The Execution Quotient (EQ) Assessment
The purpose of this EQ assessment is to provide insight into your current strategic execution process as you prepare to read this book. The assessment is organized by the four sections of the book, corresponding to the keys of the L-E-A-D Formula™. Each chapter and question has a focus that is highlighted in bold and repeated in the scoring section.
After you take the assessment, transfer your scores to the following Score Sheet to analyze them further. You can also take the assessment electronically at www.ExecutionIsTheStrategy.com and e-mail the results to yourself.
TAKING THE ASSESSMENT
Answer each question using the following scale:
1 = to no extent
2 = to a small extent
3 = to some extent
4 = to a considerable extent
5 = to a great extent
KEY 1: LEVERAGE
Chapter 1: Maximize Your Input Force (Leadership)
1. To what extent do I delegate my authority as effectively and widely as possible? Do I refrain from doing what others on my team are capable of doing?
1 2 3 4 5
2. Do I guide and oversee the work of my team? Do I avoid micromanagement and demonstrate trust?
1 2 3 4 5
3. Do I lead by example? Do I model the behaviors I expect from others?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
Chapter 2: Strengthen the Beam (Employees)
4. To what extent do I identify and hire high-performance workers? Do I know what attributes are needed to meet my future talent requirements?
1 2 3 4 5
5. Do I take the time to coach my team members? Do I connect them with experienced mentors?
1 2 3 4 5
6. Do I consistently provide my team members with the training they need to increase their personal performance? Do I invest in my key talent?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
Chapter 3: Improve the Fulcrum (Resources)
7. To what extent do I provide my team with the equipment they need to do their jobs better? Do they have the right technology?
1 2 3 4 5
8. Do I emphasize cross-functional thinking among my team members? Do we work to coordinate goals with other departments and employees?
1 2 3 4 5
9. Do I outsource tasks that others can do more inexpensively or effectively? Do I seek partnerships to “fill in the blanks” with expertise I lack?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
KEY 2: ENVIRONMENT
Chapter 4: Shape the Culture
10. To what extent do I foster an environment of excellence on my team? Do I encourage everyone to always give their best?
1 2 3 4 5
11. Do I build a firm foundation of accountability in my team? Do I emphasize the importance of reliability?
1 2 3 4 5
12. Do I encourage a collaborative atmosphere within my team? Do I embrace mutual learning and community to maximize success?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
Chapter 5: Encourage Change Hardiness
13. To what extent do I embrace change as it occurs and roll with the punches? Do I actively seek out openness and usher in change?
1 2 3 4 5
14. Do I create a nonpunitive climate of risk-taking? Do I encourage innovation and creativity?
1 2 3 4 5
15. Do I emphasize continuous improvement for myself and my entire team? Do we always strive to get better?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
Chapter 6: Ensure Engaged, Empowered Employees
16. To what extent do I drive engagement among my individual team members? Do I encourage people to take initiative?
1 2 3 4 5
17. Do I reinforce our joint responsibility to accomplish our team’s goals? Do I demonstrate how individual output contributes to everyone’s success?
1 2 3 4 5
18. Do I empower my employees to own their jobs? Do I provide them with what they need and get out of the way?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
KEY 3: ALIGNMENT
Chapter 7: Take Your Team on a Mission
19. To what extent do I understand what motivates each team member to perform at a high level? Do I understand that people contribute discretionary effort for different reasons?
1 2 3 4 5
20. Do I show genuine appreciation for hard work? Have I discovered what would be meaningful to each person?
1 2 3 4 5
21. Do I keep a clear picture of our goals in front of my team? Do I continually communicate excitement for our mission?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
Chapter 8: Plan for Goal Achievement
22. To what extent do I establish clear performance expectations for each person? Do team members know precisely what they should be doing?
1 2 3 4 5
23. Do I work with my team to establish a plan to achieve our workplace goals? Is our project planning and management seamless?
1 2 3 4 5
24. Do I ensure that the day-to-day operations of my team will achieve our long-term goals? Do we merge strategy and tactics?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
Chapter 9: Measure Your Progress
25. To what extent do I tie each person’s goals into our performance management system? Do we track the accomplishment of individual goal attainment?
1 2 3 4 5
26. Do I measure my team’s performance at regular intervals? Do we jointly review our key milestones on a routine basis?
1 2 3 4 5
27. Do I create advance plans for potential crisis? Do I prepare for contingencies?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
KEY 4: DRIVE
Chapter 10: Remove Obstacles from the Path
28. To what extent do I remove the obstacles that slow my team’s execution? Do I work to clear roadblocks when necessary?
