April 16, 2007
Which Comes First, Doing the Right Things or Doing Them Right?
The issue of which is more important, doing the right things or doing things right, has been ringing in my ears since I saw a leading business consultant to law firms shout, “Execution is everything!” from the blog world.
Then as I read Bruce MacEwen’s recent post “ Do The Management Gurus Have Clothes?”, I was reminded of my reaction to that earlier post. MacEwen was writing about Phil Rosenzweig’s new book The Halo Effect, in which the author takes to task many of the popular “management books." Most emphasize execution quality and would make great “managers” of us all by following their methods.
If execution in great management is everything, then great managers could make any bad idea or pursuit a success. It isn’t and they can’t.
Bad execution can rob one of their successes. It can lower results from what is possible. But being in the right place at the right time pursuing the right idea rules the day. Getting the right people on the bus may be the way to go from “Good to Great”, but having the right bus is pretty important to start with.
This is the point where David Maister would probably want to educate us as to the difference between leadership and management. There is a difference. Many leaders are not good managers—if, by management, we mean masters of execution. Leadership has more to do with being in the right place at the right time with the right idea and then, of course, getting people to believe the leader’s vision.
The “Halo Effect” is the tendency of management experts to attribute the qualities of “doing things right” to organizations that achieve great success. Most, I might add, achieved that success by having done the “right things”. Unfortunately, time catches up with us. Once others begin to imitate such success, execution becomes the important differentiating factor. One time “right thing” leaders like IBM, Federal Express, and eventually even Microsoft can fall pray to the imitator with superior execution.
What does all of this mean for the law firm? It is simple: first do the right things! Then work on doing them better. Picking the right areas of law for your place at this time may be the most important decision you make. The primary importance of doing the right things is why planning is so important. Otherwise, you may be working hard to improve your ability to arrive at the wrong place.
When one takes a structured approach to planning, execution is the last thing you plan. First you have to decide where you are going.
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