1st Edition
by Sean T. Ryan (Author)
Shelving Guide: Business and Management/Leadership/Strategy
Only
10% to 25% of organizations get it right when it comes to achieving the
expected results from their strategic planning. This means 75% to 90%
of them are leaving results on the table and wasting their time on
things that don’t matter. Almost a decade ago, a major steel
manufacturer approached Sean Ryan and his team to help them think
through how to better convert strategy to results. This was the catalyst
for the seven gears that translate strategy to results found in
Strategy-Execution-Results (SXR).
Why Gears? Gears transmit
energy. The more aligned they are and the less friction in their chain,
the better they function. Leaders can easily identify the gear creating
the most friction and then take action to better align that gear with
the strategy generating better results. This creates momentum to improve
the alignment and performance of other gears. This approach also
emphasizes the ways everyone in the organization has some influence over
every gear. Based on Sean Ryan’s consulting and training with
organizations from start-ups to the Fortune 100, he’s found that these
performance gears drive better results. You’ll employ them to align your
goals with your strategy, create visible scorecards to know whether or
not you’re on track, and identify the critical behaviors and actions
that will drive performance.
Readers will use this book to point
their efforts toward getting meaningful results from their strategy. As
noted in the Harvard Business Review: "The prize for closing the
strategy-performance gap is huge: increasing performance by at least 50%
for most organizations." After moving beyond their initial amazement of
just how misaligned they were, they’ll be able to quickly apply the
seven gears to sell better and more, drive down costs, improve quality
and safety, and recruit talent for the future. In addition, there’s
nothing in this book that has not been applied in actual business
settings.
While companies could use the SXR™ Framework to
overhaul their organization top to bottom, they’ll also appreciate that
they don’t have to change everything at once to make progress. Upon
understanding each of the gears and how to create Follow-up and
Follow-through, they’ll be able to improve any gear to start seeing
strategic outcomes.