1 2 3 4 5
29. Do I reinforce the need for urgency and efficiency? Do I encourage my team to “turn on a dime”?
1 2 3 4 5
30. Do I make speedy decisions? Do I keep over-collaboration or perfectionism from slowing us down?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
Chapter 11: Add Enablers to the Equation
31. To what extent do I help my team members eliminate workplace distractions? Do I give them time to think, be strategic, and focus?
1 2 3 4 5
32. Do I create team protocols to ensure efficient communication? Do we follow consistent guidelines for instant messaging, e-mail, and conference calls?
1 2 3 4 5
33. Do I work to eliminate activities that fail to support our strategic priorities? Do I understand that what we don’t work on is as important as what we do work on?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
Chapter 12: Eliminate Time Wasters
34. To what extent do I encourage team members to accomplish tasks in order of priority? Do I keep people focused on results, not activity or busyness?
1 2 3 4 5
35. Do I spend meeting time productively? Do I keep attendees focused and stick to the agenda?
1 2 3 4 5
36. Do I encourage a reasonable work/life balance? Do I understand that overwhelmed people hit a point of diminishing returns?
1 2 3 4 5
SUBTOTAL __________
EXECUTION QUOTIENT SCORE SHEET
Copy your scores and subtotals from the previous sections and add them up to find your grand total. See the scoring categories below to interpret your score.
KEY 1: LEVERAGE
Chapter 1: Maximize Your Input Force (Leadership)
Chapter 2: Strengthen the Beam (Employees)
Chapter 3: Improve the Fulcrum (Resources)
KEY 2: ENVIRONMENT
Chapter 4: Shape the Culture
Chapter 5: Encourage Change Hardiness
Chapter 6: Ensure Engaged, Empowered Employees
KEY 3: ALIGNMENT
Chapter 7: Take Your Team on a Mission
Chapter 8: Plan for Goal Achievement
Chapter 9: Measure Your Progress
KEY 4: DRIVE
Chapter 10: Remove Obstacles from the Path
Chapter 11: Add Enablers to the Equation
Chapter 12: Eliminate Time Wasters
Scoring Categories
151–180: Congratulations! You have a deep and effective understanding of strategic execution and know how to achieve it. All you need to do is fine-tune a bit. Keep up the good work!
121–150: You need a few tweaks here and there. You’re on the right track! Strive to improve any question where you gave yourself less than a “5.” Give yourself credit for what you do well and acknowledge where you can improve and save even more time.
91–120: Average. You’re “middle of the road,” which isn’t bad, but it’s a bit boring. You’re not the worst, and you’re not the best. But who wants to be average? Work on kicking up your strategic execution efforts a notch, so you can get more done and produce stellar results!
61–90: Major overhaul required. You’ll need to get serious about changing the way you handle your strategic execution, from setting goals through strategy to execution. Stop working so hard on the wrong things. Select one item on this list every two to three weeks and work on systematically improving your competence level.
36–60: Danger! Your productivity and strategic execution skills need a jumpstart, stat! Both your job and your organization’s future may depend upon it, so start working hard on the right things right now.
How to Use Your Scores
Compare your total scores for each section of the book to determine which L-E-A-D factor is the weakest link in your process. Within each particular key, you can delve deeper by comparing the chapter subtotals, thereby better understanding which topic you’ve expressed a weakness in. Even more useful is looking at the individual questions within each chapter for the lowest scores; in fact, those represent your best places to start. This is very much a bottom-up method of continuous improvement (another concept I focus on in this book).
As you study each chapter, especially those where you’ve scored poorly, think about how you can improve your process. If your weakest part of the L-E-A-D Formula is Leverage, where does the greatest weakness fall: in Leadership, Employees, or Resources? For example, if you’ve got a full slate of 5s except in the Resources chapter (chapter 3), where you drop to 4 on Equipment, 2 on Cross-functionality, and 3 on Partnerships, then it’s clear where your first efforts at improvement should lie: with Cross-functionality. Make a sincere effort to think beyond your desk, to break up information silos on your side of the divide, and to reach out to other groups in a collaborative, mutually beneficial manner. Then you can start working on your Partnership flaws, before polishing up the Equipment issues, gradually bringing everything up to a 5.
Once you’re happy with your new results, move on to another unsatisfactory function and work on bringing it up to par. While I would normally tell you to focus on improving what you’re already good at—that is, pushing your scores from good to great rather than wasting time on things you don’t do well—the functions I discuss in this book represent exceptions to that rule, because these are the conditions under which successful execution can flourish. They’re so fundamental that they require the maximum level of competence you can bring to bear, in order to strategically execute on the spot so well and so automatically that you ensure the survival of your team.
As you put new concepts successfully into play, return here occasionally and retake the assessment to determine how much you’ve improved. You should see improvement relatively quickly, and you may not recognize that original you a year from now.