and more effectively than they could by using other incentives.

BOTTOMLINE: "Three approaches can help executives mount innovation efforts.

1. First, senior management should actively support behavior that promotes innovation.
2. Second, network analysis can identify where the capacity for innovation already exists within an organization and help it build more innovative networks.
3. Finally, executives should seed innovative thinking by focusing on selected managers and projects."

Work-Life Balance in 2008

Despite the bleaker economic outlook leading to fears of less job security this year, U.S. workers want to be able to spend less time chained to their desks and more with their families and friends.

According to an article (reported in Management-Issues) two new polls have put better work-life balance high on the priority list for most Americans.

Their findings:

• The careers' website, Beyond.com, found nearly six out of 10 put a healthy work-life balance as their most important workplace goal for 2008.
• In a second poll of 1,200 workers for the Center for State and Local Government Excellence, seven out of 10 said what they wanted most of all from a job was a flexible, family-friendly workplace.

Other employee demands included:

• Further education - only 18 per cent of the vote
• Staying organized - 16 per cent
• Improving workplace relationships - 10 per cent

Pursuing Organizational Excellence

What are the things to focus on to improve your chances of achieving organizational excellence?

Gary Harpst, founder and CEO of Six Disciplines talks with Jim Blasingame on Small Business Advocate Radio .

Listen the the most recent 12/28/07 interview here.

Innovation From The Outside In

From the NY Times article Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike, comes the following observation:

"It's a pickle of a paradox: As our knowledge and expertise increase, our creativity and ability to innovate tend to taper off. Why? Because the walls of the proverbial box in which we think are thickening along with our experience.

This so-called curse of knowledge, a phrase used in a 1989 paper in The Journal of Political Economy, means that once you’ve become an expert in a particular subject, it’s hard to imagine not knowing what you do."

Here are proven ways to to exorcise the curse:

• Chip Heath, who with his brother, Dan, was a co-author of the 2007 book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.” In their book, the Heath brothers outline six “hooks” that they say are guaranteed to communicate a new idea clearly by transforming it into what they call a Simple Unexpected Concrete Credentialed Emotional Story. Each of the letters in the resulting acronym, Succes, refers to a different hook. (“S,” for example, suggests simplifying the message.) Although the hooks of “Made to Stick” focus on the art of communication, there are ways to fashion them around fostering innovation.
• In her 2006 book, “Innovation Killer: How What We Know Limits What We Can Imagine — and What Smart Companies Are Doing About It,” Cynthia Barton Rabe proposes bringing in outsiders whom she calls zero-gravity thinkers to keep creativity and innovation on track.

BOTTOMLINE: "Look for people with renaissance-thinker tendencies, who’ve done work in a related area but not in your specific field,” Barton says. “Make it possible for someone who doesn’t report directly to that area to come in and say the emperor has no clothes.” (Ed: Sounds like Six Disciplines accountability coaches to me!)

Strategy, Execution and The New Year

Intending on improving the way you execute your strategy in 2008?

You have two choices:

1. Doing the right things.
Doing the right things focuses on choices - it's all about strategy. It's how you differentiate yourself from your competition, and what you've chosen not to do.

2. Doing things right.
Doing the right things focuses on process - it's all about execution. It's how you repeatedly improve how things get done.

BOTTOMLINE: For 2008, I suggest a third option:

3. Doing the right things...right.

This would be a balance between strong strategy and strong execution. You'll be hearing much more about how to increase the capability of your organization to execute its strategy in a more predictable, sustainable way.

Happy New Year from Be Excellent!

Employee Engagement Video

As you are about to embark on your 2008 initiatives - we certainly hope you haven't forgotten about your MOST IMPORTANT ASSET - YOUR EMPLOYEES.

Check out this well-produced video on employee engagement, from McDaniel Partner's blog (The Employee Factor.)

Best Business Book Of The Year

Dan Bobinski, writing for Management-Issues, reveals "My end of year list of recommended reads."

According to Dan:

"I mentioned this first book about six months ago, but it's such a great tome it tops my list of best business books this year. The book is Six Disciplines for Excellence: Building Small Businesses That Learn, Lead, and Last, by Gary Harpst.

