1. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

2. Our webinar will begin in a few minutes.
“Figuring out the right things to do isn’t nearly as difficult as continuing to do them over the long term.”
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3. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

4. Our webinar will begin in a few minutes.
“Remember:
The problem for most of us isn’t knowing what to do… it’s doing it.”
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5. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“The greatest attribute for any business leader is perseverance.”
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7. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“Excellence, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
If you’re serious about pursuing excellence, you must decide what excellence means for your organization.”
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9. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“It’s useful to think of excellence in two broad categories:
Customer excellence and business excellence.”
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11. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“Satisfied customers drive business success – and business success enables investment to satisfy customers.”
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13. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends.”
Brian Tracy
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15. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
Aristotle
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17. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“People go in the direction leadership is walking, not pointing.”
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19. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence. “
Unknown
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21. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well."
John W. Gardner
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23. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.”
Jim Rohn
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25. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“Concentrate on solving the problem that makes all the other problems soluble.”
Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
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27. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

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“The strategic agenda demands discipline and continuity; its enemies are distraction and compromise.”
Michael E. Porter
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29. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
November 15, 2011

30. Our webinar will begin in a few minutes.
“One of the major barriers to achieving lasting excellence is how little formal effort organizations put into learning how to execute strategy.”
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31. Organizing & Aligning Discipline III: Align Systems
REMINDER: START RECORDING
STARTING SLIDE
Hello and welcome to today’s webinar, entitled Organizing & Aligning, Discipline III – Align Systems. Today we’ll be discussing the 3rd of the 6 disciplines in the Six Disciplines methodology.
November 15, 2011

32. Your Presenter Matt Lauth Managing Partner Strategy Execution Advisors
Certified Business Coach
My name is Matt Lauth. I am the managing partner at Strategy Execution Advisors and I’ll be hosting today’s webinar.

33. Discipline III: Align Systems
Having a good strategy and defined objectives is important, but alignment to the capability is critical to execution.  Discipline III - Align Systems is all about alignment, from the top down and from the bottom up.  During this webinar we'll review each step of Discipline III and show you how to apply it to your organization. In this webinar you'll learn how to: 1. What does "align systems" mean? 2. How to identify misalignment? 3. Aligning processes. 4. Aligning policies. 5. Aligning diagnostic measures. 6. Aligning technology 7. Aligning people. 8. How to effectively do operational planning. 9. How can I do this in my organization? This is 1 hour of your time that will give you the information needed to align the resources of your organization and develop operational plans that support the strategy and goals of the organization.
Before we begin I want to take a moment to quickly connect with the expectations set for today’s webinar. By the end of our 60 minutes I want you to come away with clear answers to the following:
1. What does "align systems" mean? 2. How to identify misalignment? 3. Aligning processes. 4. Aligning policies. 5. Aligning diagnostic measures. 6. Aligning technology 7. Aligning people. 8. How to effectively do operational planning. 9. How can I do this in my organization?

34. Six Disciplines Process
Learn
Strategize
Measure
Plan
Let’s quickly review the 6 disciplines within the Six Disciplines Methodology
The Six Disciplines are:
Decide What’s Important - Strategy
Set Goals that Lead - Planning
Align Systems – Organizing and Aligning
Work the plan - Execution
Innovate Purposefully – Measure Results and innovate to improve results
Step back from the working “in” the business to working “on” the business. - Learning
Manage
Organize
© Six Disciplines, LLC All Rights Reserved.

35. Six Disciplines Methodology
A. Renew Mission
B. Renew Values
C. Renew Strategic Position
D. Renew Vision
E. Define VFOs
F. Agree What to Stop
A. Define Measures
B. Define Targets
C. Define Initiatives
D. Engage the Team
A. Identify Misalignments
B. Align Processes
C. Align Policies
D. Align Measures
E. Align Technology
F. Align People
A. Define IPs Quarterly
B. Review IPs Weekly
C. Rate IPs Quarterly
D. Prioritize Daily
E. Monitor Measures
A. Brainstorm
B. 100-Point Exercise
C. Quick-ROI Analysis
D. 5-Step Problem Solving
E. Champion Your Ideas
F. Recognize Contribution
A. Review Externals
B. Review Internals
C. Recap SWOT
D. Review Individuals
ANNUAL
(4-8 hrs., 6 weeks before year end)
(4-8 hrs., 5 weeks before year end)
ON-GOING
(4-8 hrs., 7 weeks before year end)
QUARTERLY & WEEKLY
(4-8 hrs., 4 weeks before year end)
The Six Disciplines methodology is built around 6 key disciplines that include 31 specific steps.

