Leadership: Plan for Updates

Comment: This is the eigthth post of the Leadership Process series. I began this series because I saw a lack of rigor and discipline to leadership. The purpose of these posts is to look at a process model used by leaders. 

Plan for Updates

Many leaders tend to shoot from the hip. They assess, in their minds, what needs to get done and just do it. They are in charge and direct people to perform the necessary steps. That is the way things got done in the days of the movie star John Wayne.  Today, complexity frustratrates the process with nonlinear relationships and uncertainty or risk. Leaders need to be more diligent and deliberate in their actions and decisions. Thus, the need to plan updates to the vision and strategy.

The updates are generally known and were an outcome of assessing results. They typically would originate from the EBO process. specifically, measures of effectiveness and triggers would indicate the adjustments necessary to correct the efforts tracking.  The intent is to make the necessary adjustments to refocus the effort and achieve the planned results. Once the updates are prepared and infused in to the strategy they re-enter the cycle for another go around. 

If necessary, the constituency is informed and adjusted as necessary. Then the organizational design is reconsidered to ensure it meets the new demands. Finally, the PM recieves the adjustments and mobilizes the resources in order to compensate for the updates and move closer to the strategic goals and objectives. Finally, the updates are assessed to determine if progress was made or additional updates are required.

In the end planning for updates requires small adjustments to the strategy and vision that trickle down through the EBO process seeking to affect the measures in favor of the desired outcomes or effects.