It's easy to read, well organized, and heavy on application – not theory. In fact, it's probably the best "how-to" book I've read in a long time."

Several other great business books also made Dan's annual list. Take a look here for the others.

One Book Is Revolutionizing How Companies Execute Strategy

One Book Is Revolutionizing HOW Businesses Execute Their Strategies

Read about the breakthrough program that's designed specifically to be implemented and embraced by everyone in your company, in an on-going, systematic way.

This top-rated book (consistently ranked in the Top 10 in the Organizational Learning category on Amazon) is the how-to guide for business leaders who want to take their organizations beyond temporary success to pursue enduring business excellence.

A great Christmas gift for all the business leaders on your list: Six Disciplines for Excellence.

Aligning Action and Values

In a 1996 article from Leader to Leader, best selling business author Jim Collins writes about "Aligning Action and Values".

In the article, Collins states:

"Executives spend too much time drafting, wordsmithing, and redrafting vision statements, mission statements, values statements, purpose statements, aspiration statements, and so on. They spend nowhere near enough time trying to align their organizations with the values and visions already in place."

BOTTOMLINE: Discipline III. Align Systems, seems to some like a lot of discussion of technical and systems jargon. It is this unfamiliarity that is the proof that ALIGNMENT is something that needs to be mastered. Systems just "happen" all over your organization - and there's no way they're going to magically line up with the priorities of your company unless you diligently work to MAKE them line up. The more out of line your systems become, the more difficult is becomes to execute your strategy.

Organizational Learning and Performance Management

Bersin & Associates, a research and advisory firm solely focused on organizational learning, completed a nine-month study on the direction of learning and performance management.

The study identifies a clear trend toward the increased demand for performance management systems, relatively new software applications designed to identify and develop employee skills and competencies.

According to president Josh Bersin, "The adoption and integration of these new applications will reduce the cost and time involved in completing and managing employee performance reviews, facilitate regulatory compliance, correlate training investments with top-priority skills and competencies, and give organizations the ability to assess available employee skills and cultivate new ones."

The drivers of this trend?

• An aging workforce population
• Highly decentralized organizations
• Business expansion

“Whether you have to prepare for the replacement of an experienced plant maintenance manager or quickly assemble a team of employees to handle a corporate emergency – such as the renovation of a facility destroyed by a hurricane, you need the ability to quickly assess available skills and identify those that are missing or underdeveloped.

Without technology, this is virtually impossible for organizations with more than several hundred employees.” (Actually, it's virtually impossible for organizations with more than 40 employees!)

BOTTOMLINE: Execution systems (like the one that is part of the Six Disciplines program) that enable organizations to align execution with strategy, and enable individuals to align activities with organizational goals and initiatives, track and measure performance -- are a required component for organizational change and continual learning.

How To Read Six Disciplines for Excellence: Part II

How should you read Six Disciplines for Excellence?

“Read this book with a highlighter and/or a legal pad and pen nearby. You’ll need them.” (Bob Schuneman, Small Biz Matters)

“But don’t just buy it, read it and put it on the shelf -- implement the concepts into your business.” (Gary Whitehair, High Performance Business)

“The only down side I see is that it’s not a book to read and put on the shelf, (the down side is that many of us do just that) – it’s like the Bible for small business success and must be used daily for the plan to work.” (Dr. Robert Rausch, CEO 1 Executive Energy)

“There are few books that can be used as a "How To" manual; Six Disciplines for Excellence is one of them.” (Steven G. Lauck, CEO Refresher)

“It is definitely not a "read once and file away"; it should be on the desk in plain view and over time become worn with dog-eared pages from continuous review.” (Steven G. Lauck, CEO Refresher)

“But don’t just stop at reading it. This book is 20% principles and 80% “how-to.” It just screams practical. And for that reason, it would be great if the “how-to” sections became action items on meeting agendas. (Dan Bobinski, Workplace Excellence)

Execution Revolution: A New Book Coming in 2008

What keeps business leaders up at night? It all comes down to getting the job done. Meeting the plan. Delivering the goods. And doing so in a consistent way, year after year.

With all of the pressures successful business leaders have today, none is more urgent or challenging than learning the ability to execute.

