"No Excuses" Strategy Execution (NESE) is an advanced strategy execution process developed by the Vision2Reality team. The NESE process was developed with a user-friendly web based software suite that steps organizations through the key steps leading to effective strategy execution.

To develop a better understanding of NESE and its advantages over generic strategy execution, we will answer the who, what, why, where, when and how that must be in place before NESE is achieved.

The Who
The "Who" is easy to define, but it can never be "We". How often do you hear someone say, "We need to do this or that?" The reality is that when it's "We", no one is accountable. NESE requires the assignment of an individual associate to a specific goal in order to hold them accountable. Reducing the scope of a goal assignment can transition a "We" to a "Me" in order to achieve that all-important individual accountability.

Although there are many different types of goals, all goals in Vision2Reality have a Manager and an Owner. The Manager is responsible for making sure the Owner completes the goal in a timely and efficient manner. The Manager can assign of goal to an Owner or an Owner can assign a goal to themselves. Regardless of who assigns the goal, both the Manager and the Owner must agree on the what, why, where, when and how of each goal.

The What
Defining the "What" or the scope of a goal is not only the most difficult to do, it's also the most important. Developing a crystal clear definition of every goal assigned to every associate and making sure these goals are aligned with the organization's strategy is roughly half the battle.

It is critical that both the Manager and Owner agree on the crystal clear definition or scope of every goal. For associate level goals, the Manager is typically the associate's boss. For project-based goals, the Manager is typically the Project Manager.

Goal assignment can be done independently, but the goal scope should be discussed thoroughly between all stakeholders. The dialog that occurs during the goal discussion meeting is critical to the mutual understanding and definition of the scope for every assigned goal.

The Why
Understanding the "Why" should be easy. Alignment of every assigned goal with the organization's strategy is essential. If the strategic "Why" of every goal is not obvious, do not assign it or waste any time working on it.

Company level strategic goals should be cascaded to group (department) level goals or project specific goals. Company, group and project level goals must be cascaded to associate level goals that are assigned to every individual in an organization.

The When
Controlling "When" an assigned goal is completed is also a huge challenge. What you don't know about a goal, especially when you think you know it, will cause major delays. Juggling the immediate priority of multiple assigned goals along with daily crises caused when Murphy unexpectedly strikes makes timely completion a real challenge.

Helping other teammates work on their goals is no excuse for being late on a previously assigned goal. If helping others was so important, their goal or at least the part worked on by the tardy associate should have been re-assigned to the tardy teammate being asked to help. The priority of the tardy goal should have been changed along with the establishment of a new due date, that would result in that goal not being late. It is acceptable to postpone the due dates on previously assigned goals when their relative priority is lowered as long as the rescheduling is done proactively preventing any of these goals from being late.

With NESE, all assigned goals completed late by associates are easily identified. Understanding the root cause of tardy goals is a little more challenging, but must be done. Corrective action leading to timely goal achievement must occur or associates that chronically complete their goals late must be culled from the herd.

As the critical mass of associates in an organization becomes better completing assigned goals in a timely and efficient manner, the chronically late associates will become a more apparent problem. Culling these chronically tardy associates from the herd allows the whole organization to complete more assignments quicker consistent with the principles of driving lean continuous improvement.

The Where
"Where" anything gets done today doesn't really matter as long as it gets done. It is mentioned here mainly because it sounded good and if it was omitted, people would probably wonder why. Perhaps an organization plagued with explosive growth could cause a "Where" constraint, but wouldn't we all like to have problems like that?

The How
"How" a goal will get accomplished should always be known. This is typically referred to as a plan. Whenever you can't figure out a plan to achieve a goal, you must re-define the "What" until the "How" appears to be attainable.

Keep in mind that "How" a goal gets accomplished should always be a challenge or it's not worth doing. To make a goal more challenging you can always expand the scope, assign fewer resources or pull up the due date.

Much more time should be devoted toward the development of better plans to achieve the concisely defined goals. Most people are prone to "Do" rather than to plan. This premature jump to action typically results in multiple failed attempts that in most cases cause goals to be late. Developing a better plan has a major impact on how timely goals are achieved.

NESE is not the destination, the car or the road. NESE is where the rubber meets the road. NESE is the tires that direct the car on the road, headed in the best direction toward the planned destination at the fastest speed that will get the passengers there safely. Get lost and you lose. Go to slow and you lose. Go to fast and you lose. It's never easy to achieve "No Excuses" Strategy Execution, but it sure is worth it.