Why Health-Care Strategic Plans Fail
Posted by Lin Dworshak on Mon, Jun 20, 2011 @ 10:18 AM
Health-care executives, managers and physicians concur that a strategic plan is a necessary..indeed critical element to the success or failure of any practice, hospital or other health-care organization. Most, if not all, are educated, smart and want to succeed. And yet the road to success is so often strewn with failed plans.
One of the issues that may occur is there is no WIG. Wildly Important Goal. What is the one goal that failure to achieve renders any other achievements inconsequential? A so called WIG is a goal with significant consequence and value. It is well defined, easily measured, it's progress can be tracked and the management team all agree it's the key goal for the health-care organization.
Another issue may be "unproductive busyness". Heike Bruch from Harvard business school has stated the "90% of managers are typically either distracted or disengaged from key organizational objectives......confusing frenetic motion with constructive action, they are noted for their unproductive busyness" Does someone you have known or know immediately pop into your head? Someone who is so busy being busy that they are completely distracted from what they should be doing? They major on the minors and allow small issues to consume their time and energy. Sadly, we allow that person to function within our organizations as they do have "some" value.
But most of the time the plan fails because of failed execution. The founder of the university I attended had this simple philosophy, "plan your work, work your plan". Amazingly simple, but profoundly at the heart of failed plans.
Most organizations recognizing the need for a strategic plan invest time, energy and money into developing a strategic plan they then present to their board. Then they walk away doing the same things the same way and expecting different results.
The basic disciplines of working your plan must include:
- focus on the plan
- translate goals into specific actions with team buy in and commitment
- create a compelling "scoreboard" to track progress
- hold each other accountable all the time
Franklin Covey states that there are 4 break-downs that cause execution:
- 15% don't know the goal
- 15% don't know what to do to achieve the goal
- 20% don't keep score
- 28% are not held accountable
Ram Charan coauthor of Execution: the Discipline of Getting things Done said in his book, "70% of all strategic failures are due to poor execution...it's rarely for lack of smarts or vision."
So go back to your strategic plan......is it a WIG? If not, go back with your team and develop that one goal without which the organization crumbles. Then create a process to set action goals to achieve that WIG. Change the behavior of yourself and managers so that everyone understands that this goal is why your are there. Broadcast the goal clearly. Make sure everyone understands their specific responsibility to meeting that goal. Design and implement a mechanism to track success and failure to meet the goal. Finally hold each other accountable all the time.