36. Strategy – Decide What’s Important
ANNUAL
(4-8 hrs., 6 weeks before year end)
(4-8 hrs., 5 weeks before year end)
ON-GOING
(4-8 hrs., 7 weeks before year end)
QUARTERLY & WEEKLY
(4-8 hrs., 4 weeks before year end)
A. Define Measures
B. Define Targets
C. Define Initiatives
D. Engage the Team
A. Identify Misalignments
B. Align Processes
C. Align Policies
D. Align Measures
E. Align Technology
F. Align People
A. Define IPs Quarterly
B. Review IPs Weekly
C. Rate IPs Quarterly
D. Prioritize Daily
E. Monitor Measures
A. Brainstorm
B. 100-Point Exercise
C. Quick-ROI Analysis
D. 5-Step Problem Solving
E. Champion Your Ideas
F. Recognize Contribution
A. Review Externals
B. Review Internals
C. Recap SWOT
D. Review Individuals
A. Mission
B. Values
C. Strategic Position
D. Vision - Where
E. Define VFOs - What
F. Agree What to Stop
ANNUAL
(4-8 hrs., 6 weeks before year end)
In our past webinars we reviewed discipline I – Decide What’s Important.
This first discipline focuses on Strategy.

37. Planning - Set Goals That Lead
ANNUAL
(4-8 hrs., 6 weeks before year end)
(4-8 hrs., 5 weeks before year end)
ON-GOING
(4-8 hrs., 7 weeks before year end)
QUARTERLY & WEEKLY
(4-8 hrs., 4 weeks before year end)
A. Identify Misalignments
B. Align Processes
C. Align Policies
D. Align Measures
E. Align Technology
F. Align People
A. Define IPs Quarterly
B. Review IPs Weekly
C. Rate IPs Quarterly
D. Prioritize Daily
E. Monitor Measures
A. Brainstorm
B. 100-Point Exercise
C. Quick-ROI Analysis
D. 5-Step Problem Solving
E. Champion Your Ideas
F. Recognize Contribution
A. Review Externals
B. Review Internals
C. Recap SWOT
D. Review Individuals
A. Mission
B. Values
C. Strategic Position
D. Vision
E. Define VFOs
F. Agree What to Stop
A. Define Measures
B. Define Targets
C. Define Initiatives
D. Engage the Team
A. Define Measures - What
B. Define Targets - What
C. Define Initiatives - How
D. Engage the Team
Discipline II – Set Goals that Lead is about Planning.
ANNUAL
(4-8 hrs., 5 weeks before year end)

38. Organizing – Align Systems
ANNUAL
(4-8 hrs., 6 weeks before year end)
(4-8 hrs., 5 weeks before year end)
ON-GOING
(4-8 hrs., 7 weeks before year end)
QUARTERLY & WEEKLY
(4-8 hrs., 4 weeks before year end)
A. Identify Misalignments
B. Align Processes
C. Align Policies
D. Align Measures
E. Align Technology
F. Align People
A. Define IPs Quarterly
B. Review IPs Weekly
C. Rate IPs Quarterly
D. Prioritize Daily
E. Monitor Measures
A. Brainstorm
B. 100-Point Exercise
C. Quick-ROI Analysis
D. 5-Step Problem Solving
E. Champion Your Ideas
F. Recognize Contribution
A. Review Externals
B. Review Internals
C. Recap SWOT
D. Review Individuals
A. Mission
B. Values
C. Strategic Position
D. Vision
E. Define VFOs
F. Agree What to Stop
A. Define Measures
B. Define Targets
C. Define Initiatives
D. Engage the Team
A. Identify Misalignments
B. Align Processes
C. Align Policies
D. Align Measures
E. Align Technology
F. Align People
ANNUAL
(4-8 hrs., 4 weeks before year end)
Today we are discussing discipline III, Align Systems. Discipline III is about alignment and organization.
This discipline as 6 steps:
Identify Misalignments
Align Processes
Align Policies
Align Measures
Align Technology
Align People

39. Poll Questions
To start off, I’d like to get your input on a 6 poll questions related to the topic of alignment….
How would you rate the overall alignment within you organization?
How would you rate the alignment in processes?
How would you rate the alignment in policies?
How would you rate the alignment in measurement?
How would you rate the alignment in technology?
How would you rate the alignment in people?

40. Growth Limiters
Alignment is the first of three basic limiters to growth: alignment, communication and accountability.
Strategy is the foundation for address these three limiters to growth.
Without alignment, you can’t have effective communication.
Without communication, you cannot establish a culture of accountability.
Without accountability you cannot have performance excellence.
Discipline III is a whole organization assessment of alignment because it involves every employee. 40

41. Align Systems
Let’s look at the process flow from Discipline II, planning, to discipline III, aligning and organizing.

42. Annual Planning Timeline
Measure/Grade Card
Workshop
Send Stakeholder
Surveys
Engage the Team
Meeting
Individual Plan
Finalization
Client Kick-Off
Meeting
Distribute Survey
Results
Bottoms-Up Planning
Initiative
Finalization Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9
Start Stakeholder
Survey Process
Alignment
Planning Session
(2 days)
Individual Plan
Workshops
Goals Statement
Finalization
The organizing activities start as part of the Strategic Planning retreat and continue for a period of 4-6 weeks to ensure the plans of the organization are balanced against the realities of the organization.
The annual alignment review occurs during this detailed planning period. Often times alignment issues surface during the bottoms-up planning activities.
Finalize Stakeholder Survey Results
Initiative
Workshop(s)

43. What does “align systems mean”?
Ensuring the components of the organization are working in close cooperation to meet the goals of the organization
90% of effectively formulated strategies fail due to execution.
Organizations are complex systems made up of many different groups and parts
Processes
Policies
Measures
Technology
People
What does align systems mean?
First, we need to think of our organization as a system – set of inter-related functions for a common purpose.

