Strategy Vs. Execution: Which One Truly Maximizes Your Growth Potential?

Jeff Shore Sales Blog

I am currently reading through Verne Harnish’s (most excellent) book Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make it…and Why the Rest Don’t.

I saw Harnish present at the National Speaker’s Association annual convention in Washington, D.C. last month and I was totally mesmerized.

His presentation was inspiring; his book all the more so.

My takeaway so far: I’m doing it wrong.

I have a rapid growth company (we’ve grown over 400% in four years), but that growth has come with a price tag called stress.

Our systems show stress, our people show stress – even some of our customers are feeling the stress. Which causes me even more stress.

So when I talk about growth to my team, I am in danger of blowing an entire series of mental gaskets. I can barely even say the word “grow” anymore without eliciting eye rolls and groans.

Our entire organization seems to have two brain cells left. And they are standing on a ledge. Holding hands. I think they’re gonna jump.

Okay, it’s not that bad. But sometimes it feels as if it is headed in that direction!

Now, before I heard from Verne Harnish, I would have told you my company was dealing with execution issues.

I think of my company as a potted plant. Above the surface there is healthy and vibrant growth, but below the surface is a root ball that is becoming increasingly tangled.

As a devotee of Dan Sullivan and the Strategic Coach® methodology, I have come to learn that the “ceiling of complexity” is a crippling barrier.

As my Strategic Coach® mentor Adrienne Duffy likes to say, “You cannot multiply out of complexity. You must simplify in order to multiply.”

My thinking was that I needed to solve all of the execution issues within my organization. But Harnish led me to a more important question: execution of what?

Yes, I might face some execution problems as we scale up our company. And I can work on that with my team.

But I must first clearly define our strategic outcomes.

I have a sense of my strategy, but “a sense” is just not enough.

With this fresh perspective, I must create clarity on some important questions:

• Who are we?
• Why do we exist?
• Where are we growing?
• More importantly, why are we growing?

Harnish asks the question this way: “Can you state your firm’s strategy simply – and is it driving sustainable growth in revenue and gross margins?”

I need to achieve that striking clarity for my team before I can think about growing further.

Don’t get me wrong – growth is a beautiful thing!

More growth equals more value bestowed upon more people. And part of my company’s mission is to pour our lives into the lives of our customers.

So, I’m down with all that.

But growth for growth’s sake is looking more and more unappealing to me. It is the purpose behind the growth that really matters.

As I am fond of saying…it’s the “Why” behind the “What” that matters most. So, yes, feel free to quote the old proverb here in your Facebook comments: “Physician, heal thyself.”

I’m working on it!

But let me ask you…what is that striking clarity and purpose for you? What is it for your organization? Why do you do what you do every day? Define your purpose…and you can change the world.


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About the Author: Jeff Shore

Jeff Shore is the Founder and CEO of Shore Consulting, Inc. a company specializing in psychology-based sales training programs. Using these modern, game-changing techniques, Jeff Shore’s clients delivered over 145,000 new homes generating $54 billion in revenue last year.