While larger businesses have the luxury of budgets and resources to meet this challenge, it’s the small and mid-sized businesses that now have a tremendous opportunity to level the playing field, and leapfrog past the expensive, outdated approaches of the past, and attack the challenge of execution in a revolutionary way.

What these businesses need is a new way to solve an on-going challenge – a holistic program for planning AND executing strategy, which will provide them the competitive advantage in pursuing their ultimate goal: enduring business excellence.

Occasionally, truly new and synergistic approaches to solve old problems emerge. Supported by investments, progress, innovation and the convergence of trends from a variety of business improvement disciplines and technologies during the past two decades, the door is now wide open for a next generation approach for execution to emerge. At last, a profound change, a revolution if you will, in the way small and midsized businesses approach executing strategy -- is now possible.

Based on breakthrough research, field testing, proven best-practices and real-life stories from business leaders who have struggled with - and succeeded – in executing strategy, the thought-leading vision described by Six Disciplines founder and CEO Gary Harpst, in his newest book to be released in early 2008, entitled: "Execution Revolution: Solving The Problem That Makes All Other Problems Solvable"

In his first book, the top-rated "Six Disciplines for Excellence: Building Small Businesses That Learn, Lead and Last," Harpst offered a practical, repeatable business-building methodology based on six fundamental disciplines. Experts and readers agreed: it's one of the best "how-to" books on pursuing business excellence.

In "Execution Revolution," Harpst sets a new course for how small and midsized businesses can finally confront the never-ending challenge of planning and executing their strategy.

Execution Revolution also resets the stage for an entire industry of solution providers who help small and mid-sized companies perform to their optimum potential, by offering a comprehensive manifesto for a fundamentally new approach toward executing strategy.

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and overthrow old, outdated and incomplete ways of getting the right things done.

It’s time for the Execution Revolution – to begin!

(Stay tuned to the Be Excellent blog - lots more coming about this important new business book release!)

Covey's Four Imperatives of Leadership

Dr. Stephen R. Covey offers a new post on his blog on what makes a good leader.

Covey believes there is a formula. They are what he calls the four imperatives of leadership.

1. The first is to inspire trust. You build relationships of trust through both your character and competence and you also extend trust to others. You show others that you believe in their capacity to live up to certain expectations, to deliver on promises, and to achieve clarity on key goals. You don’t inspire trust by micromanaging and second guessing every step people make.
2. The second is to clarify purpose. Great leaders involve their people in the communication process to create the goals to be achieved. If people are involved in the process, they psychologically own it and you create a situation where people are on the same page about what is really important—mission, vision, values, and goals.
3. The third is to align systems. This means that you don’t allow there to be conflict between what you say is important and what you measure. For instance, many times organizations claim that people are important but in fact the structures and systems, including accounting, make them an expense or cost center rather than an asset and the most significant resource.
4. The fourth is the fruit of the other three—unleashed talent. When you inspire trust and share a common purpose with aligned systems, you empower people. Their talent is unleashed so that their capacity, their intelligence, their creativity, and their resourcefulness is utilized.

What If...Part II

What if…

…with all the things you’re doing in your business today – you were still finding it elusive to pursue excellence?

…you are already good (perhaps even great!) at delivering customer excellence (e.g. quality, price, reliability, taste, options, speed)…but you also recognize the need to work on business excellence (e.g. profitability, growth, execution, predictability, satisfying stakeholders, making the business last)?

…an organization invested over 100 man-years and $20 million researching small and emerging businesses to determine what separates “average” businesses from those that are destined to be enduring, excellent organizations?

…you found that you and your business had this set of characteristics -- found only in the best-performing organizations?

…you and your leadership team have what it takes to become an excellent organization? (e.g. a passion for excellence, a sufficient size, ready to work on your business, a history of stability, a high trust culture, regularly attract and retain good people, and effectively use outside experts)

...an organization chose only the essential elements of strategic planning, quality management, integrated learning, business process automation, people performance management and measure driven improvement – and optimized them -- just for small businesses?

…the result of that research was a very practical, systematic, and repeatable method?

…this systematic method was not YAMF (yet another management fad) – but instead,was based on proven, time-tested, established business principles and best practices?

