Stephen R. Covey - Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times

Like the Tour de France cycling teams, companies trying to navigate in unpredictable times face four key hazards:

• Failure to execute
• Crisis of trust
• Loss of focus
• Pervasive fear

Failure to execute. Youve thought through the crisis. You have your strategy. Now the question is, can your teams execute? Will they? Some people in your organization are getting it done. Some arent and probably never will. Then theres the great middlehow much more could they contribute if they performed more like those who are getting it done?

Crisis of trust. Levels of trust drop in uncertain times. Securities markets plunge due to crises of confidence. People lose confidence in their own organizations. On an uncertain road full of pitfalls, everyone decelerates: its not called a slowdown for nothing.

Loss of focus. You have fewer resources, fewer people, more confusion. People try to do two or three jobs at once. A person trying to do two jobs has half the focus of a person doing one job, and half the likelihood of doing either job well.

Pervasive fear. Economic recession causes psychological recession. People fear losing jobs, retirement savings, even their homes. Its piling on. And it costs you. Just when you need people to focus and engage, they lose focus and disengage.

As you probably recognize, these four hazards occur together in times of turmoil. They reinforce each other. A crisis of trust stirs up fear. Fear and anxiety lead to a loss of focus. And a loss of focus puts strategy execution at risk. In such times, you simply cant afford to execute your strategy with anything less than precision.

To succeed in the mountains, like the great cyclists, you must anticipate these hazards. You can dodge the hazards and win if you:

• Execute priorities with excellence.
• Move with the speed of trust.
• Achieve more with less.
• Reduce fear.

Execute priorities with excellence. The winning companies have simple goals repeatedly revisited, together with clear targets and strong follow-through, including the measurement of results.goals and their roles in carrying them out. And they execute precisely.

Move with the speed of trust. Low trust slows everything down and raises costs. Thats why the economy, your clients, and your cash flow slow down in times of turmoil. But when trust levels rise, everything speeds up and costs go down. The winning organizations are capable of quick action with the agility to respond ahead of, or at least stay even with, rapid changes in the new economic environment.

Achieve more with less. Of course, everyone is trying to do more with less, but the real question is more of what? Shouldnt it be more of what your key stakeholders truly value and less of what they dont want? The winning companies focus totally on valuethey are not just cutting back, they are simplifying, reducing complexities that customers and employees dont value. Instead of having everyone do two or three jobs, they focus on doing the job that key stakeholders really want done.

Reduce fear. The root of psychological recession is the sense that people have no control over what happens to them. Winning organizations help people break through that hopelessness and focus on what they can impact. Much of the fear is caused by unclear direction, by a less-than-compelling purpose. Entrusted with a mission and strategy they can believe in, they channel their anxious energy into results.