It has been said that the devil is in the details and when it comes to executing our strategic plan the details count. This week we are focusing on the lead indicators that are most efficient in moving us toward our goal.
We are continuing our look at 5 habits that make execution easier. This week we are focusing on habit #3.
Focus on Highly Leveraged Actions
We are looking for the most efficient actions (lead indicators) to move us in the direction of our goal.
This habit of execution is closely tied to the one goal that we are focused on achieving. We are looking for the easiest way to achieve the goal.
When programming a destination into our GPS we have multiple ways to get to our destination depending on our criteria (miles, time, highways, etc.). All routes lead to the same place. Focusing on the highly leveraged actions is equivalent to choosing the fastest route.
Keep in mind that we tend to focus on our lag indicators. These are how we measure goal achievement. For example, if our goal is to increase monthly revenues our lag indicator is the monthly sales report. This tells us what happened. This habit shifts our focus to lead indicators.
What can we do that is predictive of achieving our goal and that we can influence? The actions we take that are within our influence and predictive are lead indicators. There are many things that we can do and taking the time to determine which of the many will make the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time is worth the effort.