…that same organization developed a very intuitive software system you could use every day – making it practical for everyone to use to become better at execution?

…for less than $15, you could read “Six Disciplines for Excellence" -- and find out what all the buzz was about?

BOTTOMLINE: Time to learn more about Six Disciplines.

Hiring A Facilitator for Strategic Planning

A facilitator can make or break a strategic planning retreat. By using an experienced facilitator in the right situations, you will almost certainly accomplish more in your meetings, delve deeper into critical issues and resolve them.

Equally important, participants will leave with positive feelings, stronger cohesiveness, a sense of accomplishment, and a renewed belief in the team.

Why Hire an Outside Facilitator?

Strategic planning discussions can be painful and difficult. They involve personal values and goals, deeply held beliefs about the nature of the firm and where it's going, and maybe different perspectives on the marketplace. Some principals may have values or goals that conflict with those of other key members of the firm.

An outside facilitator carries none of this baggage. He or she can look at the firm, the management team, and the planning process objectively. An outside facilitator can say things like "that's habit talking" or "you're rationalizing," and can make sure that some people don't dominate the discussion. A facilitator knows how to keep the discussion on track while taking everyone's concerns into consideration.

BOTTOMLINE: Six Disciplines Centers offer facilitating services for strategic planning engagements. In fact, a requirement of becoming a Six Disciplines client is for the senior leadership team to go through a 3-day strategic planning retreat.

Communication and High-Performance Companies

Management-Issues reports on a recent study by the consulting firm Watson Wyatt in which they identified six communication practices that distinguish the top performers from the also-rans.

Mostly common sense perhaps, but companies with the most effective communication programs reported a massive 47 percent higher total return to shareholders from 2002 to 2006, compared with companies that communicated less effectively.

The six communication practices of high-performing companies identified by the research were:

1. Focusing managers and employees on customer needs
2. Engaging employees in running the business
3. Helping managers to communicate effectively
4. Leveraging the talents of internal communicators to manage change more effectively
5. Measuring the impact of employee communication
6. Branding the employee experience

BOTTOMLINE: Top-performing companies treat communication as a key business driver. Companies that communicate effectively with employees have an engaged workforce and superior financial results.

Six Disciplines CEO/Author To Speak at Atlanta Chamber Event

The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce will host its December Small Business Matters seminar on Thursday, December 6 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. This seminar will present specific issues of interest to small and mid-sized businesses in the Atlanta area, with a focus on how to do work and compete with big businesses.

The event will feature guest speaker, Gary Harpst, author of Six Disciplines for Excellence and CEO of Six Disciplines, a nationwide network of business excellence centers. Harpst will be revealing his upcoming book "Execution Revolution" (to be published in 2008), and will discuss the roles that strategic-plan definition, implementation and accountable execution can play in creating and sustaining a successful business environment.

Where: Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce 235 Andrew Young International Blvd.Atlanta, GA 30303
When: Thursday, Dec. 6, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch provided
Registration: Online at https://www.metroatlantachamber.com/serving/event_rsvp.asp?eventid=631 Free for Metro Atlanta Chamber members, $50 for non-members

The Importance of Workforce Satisfaction Factors

According to a new study by Leadership IQ, the youngest workers are the least satisfied. Leadership IQ, a leadership training and research company, compiled these results after surveying a random sample of 11,244 employees ages 21-70 from 872 public, private, business and healthcare organizations.

Other results of the research:

• Only 30% of workers ages 21-30 would strongly recommend their organization as a good place to work.
• By contrast, 47% of workers ages 61-70 would strongly recommend their organization as a good place to work, making them the most satisfied age group.
• Age is positively correlated to workplace satisfaction, so the older you are, the more likely you are to have a high opinion of your company.
• The biggest statistical driver of workplace satisfaction for workers between the ages of 21-30 is whether their boss recognizes and praises their accomplishments.
• The biggest statistical driver of workplace satisfaction for workers between the ages of 61-70 is whether they can assess if their performance is where it should be.

BOTTOMLINE: Younger workers want praise and older workers want clear measures of their performance. From the research findings, managers are doing a better job with their older workers than with their younger workers. Managers cannot use one management style and expect success, because every age group is motivated very differently.

