Leadership with vision is great. It’s absolutely necessary. But it won’t get you where you 
intend to go if you have no strategy to fulfill it. Like anything else, it takes planning and action. Oh, and it takes strategy. Far too many corporate executives equate vision with strategy and use the terms interchangeably. That’s a big mistake. You might even equate it with having “Corporate Cataracts”.
A Famous Quote
This quote is normally attributed to Thomas A. Edison. Nobody is really able to verify that, but still, the quote hammers home a valid point – one that corporate America and its vision casting executives need to learn …
“Vision without execution is hallucination”
So how many teams have you worked on where some sort of vision (or direction, take your pick) is cast and yet there is little of substance to follow it up. This leaves teams drifting at best or working at cross purposes at worst. Either route makes projects run longer which, in every case, increases cost and exposure to risk.
Vision Plus – A Different Approach
No, it’s not some sort of optical care. It’s the way we need to trend in the way we both run our projects and select them. The vision is great and it’s necessary as I said. But it needs actual strategy that begins mapping out a tangible and workable plan. That kind of strategy leverages the direction the vision casts and crafts a framework that prioritizes needs and benefits while empowering teams to plan and take action that delivers results.
Wrapping it in Risk Management
We package our change in methods by embracing a risk-based approach to crafting the strategy and selecting which projects we will execute. Some of it is simplistic, really. We stop counter-productive things like adding more to the project “plate” without considering what we’ll stop doing, thereby containing risk and focusing on what execution brings the best reward; what best fulfills the vision and aligns with the strategy. Sure it will look different depending on the organization (and maturity level), but it basically employs what we used to call “common sense” which doesn’t seem so common anymore. And that thought brings me full circle back to the Corporate Cataracts.
Hallucinate Much?
Why do our corporate leaders think they can outrun the lessons of the past? Why do they think simply speaking what amount to magic words will make their vision come to fruition? It’s more than just blind spots. It’s impaired vision that clouds what they think they see and causes them to ignore the risks that seem so plain to the rest of us. Like my aging dog, they’ve developed a type of cataract and they need treatment. Fortunately it’s not only available, it’s the way successful companies will navigate their vision and strategy fulfillment. Of course, you could go on hallucinating. And sadly, many will do just that.
Bio:
Mark Moore has held multiple professional positions in IT and business for nearly
three decades serving organizations both small and large, public and private. With over half that time as a project manager, he has successfully managed major initiatives
spanning multiple years with a cost of over $3 Million and teams of over 250 people. He has been a Project Management Professional since 2002, served as President of the PMI Western Michigan Chapter, and presented at multiple NCPMI Annual Events. Mark holds a Masters of Education degree from Colorado State University with a concentration in Adult Education and Training. He is an experienced writer, speaker and presenter on project management and team building topics. Mark is the Principal Consultant for Broken Arrow Associates, LTD. He and his family live in a rural area outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. To contact Mark for opportunities or questions, send an e-mail to info@baa-ltd.com.
