Four Secrets for Turning Insight into Execution

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We’ve all experienced that “eureka” moment during a presentation or deep discussion with colleagues – where nifty slideshow visuals or a sketch on the back of a napkin help us see how to take our business to the next level. However, we’ve also experienced how easily these insights can fade once the presentation or meeting is over. Why is that? And what can we do about it?

In “The Neuroscience of Leadership,” published by strategy + business, David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz explain that an engaging experience (like a presentation or off-site meeting) is a great way to generate new insights and new connections in the brain. But to turn these new connections into repeatable action, they need to be reactivated again and again, until neural pathways become embedded in everyday thinking and decision making.

In this post on strategy + business, Four Secrets for Turning Insight Into Execution, I’ve shared four essential practices to help your team turn “eureka” moments into repeatable action, including real-time documentation, personal commitment management, asking strategic questions, and tracking other people’s deadlines (without micro-managing).

See what you think!

 

All the best,

Elizabeth Doty

 

Starting a Transformation? Don’t Change Everything!

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Some time ago, I was consulting a senior director of a government agency who was two years into transforming his organization to be more customer- and results-focused. He had restructured his 200-person team, launched a few key initiatives, coached his staff on changing mind-sets, and made some difficult personnel decisions. Then, just as these investments were beginning to show results, a new governor was elected. His mission? To transform my client’s organization to be more customer- and results-focused! What could the senior director say? “We’re already doing that” would have come across as resistant or worse. He simply sat quietly as his new boss laid out his plans for shaking things up.

As organizations of all types — in both the public and private sectors — strive to be more agile, they reorganize more often. Executives are asked to take on new teams, merge related teams, or pivot to a new set of priorities. Such challenges can be exciting: As a leader, your mind may be buzzing with ideas, questions, and possible solutions. The pressure is on, and you are eager to put “points on the board.”

Yet, for your team, a reorganization may involve a reset as much as a new direction. How do you get them mobilized and into action as quickly as possible?

In this new business post at strategy + business, Starting a Transformation? Don’t Change Everything, I suggest three conversations to have early in the process with your new or reconfigured team to help you build on the momentum underway. Letting go of the “all at once” approach may help you and your team get results more quickly.

See what you think!

 

All the best,

Elizabeth Doty