With Six Disciplines, measures, clear goals and accountable individual plans are active components to help individuals understand how their daily activities and performance support the organization's goals. Peer recognition of individual contributions within the Six Disciplines System provides an additional outlet for recognition and praise.

On Becoming A Learning Organization

Organizations with the best chance to succeed and thrive in the future are learning organizations.

Susan Heathfield (who references Peter Senge's work - author of The Fifth Discipline) describes the attributes of a learning organization in this article.

Here are some ways in which you can promote a learning organization environment in your organization:

• Systems Thinking: The underlying structure and the interlinking components of each of our work systems, shape a great deal of the behavior of the individuals who work inside of the work system. Think about Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s admonition. When something goes wrong, rather than seeking someone to blame, ask, what about the work system caused that individual to fail?
• Personal Mastery: States Peter Senge, “Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.” (p. 7) He offers that an organization’s learning can only be as great as that of each of its individual members. Consequently, personal mastery and the desire for continuous learning integrated deeply in the belief system of each person is critical for competitive advantage in the future.
• Mental Models: These are the deeply held pictures each of us holds in our mind about how the world, work, our families, and so on work. Mental models influence our vision of how things happen at work, why things happen at work, and what we are able to do about them.
• Building Shared Vision: By shared vision, Senge is referring to a process in which the original vision for an organization, probably determined by the leader, is translated into shared pictures around which the rest of the organization finds meaning, direction, and reasons for existing.
• Team Learning: Senge finds that “teams, not individuals, are the fundamental learning unit in modern organizations.” (p. 10) It is the dialogue among the members of the team which results in stretching the ability of the organization to grow and develop.

BOTTOMLINE: One of the major premises of the Six Disciplines Program is enabling the organization to become a learning organization. It's no coincidence that Six Disciplines for Excellence (which also references Senge's work) is now consistently one of the top-ranked books in the "Organizational Learning" book category on Amazon.

Six Disciplines Congratulates PRO-TEC on 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Six Disciplines announced today that one of its clients, PRO-TEC Coating Company of Leipsic, Ohio, was named as one of only five organizations in the U.S. to receive the prestigious 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest presidential honor awarded annually for quality and organizational performance excellence.

PRO-TEC was the only the only recipient of the 2007 Baldrige award in the “Small Business” category. Criteria for the Baldrige award include: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and business results.

PRO-TEC is no stranger to quality and performance excellence. In 2002, PRO-TEC achieved Tier 3 – Achievement of Excellence from the Ohio Partnership for Excellence. In 2004, PRO-TEC received the Governor’s Award for Excellence from the Ohio Partnership for Excellence. In 2006, they were named a finalist for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and now they’ve been named as a recipient of the prestigious award for 2007.

“PRO-TEC is a premiere example of how a high-performing organization can deploy a repeatable methodology and execution system to help their employees align day-to-day activities with company goals, and to execute their strategies,” said Gary Harpst, CEO and founder of Six Disciplines Corp. “We are proud to serve such a forward-thinking organization and applaud their achievement,” said Harpst.

“It’s been a very rewarding experience to partner with the teams at PRO-TEC to build strategic plans and focus their efforts on the execution of those plans, said Eric Kurjan, president of Six Disciplines Northwest Ohio. “We congratulate the 236 employees at PRO-TEC on this most prestigious recognition of their performance excellence,” added Kurjan.

“We are excited to receive the Malcolm Baldrige award, and are grateful for the support from Six Disciplines on our performance excellence journey,” said PRO-TEC’s president, Paul Worstell.

About PRO-TEC Coating
PRO-TEC Coating Company, Leipsic, Ohio, provides world-class coated sheet steel in coil form primarily to the quality-critical automotive market. PRO-TEC is a 50/50 joint venture partnership of U.S. Steel Corporation (USS) and KOBE Steel, Ltd., of Japan. The company is privately held. PRO-TEC organizational culture blends the strong American steel-making tradition of USS and KOBE’s technical and analytical Japanese style with the strong work ethic and family values of rural Northwest Ohio to produce a superior product. PRO-TEC is certified to stringent ISO-9001, ISO/TS 16949 and ISO 14001 standards. Visit PRO-TEC at http://www.proteccoating.com/.

