Business Link

by Carey-Lyn Kurten

Let’s evaluate Wylie Coyote’s busy-ness. He has a
strategy. He is goal directed and focused on catching the Roadrunner. He is not without a plan and spends many hours formulating and putting these plans to
work. He is knowledgeable, always willing to research
and shows absolute dedication to his cause. Sound
familiar? But how effective is Wylie Coyote? Wylie
Coyote lacks results.

The gap between strategy formulation and results is
larger than the gap in the Stormers’ defense. Could your
organization be like 90% of businesses around the globe
– they have a strategy, but are failing to implement it? They
lack results. The adrenaline rush and urgency that springs
from daily firefighting comes with a significant cost. Today,
calendars are full. Emails pile up. Meetings and dozens of
initiatives have managers working hard. Strategic plans and
vision statements fail to permeate the organization. They are
owned by a handful and are usually saved for the few getaway
days allocated to “strategy sessions”. Busy-ness ensues. In
the absence of clearly defined results employees can find
more than enough to keep themselves busy. To get results a
business needs a map (master action plan).

One framework that allows us to generate such results
is the Balanced Scorecard. Grounded in the work of Dr
Edward Demming, and flowing from the TQM work of Art
Schneiderman, this tool has claimed fame in the corporate
world since its introduction as a business management
tool by Kaplan and Norton in the early 1990’s. It’s potential
to transform SMME’s is still seriously under-realized. This
tool offers a brilliant opportunity for SMME’s. The Balanced
Scorecard is a performance management tool that aligns
your vision, mission and strategy to everyday work activities
and allows strategy to be implemented. It’s about priorities. If
you are going to be busy, be busy on the things that get you
results. Tom Peters suggests that “formulating strategy is not
a valuable activity if it can’t be translated into action”.

Carey-Lyn Kurten is a skilled and energized facilitator who will assist you in pinpointing strengths and developing opportunities. Based in East London, Carey-Lyn works with individuals or organizations nationally to improve the quality of their thinking. For more information contact her on 083 248 0018 or via email on mila@eln.co.za