It's not the thinkers that change the world, but the doers. You are only aware of the historically-great thinkers who were the ones that also wrote the book, built the organization, and failed at their first 1,000 experiments. Our companies, schools and playgrounds are filled with brilliant, high-IQ individuals, yet 99.9% never reach their potential because no one ever teaches them how to execute.
In our investment firm, I often declared, "I can go down the street to William & Mary and hire hundreds of MBA's who can create a financial plan or client service software. They are a dime-a-dozen. But, find me the 1% of A-Players who can wake up every morning and go get the money, and we can build an empire!"
As a CEO, President of Big Brothers Big Sisters, or captain of the sports team, I have always been baffled by the great divergence of output from similarly-situated human beings on our teams. It is not intelligence. Is it nature or nurture? Whatever the answer, we must commit to being the "Just Do It" leader, and we must only recruit these same people for our organizations [see Post, "The Right Type of Diversity: Harvard to Hairdressers"].
Professor Wyatt Wells wrote what I believe to a be a hilarious article about the strategic planning exercise at Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM). He recounts the "organizational ritual...took months...at considerable expense." His observations confirm what all A-Players already know. The B's and C's spend their weeks creating plans and policy, and telling everyone else what they should do - along with why they, themselves, are constrained from achieving their own ambitious objectives. Remember, life is too short and precious to be hanging around these people. Your place is not among them!
AUM commits to "enhance morale among employees." Tear that up, enroll your company team in the local Friday night softball league, take them to Harrigan's Pub after, and you will see enhanced morale.
AUM commits to "enhance a culture of scholars." Erase that, and become the leader with the most trade licenses and industry accreditations, and be "the smartest one in the room." Your entire organization will follow and duplicate your achievements without you ever uttering a word of guidance.
AUM also commits to adopting "national advising best practices standards and diversity learning outcomes." I must not be bright enough to understand what the hell that one means! With today's fast pace, 5-year plans are a joke, 3-year plans are a waste of time, and 1-year strategies may be partially accurate [see Post, "Extraordinary Organizations"]. Professor Wells concludes from his experience that "strategic planning, the way it's practiced by most institutions in the U.S., is a fraud...offers incompetent managers a shield...and at its best, it's little more than a public-relations exercise."
So, how do we not follow the masses, and instead find High-Executioners and build special organizations?:
1. High-Executioners many times have backgrounds focused on achievement in sports, top academics and development goals, such as Eagle Scout. The child who committed to practicing fundamentals, who hit the pool before and after school, now as an adult doesn't know any other way than to do whatever it takes to reach their goal. Remember those kids with wet hair in high school? Go look them up now.
2. Massive organization and time management are non-negotiable requirements for High-Executioners, and for anyone they choose to partner with. They refuse to suffer disorganized underachievers. They make tomorrow's task list before closing the books on today. They implement every new technology for efficiency. If the task list turns red when past due for them, their assistant, or their boss, it drives them crazy!
3. High-Executioners stand out like a super nova among the masses at work, at the gym, or at the Susan G. Komen Pink Meeting. Unfortunately, most people that do not produce at the office, don't get involved in their community, and literally just sleepwalk through the day. All circles of life are interwoven - work, health, relationships, spiritual. High-Executioners burn it down in all circles. The work-a-holic excuse is a myth propagated by B's and C's to rationalize their lack of desire to also coach the little league team, or follow a healthy discipline.
Work everyday to raise your level of execution, and do everything you can to recruit these rare individuals to your mission. Leave the strategic plans to the B's and C's. They love that stuff!
p.s. Section 215 of the Patriotic Act, which authorizes the U.S. intelligence services to access your health records, DNA tests, and conversations on Alexa and Siri, expires or is reauthorized on December 15th. You likely remember James Clapped, Director of National Intelligence, testifying to Congress that they were NOT collecting the telephone-call metadata, including phone numbers and the time, duration and details of calls and texts of hundreds of millions of Americans - until it was discovered they were.
According to U.S. Congressman Buck McKeon, "Even after legislation was passed in 2015 to rein in the program, the agencies were ultimately forced to suspend the call-detail-record program last year, when they realized it was collecting far more data than they could handle and was violating even their own expansive view of their authority." Wow.
Just giving you the facts. What you do with them is up to you, High-Executioner.
"Good managers can usually list their goals on a note card and explain how they intend to achieve them on a few sheets of paper." - Prof. Wyatt Wells, Auburn University at Montgomery
** Many thanks to the WSJ, Forbes and Fortune for the above quotes and statistics.
** For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com.
** To access JAM Views directly please visit jeffreyamartinovich.blogspot.com
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