Implementing objectives...

 

 

 

Many small changes add up to a big change. Great organisational transformations are achieved by many people taking individual actions in their immediate environment. For example, integrating the operations of two great corporations is achieved by many adjustments in procedure, roles, incentives and loyalties. It is in the minutiae of day-to-day life in the workplace that change is accomplished. A 'step-change' in customer services or product profitability happens when a large number of people take individual actions in their areas, some of which are very remote from customers or products.

Implementing actions...

Often these small actions seem straightforward. Often, all we would like to see is that every item is correctly entered in the database, or that all project managers have received PRINCE2 training. We want to know that the finance systems are correct and that the three databases containing finance information are consistent with one another. These sound like simple things.

 

It's very easy to get caught up in daily activity and lose track of what we are trying to achieve. Then we waste time being 'unproductive' because we haven't worked out in which direction we are trying to go. Intentions need not be lofty or visionary, but unless we have an intention we are the victims of circumstance rather than the masters of our own destiny.

The Ideas Distillery operates a very defined process to ensure that action takes place. You can see a snapshot of it here.

 

As world-famous mentalist Derren Brown said, "[there is] an age-old adage and obvious adage: just get on with it. It's about do or don't do...we are defined by our actions, not our motives; our thoughts or intentions mean very little unless they lead to action. It's how we behave...that makes the difference. An obvious but much-missed point."

 

Opposite are details of our initial planning framework. For an open-source copy of our manual, click here.