The Challenge

If you have ever been at a martial arts studio and watched a beginning or intermediate student warm up, you probably saw lots of quick and flashy movements as he or she went through the paces of his or her forms and fighting techniques. In fact, the practitioner was likely to have kicked and blocked at a pace that would cause a spectator to assume that this particular karate kid really knew what he or she was doing. However, an advanced martial artist watching the same warm-up is likely to shake his or her head in dismissive disgust. Why? The truly competent understand one of the first tenets of the martial arts: Speed is a disguise for technique. In other words, people who are not proficient at what they do, or who aren't sure of what they are doing, will often move faster than they should to disguise the sloppiness inherent in their skill set. Sadly, throngs of people in organizations—from front line associate to chief executive officer (CEO)—make the same mistake. The good news is that by applying the five principles of master the art of execution (MAX), you won't fall into this trap.

Sample Common Danger Signs

Despite the best efforts you and others put forth, you will get off track with MAX from time to time. We are all human; it happens. The key to growth is getting off course less often and when you do, to recognize it faster and make a quicker adjustment. Following are some common examples to recognize that may help you become conscious that you, or others, have temporarily lost their way.

1. A salesperson who rushes through the sales process. He or she is prone to skip steps to disguise the fact that he or she does not really know the product or lacks the skills to control the customer through any other means than blazing from the meet and greet to the close. This person hopes that if he or she moves fast enough, the customers will not realize that they are witnessing an episode of amateur hour.
   1. Good news: If this salesperson has daily, weekly, and monthly MAX acts outlined in a personalized success profile (PSP) and posts his or her results during a daily rhythm accountability meeting (RAM) on a MAX board, you'll see far less of this undisciplined and unfocused behavior.
2. When shorthanded, a manager may hire fast and recklessly to secure coverage, at the price of making obvious the fact that he or she lacks the skills and structure necessary to hire strategically. Such managers use interviewing as an exercise in inclusivity rather than as an elimination process. In their haste, they ask softball questions, decide whether they like the person, and make yet another wrong gut decision that inflicts perpetual damage on the entire team's morale, momentum, and results. After making a handful of such sloppy hires, they boast that they “hired three new ones this week.” The managers hope the urgent pace of their undisciplined process disguises the fact that they have the same effectiveness as using a palm reader to hire great people.
   1. Good news: When MAX is installed in your culture, managers are forced to hire more carefully. After all, they must now bring people on board who are able to execute daily, are held accountable daily, and are subject to faster pruning if they do not perform. These cultural realities force tougher selection processes, ensuring that fewer misfits who inhibit execution and results are brought on board.
3. Business owners whose credit lines exceed their common sense go on acquisition binges, creating the perception that they are growing their businesses quickly, only to fail eventually. Their unsound processes, mediocre people, and derelict leadership skills eventually converge to create a perfect storm of vulnerability that exposes the rate of their rapid and artificial growth as being built on a foundation of quicksand. As they added more rooftops to their portfolio, they were able to create the illusion that they were competent operators. The reality, however, was that the new points were simply an extension of their original mediocre enterprise, resulting in nothing more than a bigger funeral for their business in the end.
   1. Good news: MAX reveals untold potential within the enterprise one already has, within continually tweaking lead measures, and within the ongoing discipline of strategic pruning for starters. Business owners are excited to slow down and maximize the gold mine they already have, seeing potential that has always been there, untapped.

Parting Thought

Slow down and reevaluate every opportunity and asset within your business through the lens of MAX. Ask, “Are they being maximized?” If not, you can begin to use the five steps of MAX to remedy the situation immediately. Motion is okay, but progress is essential. Think of a rocking horse: lots of movement, zero progress. Compare it with MAX: focused and intentional motion that consistently creates meaningful progress. See? It's not rocket science!