Winning Strategy Requires Three Factors of Adherence

Stick with It

If you are wondering why the great strategy your management team came up with just does not seem to be catching on with employees, then check out Stick with It:  Mastering the Art of Adherence (on Amazon #ad) by Lee and Julie Colan.  The book provides a formula of

Adherence = Focus X Competence X Passion

and explains why each is important and how using the multiplier effect will make a strategy more “sticky.”  In chapter 3, they go on to explain how the formula works with examples of

Strategy + Adherence = Level of Achievement.

Below are the three factors of adherence from the book.  Included is my variation on their suggested questions to ask your teams for each component.

• Focus provides clarity on making decisions related to accomplishing goals.  So ask yourself and your employees “What do we need to execute our strategy?” in order to adequately focus.
• Competence is required to measure the ability to reach goals.  It should consider skills, tools, systems, and processes necessary.  To define and grow your competence, ask “How will we execute our strategy” to be sure you gain the required competencies.
• Passion requires a connection to goals via each employee’s need to be valued and contribute meaningful work, as well as be part of team.  Ask “Why are we executing our strategy” and be sure each employee can connect to and support the answer.

In other words the more people focus on the company strategy, use and develop competencies to carry out the strategy, or the more passionate they are about the strategy and how their jobs help meet goals - then the accomplishments desired by the strategy will rise.  For more on Stick with It, read the book and visit the authors’ template site at http://thelgroup.com/stickwithit/.