Stephen Wise Bloghttps://integrationprofessionals.com/BlogFocus on Outcomeshttps://integrationprofessionals.com/Blog/focus-on-outcomesSkillsMon, 30 Apr 2018 05:30:41 GMTmy guaranteed formula for success. 1. Focus on driving the outcomes 2. Accept Uncertainty 3. Agile Mindset<h1>Traction Tips</h1> <h5>A weekly action idea to improve traction on your important initiatives by Stephen Wise.</h5> <p>  The new and wonderful musical, An American in Paris, is doing the rounds. It weaves multiple love stories with a Jazz and Ballet fusion leading to true love outcomes.  </p> <p>Milo falls for Jerry, who's in love with Lise, who is engaged to Henri. Lise shares mutual affection with Henri but falls in love with Jerry. Jerry's friend Adam is also falling for Lise. Lise the ballerina, is oblivious she is the focal point of all the story lines. Despite the complications, true love wins out in the end. In the opening scenes of the musical Jerry sets his strategy to find and win Lise. However he gets lost, becomes indecisive, and is distracted by other interests. Has this ever happened to you in business? Getting lost in the details, uncertainty over the correct next step, or being distracted by new opportunities? Unfortunately, I see it every day. So, here is my guaranteed formula for success. 1. Focus on driving the outcomes 2. Accept Uncertainty 3. Agile Mindset</p> <h3>Focus on outcomes</h3> <p>Craft a hi-level plan. List the activities required to achieve the desired outcomes.</p> <h3>Accept Uncertainty</h3> <p>Accept uncertainty. Our ability to achieve goals proscribed in the plan can vary significantly.</p> <h3>Agile Mindset</h3> <p>Re-work your plan frequently.  Consider changes in the environment and your leanings along the way. Switch around your priorities. re-evaluate desired outcomes to reflect new realities.</p> <h3>Weekly Traction Action</h3> <p>Fuse the improvisation of Jazz with the perfection of Ballet to manage your corporate outcomes. Your weekly action: 1. Ensure all your desired outcomes have an accessible, hi-level, end to end plan. 2. Schedule regular times to evaluate whether you are on track and make course corrections to get back on track. I recommend or implement these actions all the time on client initiatives. Hopefully, it will work to improve outcomes for you too.</p> <h3>I love Email</h3> <p>Please send me an email and tell me about if you have success or trouble with this action. I’m always interested to see what can happen out in the wild.  </p> <h3>Stephen Wise</h3> <h3>Integration Professionals</h3> <h3><a href="https://IntegrationProfessionals.com" rel="noopener" target="_blank">https://IntegrationProfessionals.com</a></h3> The most powerful leadership skill an expert Project Manager needs for successhttps://integrationprofessionals.com/Blog/the-most-powerful-leadership-skill-an-expert-project-manager-needs-for-success5CommunicationFri, 14 Feb 2014 15:59:11 GMTNo one can be an expert in all fields.<p>No one can be an expert in all fields. A Project Manager is a skilled expert on leading teams to initiate, plan, execute and close projects. These are among the most important skills, but not the most powerful. If you aren’t feeling well you go to see your General Practitioner (GP). Your GP understands the big picture and upon identifying a specific issue or risk with your health may refer you to a specialist. In this analogy the GP is like a Project Manager – they do not need to be an expert in every field and one difference between okay GP’s and excellent GP’s is the speed and quality and follow-up related to the referral. All Project Managers will tell you that the most commonly used skill on a project is communication. However, neither communication nor planning are the most powerful skills in the arsenal. The true multiplier, the most powerful skill, is the ability to learn from others. The ability to learn from others enables the PM to absorb the nuances of the culture, mitigate the hidden risks of the processes, and allow for the complexity of the technology. When a diverse project team gets together it doesn’t matter who is the smartest or most senior in the room. What matters is learning from everyone’s skills and experience and channeling that back to the team so the whole is greater than the sum. The most powerful leadership skill is the ability to apply the greater whole in order to reach the objectives of the project quicker and with less risk of failure.</p> <p>Stephen Wise</p> <p><a href="https://www.IntegrationProfessionals.com ">https://www.IntegrationProfessionals.com </a></p> 5 Secrets of Successfully Implementing Strategyhttps://integrationprofessionals.com/Blog/5-secrets-of-successfully-implementing-strategy5StrategySat, 18 Jan 2014 20:55:52 GMTcultural divide between the strategy folks and the implementation folks<p>It is common to find a cultural divide between the strategy folks and the implementation folks inside an organization. As comparison, Strategy thinking is intellectual. Strategy development is sophisticated and often done off-site by executives. A completed Strategy is polished and presented by the top executives. The Strategy is locked for the year. And, Implementation thinking is practical. Plan development messy and done by managers. Planning assumes that all the tasks and dependencies can be identified and</p> <p> solved. The plan will change every day based on progress and issues that occur. </p> <p><a href="https://blog.inprof.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/strategy-execution-sucess.jpg" title="Strategy Execution Success"><img alt="Strategy Execution Success" src="/Portals/0/Images/inprof/Blog/strategy-execution-sucess.jpg?ver=2019-06-03-152912-387" style="width: 180px; height: 180px;" title="Strategy Execution Success" /></a> </p> <p>Strategy-Execution-Success[/caption] How can the organization ensure the outcomes from the implementation meet the needs of the strategy?</p> <ol> <li>The Strategists include the implementers in the strategy development process.</li> <li>One of the strategists assumes accountability for the successful initiation, planning, execution, and closure of each of the plans as well as active involvement in selected risk mitigation and issue resolution.</li> <li>The implementers ensure that a business case is provided that links the forecast benefits and risks of the strategy to the forecast resources and constraints. Viability of the business case should be validated periodically during and after implementation.</li> <li>The implementers select appropriate tools and methodology to plan and execute the detailed tasks necessary to achieve the plan.</li> <li>The implementers ensure the accountable strategist is aware of progress and risks and engaged for collaboration and assistance on all unresolved issues.</li> </ol> <p>Increased collaboration between Strategists and Implementers is low-hanging fruit for improving outcomes. Leaders among the strategists and leaders among the implementers who reach across to each other and increase their mutual overlap will see desired outcomes increase significantly.</p> <h4>Stephen Wise</h4> <h4><a href="http://www.IntegrationProfessionals.com/" target="_blank" title="Integration Professionals">www.IntegrationProfessionals.com</a></h4>