Change Management Toolkit

Are you personally ready for change?

Is your team in serious need of new ways to work together?

How can your organization deal with a change project which lacks focus or direction?

Do you want to know why change is inevitable but hard to achieve?

Do you want to surf on the waves of change?

The Change Management Toolbook is a collection of more than 120 tools, methods and strategies which you can apply during different stages of personal, team and organizational development, in training, facilitation and consulting. It is divided in three principle sections: Self, Team and Larger System.

(Hat tip to Anthony Ceminaro at BizzBangBuzz for the insight!)

Six Disciplines Client TRUFAST Showcased in Inc. Magazine

The December 2007 issue of Inc. Magazine includes an article by Scott Westcott on the challenges of performance appraisals, entitled "Putting an End to End-of-Year Reviews."

The article highlights two companies and their innovative approaches toward year-end reviews and pay for performance.

A Six Disciplines client, TRUFAST Corporation, a $40 million manufacturer of fasteners in Bryan, Ohio, is showcased in the article.

"Last spring, CEO Brian Roth decided to assess and reward more frequently. Working with Gary Harpst, CEO of the consulting firm Six Disciplines, he launched a quarterly review system for his 80 factory employees....More than 90 percent of Trufast's line workers now receive some bonus."

Read the entire article here.

Six Disciplines Client Receives 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

On November 20, 2007, President George W. Bush and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez announced that five organizations are the recipients of the 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor for organizational performance excellence.

A Six Disciplines client, PRO-TEC Coating, was named as one of the five recipients. PRO-TEC is one of only five companies to win the award in 2007, and it is the only company to win in the Small Business category.

The Baldrige Award is the top honor a U.S. company can receive for quality achievement and performance excellence. Criteria for the award include: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and business results.

Read the official 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award press release here.

See the PRO-TEC profile here.

Read the official press release from PRO-TEC here.

BOTTOMLINE: Six Disciplines congratulates PRO-TEC’s President Paul Worstell and all of the 236 PRO-TEC employees on this outstanding achievement.

Podcast of Gary Harpst on Startup BizCast

Gary Harpst, CEO and founder of Six Disciplines Corporation, was recently interviewed by host Steve Mullen of Startup BizCast.

During the podcast, Gary talks about the importance of planning, as well as a summary of his book "Six Disciplines for Excellence."

Listen to the podcast here: Startup BizCast 24 - A Business Plan for your Small Business (Gary Harpst)

(Startup BizCast, produced by EndGame PR Podcast Production, offers weekly small business advice, tips, and education from owners of small businesses ... all in less time than it takes to have a coffee break! Each episode is 15 minutes or less, so even the busiest small business owner has time to take a BizCast break!)

Strategy, Execution and Communication

"The key to delivering strategy is to assemble a balanced team and ensure that both conception and implementation are given the necessary resource."

That was the conclusion of Professor Eddie Obeng, director of Pentacle business school in the UK from their most recent research on strategy and execution, as reported in Management-Issues.

Some of their key findings:

• More than 80% of managers surveyed believed that too many projects failed to result in anything that improved the profitability of their business.
• More than three quarters of senior managers underestimated the stress of repeated initiatives or how much such a regime of "permanent revolution" could unnerve their staff.
• More than half of the managers also believed projects failed because of poor execution rather than in their conception.
• The most common reason for failure was poor communication, which was ranked highest with 73% seeing it as a regular cause of failure.

BOTTOMLINE: Our survey revealed that people are aware that communication of strategy is of the highest importance and senior management still need to step up to the challenge of being able to effectively disseminate the relevant parts of a strategy in the wider organization, in order to be able to deliver the projects they design."

Six Disciplines for Excellence - 2007 National Best Book Finalist

Six Disciplines for Excellence, by Six Disciplines Corporation CEO and founder Gary Harpst, was named a finalist in two categories of The National "Best Books" 2007 Awards, sponsored by USABookNews.com.

The two categories

• Business: Management & Leadership (2 finalists)


• Business: Entrepreneurship & Small Business (6 finalists)

See the entire list of winners and finalists here.

