Table Of ContentTHE EXECUTIVE CHECKLIST
THE EXECUTIVE CHECKLIST
A GUIDE FOR SETTING DIRECTION
AND MANAGING CHANGE
JAMES M. KERR
palgrave
macmillan
* THE EXECUTIVE CHECKIJST
Copyright© James M. Kerr, 2014.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-33743-6
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States-a division of St. Martin's Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-67384-1 ISBN 978-1-137-33744-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137337443
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kerr, James M.
The executive checklist : a guide for setting direction and managing
change I James M. Kerr.
pagescm
1. Organizational change. 2. Organizational effectiveness. 3. Strategic
planning. 4. Industrial management. I. Title.
HD58.8.K4667 2014
658.4'063-dc23 2013023118
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: January 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For My Mother, Elena
You gave me your love of learning and taught me
the value of working on a dream.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
IX
OPENING REMARKS The Executive Checklist Can Make the
Business World a Little Simpler 1
CHAPTER 1 Establish Leadership-The Foundation
for Change 5
CHAPTER 2 Build Trust-A Vital Component of
Enduring Achievement 25
CHAPTER 3 Strategy Setting-Translating Vision
into Action 45
CHAPTER 4 Engage Staff-The Way to Gain Support
and Accelerate Success 67
CHAPTER 5 Manage Work through Projects-A Means
to Strategic Alignment 87
CHAPTER 6 Renovate the Business-A Way to Become
"of Choice" 109
CHAPTER 7 Align Technology-It's at the Core of
All We Do 129
CHAPTER 8 Transform Staff-The People Part of
Enterprise-wide Change 149
CHAPTER 9 Renew Communications Practices-
Transparency Improves Performance 169
CHAPTER 10 Reimagine the Organization-The
Expressway to the Future 189
viii CONTENTS
POSTSCRIPT A Bold Vision for Tomorrow's Organizations 209
A Last Word 213
About the Author 215
Notes 217
Index 221
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the people who made a difference to me while I was writing this book,
especially
Irene, Dylan, and Haley-you give my effort meaning;
my extended family, including the in-laws and my Cromwell friends who
are always there when I need them;
Brian McCarthy and Joe Buyak, who regularly helped me clear my head
and gain perspective;
my agent, ,Giles Anderson, who believed in the project from its inception
and found a good home for the book;
my editor at Palgrave Macmillan, Laurie Harting, and her entire team, who
encouraged me to do my best, while they did the rest; and
all of my clients over the years who continue to provide me with ample
opportunities to learn and grow as I hone my craft.
Thank you.
OPENING REMARKS
THE EXECUTIVE CHECKLIST
CAN MAKE THE BUSINESS
WORLD A LITTLE SIMPLER
The beginning is the most important part of the work.
-Plato
Today's business world is extremely complex and challenging. It's easy for
even the most seasoned executive to make a mistake or overlook a detail
that can lead to utter failure for his or her business. This book is about
keeping it simple.
What better way to simplify the complex than to create a checklist?
Checklists are a modest way to reduce failure, ensure consistency, and safe
guard comprehensiveness. They're used everywhere-from Mom's grocery
list to Dad's "To Do" list.
But did you know that checklists support very sophisticated and
important processes and activities, as well? There are preflight check
lists used by commercial pilots, surgical safety checklists used by
neurosurgeons, and structural engineering checklists used by bridge
builders. These things save lives. It doesn't get much more important than
that!
So, why not devise a checklist for business executives, too?
2 THE EXECUTIVE CHECKLIST
WHY AN EXECUTIVE CHECKLIST?
We have entered a new commercial age. The business models from the
past that relied heavily on size and leverage will no longer deliver returns.
Clearly, regulatory restructuring on a global scale is underway. Transpar
ency is being demanded from all quarters, which is thus reconstituting the
way businesses are run. In turn, all of this change is informing the design
and evolution of the millennium's new economy.
As a result, executives are being tasked to optimize their enterprise's
organizational structures, to enhance product and service delivery models,
and to blaze new paths to unmatched market reach. This is not a trivial
task in and of itself, but add to that the "need for speed," driven by the con
tinued advancement of technological capabilities, and this generation of
business executives just may be facing the greatest management challenge
of the postindustrial era.
There's just so much to demystify, understand, leverage, manage, and
coordinate in order to build an organization that is ever prepared to do
what it takes to respond to a rapidly shifting and, often, disorganized world
economy. Today's enterprises must be swift to change, skillful in service
delivery, and virtually interconnected across a value chain that, more often
than not, spans the globe.
To be successful in this extremely complex and unstable business envi
ronment, executive leaders must do all that they can to simplify. Therefore,
checklists are in order.
CHECKLISTS MAKE LIFE EASIER
This book is a result of my quest to streamline the work of my executive
clients. One can say that the book has been decades in the making. As my
management consulting practice enters its third decade, I have had occasion
to reflect back on the terrific engagements that I have had with some of the
largest, most successful enterprises in the world. It is through work with cli
ents like IBM, The Home Depot, and JP Morgan Chase that I have enjoyed
the unique opportunity. to witness, firsthand, the economic changes and
organizational challenges that have led us to where we are today.
Indeed, it is through rich, client experiences that The Executive Checklist
was born. I found that, regardless of industry, company size, or financials,
