Execution and the “Knowing-Doing Gap”
If you have been to London and made at least one trip on the London Underground, you will have heard and seen the famous ‘Mind the Gap’ announcements and signs.
To be clear, this is not travel advice, but an introduction to a curious disease that exists in the world of work, especially the kind of “corporate” work where the ultimate customer of the business is a little removed from day-to-day tasks and experience.
Getting sh*t done is one of the least discussed challenges in performance improvement, transformation and driving change (progress!) in any business.
One of my earliest memorable business lessons/experiences in this was when I was working with/for (thinking I was helping! 😉) a General Manager in a large telecoms company.
He was running a department of 5,000 plus people and I was surprised by the slow pace of execution towards agreed goals.
He explained one day that, in a big organization, you need to “tell them, tell them, tell them again and keeping telling them until you are sick of the topic, and at that moment, in extremis, the “penny will start to drop” and the team members will start to understand and even echo the purpose and goals.”
Been there?
At the time I thought this was sad reflection on the human condition, only to realise later that we all suffer from it to a greater or lesser extent.
EXECUTION or “getting stuff done” maybe common sense, but it is not common practice.
Deborah Kops wrote a great piece on the “Execution Quotient” (XQ) and the mindsets required to drive it. Echoes of the concept of this “Knowing-Doing Gap”.
You know, when people nod in agreement and it all seems obvious, but there is no follow through?
The “Knowing-Doing Gap” is the disparity between possessing knowledge (knowing what to do) and taking action (actually doing it), often caused by fear of failure, procrastination, overthinking, and rigid old habits. It is a behavioral, accountability, and emotional challenge.
There is a popular book on the topic, “The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action” by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton.
They ask why are there so many gaps between what we know we should do and what we actually do?
- Why do so many companies fail to implement the experience and insight they’ve worked so hard to acquire?
- How do we confront the challenge of turning knowledge about how to improve performance into actions that produce measurable results in that performance?
The business world spends an estimated $60 billion every year on leadership development. Programmes. Workshops. Assessments. Coaches. Facilitators. Offsites.
With what result?
A recent study determined that the workplace application of what leaders learn is typically low.
60 Billion Dollars . . . .
Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton explored how companies can turn talk into action.
The very definition of XQ.
It turns out that a lot of received wisdom (and mythology) in management practice is actually detrimental to progress in execution, achieving meaningful business outcomes and driving genuine performance improvement.
Our communication mechanisms and tools MUST inspire ACTION, not act as substitutes for action.
Organizations that act on their knowledge also eliminate fear, abolish destructive internal competition, measure what matters, and promote leaders who understand the work people do in their firms
We need better habits.
If you listen to any podcast with a high achieving athlete, they always come back to the self-discipline they have developed to bridge the gap between goals and accomplishment;
- The goal
- The breakdown into the small tasks and the aggregation of marginal gains
- The desired, necessary behaviours
- The choice of the existing behaviours to be replaced
- Removing anything that tempts you into your old ways
- Accountability breeds responsibility – even when no one else is looking
- It takes time to really establish a habit – consistency counts, a daily cadence, reinforcing our own determination & stamina
- Making it happen. Commitment and follow through
It’s the same in our world.
We KNOW what we have to do.
We find reasons to avoid what we have to do, often subconsciously.
The more senior you are, remember the old adage that “the fish rots from the head” . . .
Its our choice.
It turns out that our ability to develop effective habits benefits from “social facilitation”. Surrounding yourself with others (even just one!) who is trying to develop their XQ too . .
We need to harness our own determination, self-motivation, conditioning, ability, stamina, and mental attitude.
Yes, organizations also rely on interdependence. Enterprise productivity, performance, and innovation results from joint action, not just individual efforts and behaviour. But this can also undermine our personal accountability for our own XQ . . .
In developing XQ in teams and organisations, it seems to me that understanding this “Knowing-Doing Gap” is critical, and building and reinforcing positive habits is the key to success.
We all suffer from this problem.
In addition to supporting me in getting to a better exercise regime, this app has fascinated me as a great example of supporting the development of positive habits. It breaks down the goal into small achievable elements based on your progress, it has reassuring narrator support, supports you in communicating your progress towards the goal, encourages “social facilitation” and so on . . .
If someone were to take that idea and create a version to support corporate “XQ”, well . . . . There’s an idea!
You can read Deborah Kops’ article on XQ here . . .
You can read more in the Stanford Bsuiness Insights summary of the “Knowing Doing Gap” here . . .
You can read “Execution and “Getting ..It Done” and the idea of Zao ban here . . .
Thanks for reading . . .
Execution and the “Knowing-Doing Gap”