Self-Discipline - The Key To Getting Things Done

Guidelines for reducing procrastination and improving self-discipline in business are offered in this Entrepreneur Magazine article by Romanus Wolter, "To Do or Not To Do."

"Successful entrepreneurs discipline themselves to take action even when they're weighed down by the tasks at hand. With a few guidelines, you can develop the self-discipline necessary to navigate these new boundaries and accomplish your goals with ease."

1. Establish an affirmative mind-set by giving yourself a reason to become more disciplined.
2. Engage yourself.
3. Start with tasks that produce immediate results.
4. Make sure your boundaries fit the real world.

BOTTOMLINE: "It takes determination and perseverance to make self-discipline an integral part of your regular practice. You'll become stronger, and insurmountable tasks will become routine. Take conscious action, and soon you can spend more time tackling bigger challenges and reaping the rewards of greater successes."

Six Disciplines Business Excellence Program Builds Nationwide Momentum

Six Disciplines Business Excellence Program Builds Nationwide Momentum

Business coaching network enters new markets, adds clients, experiences rapid growth during 2007

FINDLAY, Ohio, Nov. 15, 2007 — Six Disciplines expanded its reach by entering the Southeast market with a new center in Atlanta and added new clients to its roster in the manufacturing, plastics, construction and engineering industry. Six Disciplines is an award-winning national business excellence network which provides organizations with a complete program that encompasses four elements for enduring business excellence: a repeatable methodology; ongoing external coaching; proactive organizational alignment software to ensure individual and team accountability; and the competitive advantages of a shared learning community.

“Six Disciplines has built momentum during the past two quarters, through franchise network expansion, client growth and senior coaching leadership additions,” said Gary Harpst, founder and CEO of Six Disciplines. “For entrepreneurs and businesses around the country, it’s an alarming reality that only four percent of businesses survive beyond ten years. Our program provides an unprecedented combination of expertise, resources and commitment to help top-performing organizations pursue business excellence and ensure they sustain growth to be one of the four percent that endures.”

President Riz Shakir led the expansion of Six Disciplines Atlanta in October 2007. Shakir, an Atlanta-based serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience growing and running businesses, is a certified executive coach and consultant with the Vail Leadership Institute and has completed executive development programs at The Harvard Business School, The University of Chicago School of Business, The Wharton School of Business and The Kellogg Business School of Northwestern University.

To manage the Atlanta office, Shakir is joined by Senior Vice President Larry Smart, a certified business excellence coach who has led high-growth technology companies in turn-around strategies throughout North America and overseas.

To commemorate the launch, Six Disciplines and the Vail Leadership Institute co-sponsored a leadership event in Atlanta on Nov. 5, with Stephen M. R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust – The One Thing that Changes Everything, who addressed the importance of trust and how it impacts organizational performance. Additionally, on Dec. 6, Six Disciplines CEO Gary Harpst will be presenting “Execution Revolution: Introducing The First Enduring Business Excellence Program." in conjunction with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

The Six Disciplines business excellence program is designed to help businesses increase their capability to handle ever-changing challenges, specifically related to strategy and execution. New clients adopting the Six Disciplines program include Tiffin-based J.B. & Co. Inc. Roofing, one of the largest roofing contractors in Northwest Ohio; Montpelier, Ohio-based Winzeler Stamping Co., a fourth-generation, family-owned manufacturer and supplier of high volume, deep drawn metal stampings and related complete engineering/tool room services; Russells Point-based World Class Plastics Inc., an ISO-9000 certified manufacturer of thermoplastic injection molded parts, dies, flanges, protective pads and blow molding; and Bowling Green-based Kellermeyer Co., which distributes cleaning supplies, cleaning equipment and packaging products in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

To broaden the community among current customers and better connect with businesses seeking assistance in strategy execution, Six Disciplines also launched a redesigned Web site at http://www.sixdisciplines.com/, extended their client rosters and announced new staff additions.