44. Types of Misalignment Creeping Misalignment Strategic Misalignment
As the organization changes the “current” approach slowly becomes less aligned with the goals of the organization
Strategic Misalignment
Occurs suddenly at the recognition systems and resources are not deployed to support the strategy of the organization
What to do?
Have a formal approach to identifying alignment issues
There are two basic types of misalignment: creeping and strategic.

45. Step III-A – Identify Misalignments
Conduct a formal alignment survey
Ask those who know best – your employees
Natural next step after the engage the team meeting
Communicate strategy
Engaged discussion
Identify key goals of the organization
Review objectives, measures and targets
Assess buy-in and alignment
The first step is to identify misalignment.
This is done annually through the “engage the team” survey. It allows a candid feedback loop on the strategy, goals and plans for the upcoming year.
It allows those who know the business the best to give detailed feedback on how well they see the organization being aligned, or in a position to reealize the goals of the organization.

47. Step III-B – Align Processes
Poor performance is usually due to a process problem
Identify the core processes of your business
Characteristics of a solid process:
Defined - documented
Transferable – others can be trained
Repeatable – consistent results
Flexible – addresses ongoing change
Aligned – purpose aligned with strategy
Measurable – clarity of performance level

49. Step III-C – Align Policies
A decision rule that guides the operations of the business
Separate from, but related to processes
Characteristics of well-implemented policies:
It is necessary
The intent is clear
The intent is honored
It is aligned
It is measurable

51. Step III-D – Align Measures
Measurement is part of the culture of excellent organizations
Clear measures help people move toward a goal
Types of measures:
Leading – leads
Lagging – sales
Summarized – return on investment
Detailed – website traffic by day
Strategic – aligned to strategy
Tactical – aligned to operational efficiency
Absolute – cash on hand
Relative – sales days of cash

53. Step III-E – Align Technology
Every aspect of business today is impacted by technology
Be conscious and deliberate in review of technology and how it supports the strategic agenda for the organization
Learn how to make technology investments that serve the long-term purposes of the organization
Select technologies that help measure the effectiveness of key processes

55. Step III-F – Align People
People are our top investment
Gauge alignment of people to strategy
Benchmark yourself against your peers
Establish rigorous hiring and on-boarding processes
Understand the strengths and performance of every employee
Be clear about the goals of the organization and employee’s specific responsibilities
Be deliberate on your organizational structure – reflection of core promises/processes

56. Throughout the planning process the Six Disciplines technology is used as the repository, or planning system for both strategic plans as well as operational plans.
The software serves as a planning system, document management system and performance management system (later on as execution against plans is measured).
Most processes, policies and measures are tracked in the Six Disciplines system.

57. Learn Strategy Innovate Plan Execute Organize I. DECIDE WHAT’S
IMPORTANT
VI. STEP BACK
Learn
Strategy
V. INNOVATE PURPOSEFULLY
II. SET GOALS
THAT LEAD
Innovate
Plan
IV. WORK THE PLAN
III. ALIGN
SYSTEMS
The Six Disciplines process is holistic in that it addresses both strategic as well as operational goals; and also in that it engages all levels of the organization, from senior leadership, to business units, to divisions and departments down to the individual knowledge worker.
Execute
Organize

58. For more information and to register, visit:
Upcoming Webinars
October 21th: Excellence in Annual Planning
October 28th: Discipline I – Decide What’s Important
November 3rd: Discipline II – Set Goals That Lead
November 15th: Discipline III – Align Systems
November 18th: Discipline IV – Work the Plan
November 30th: Discipline V – Innovate Purposefully
December 6th: Discipline VI – Step Back
Our upcoming webinars cover each of the remaining disciplines in greater detail. Here’s a list of the upcoming webinars. You can visit our website to learn more and to register.
Past webinars have been recorded and are available on our website.
Today’s webinar, along with the PowerPoint presentation slides will be uploaded to our website and will be available by end of day today.
For more information and to register, visit:

59. Thank You! Matt Lauth mlauth@sxadvisors.com (419) 348-8046
Thank you for attending today’s webcast. Here’s my contact information if you’d like to reach me.
Now let’s answer some questions.
REMINDER: STOP RECORDING
Survey Questions:
1. How would your rate your overall satisfaction with the webinar? Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor
Would you recommend this webinar to a colleague? Yes, No
What could we do to make webinars like this more effective for you? Essay response
What topics would you like to see covered in future webinars? Essay response
Matt Lauth
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