• Six Disciplines North Carolina (Raleigh; Research Triangle Park): Managing partner, Craig Landwehr, recently completed a series of annual strategic planning workshops with Cary-based Signalscape, Inc., provider of advanced signal processing solutions and the parent company of law enforcement video analysis leader StarWitness(SM). The center is also working with several global and regional, non-profit organizations to help them better set and achieve goals while reducing risks.
• Six Disciplines Central Indiana (Indianapolis): Indianapolis-based Deborah Wood and Associates, a full-service healthcare communications company, has completed a full year utilizing the Six Disciplines program. The company is producing a “Business Life” Video Series in conjunction with Six Disciplines Central Indiana to showcase the company’s progress. The center is also hosting a Jan. 17 event focusing on women business leaders and their keys to success.
• Six Disciplines Central West Florida (Tampa): President Sean Burke was a featured speaker at a recent Tampa Bay Business Journal Power Breakfast, and the center recently launched a podcast series focused on business challenges facing CEOs in conjunction with the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
• Six Disciplines Ohio (Northwest Ohio): President Eric Kurjan will present to entrepreneurs and business owners on how to build company-wide accountability at the University of Toledo on Nov. 30. Kramer Enterprises, a uniform and dry-cleaning business based in Findlay, Ohio has successfully completed a full year with Six Disciplines Ohio focused on developing a corporate succession plan. Kramer Enterprises, along with Six Disciplines, was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal regarding the best way to prepare for corporate change.

In addition to local momentum, based on recent media exposure, the top-rated book Six Disciplines for Excellence, authored by Six Disciplines CEO Gary Harpst, experienced top rankings in the Organizational Learning book category at Amazon.com.

Based on years of field testing, client feedback, 100 man-years of research and development and a $20 million investment, the Six Disciplines business excellence program provides organizations with a holistic, enduring approach toward strategy, planning, organizing people and processes, and execution management. Compared to other business improvement and quality programs like Baldrige, TQM, Six Sigma and Lean, which are prevalent in much larger businesses, Six Disciplines is the first program for enduring business excellence, designed specifically for small- and mid-sized businesses. Features normally associated with these much more expensive approaches – including proven best practices such as balanced scorecard, project management, key performance management metrics, integrated activity alignment, and business excellence rating systems – are all elements of the Six Disciplines program.

About Six Disciplines - Six Disciplines Corporation, founded in 2000, developed the first enduring business excellence program, specifically for small- and mid-sized businesses. A business excellence program is an organized way to grow a company’s ability to address an ever-changing and ever increasing series of business challenges, with a focused effort on execution. The Six Disciplines program integrates a repeatable methodology to drive organizational learning, ongoing external coaching to ensure accountability, a proactive alignment system to align daily activities of every stakeholder, and a shared learning community of like-minded people to accelerate and sustain business excellence. The program is offered exclusively through a locally-owned national network of Six Disciplines franchises. The organization was awarded the 2006 Entrepreneur Magazine Top Gun Franchise distinction and among its clients are several from the Inc. 500, ISO-9000 certified companies, and a Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award finalist. For more on Six Disciplines, visit http://www.sixdisciplines.com/.

Vote For The Best Business Books of 2007

Reader's Choice voting is now available for the 2007 800-CEO-Read’s Business Book Awards.

Gary Harpst’s book “Six Disciplines for Excellence” has been submitted in the “Small Business/Entrepreneur” category.

Click here to vote for Six Disciplines for Excellence, as well as any of the other great business books that you've read during 2007.

CEOs as The Next Team Builders

The New York Times recently published an article entitled "C.E.O. Evolution Phase 3," in which it showcased the profiles of prominent CEOs of the 1990s who built empires, then the "Fix-It Men," whose job it was to repair the excesses and mistakes of their predecessors.

"Now, management experts and longtime watchers of corporate America say the current environment demands, and is attracting, yet another kind of chief executive: the team builder."

The article's premise?

• "CEOs must be able to ...assemble a team that functions as smoothly as a jazz sextet,” said Warren Bennis, a professor of management at USC.
• CEOs need to make sure the top hundred people know that they’re in this together, that their fates are correlated,” Mr. Bennis says. “That’s what it will take to succeed in this century.”

BOTTOMLINE: What will be the main challenge in the next 5 to 10 years? The prediction is it would be achieving double-digit growth internally, without the benefit of huge deals or accounting sleight-of-hand. “That’s why I think the baton will go to the manager who will stimulate a division and will be creative and innovative."