People-focused knowledge management

Execution Capability
Excellence of Implementation depends upon good Execution
Capability and can be improved significantly by targeted training. In
many instances, good decisions are not implemented as intended
because of limited personal or organizational Execution Capability,
ch05.qxd 5/3/04 2:34 PM Page 143

---

144
People-Focused Knowledge Management
which then becomes a constraint. For the myriad of small action-
options that people implement every day as part of normal work, the
Execution Capability is determined by the person’s general compe-
tence. Hence, on the assembly line, decisions to perform minor
adjustments and repairs are almost automatic for the competent
worker. Similarly, an experienced insurance adjustor who surveys a
damaged building makes and tacitly implements numerous decisions
on what to look for, assesses the damage, estimates the repair or
replacement costs, and so on. The success of Implementation and the
effectiveness of Execution Capability rely on many factors as indi-
cated in Table 5-4.
For larger decisions and action-options in the enterprise setting,
good personal Execution Capability, in addition to functional exper-
tise, also requires good social and communication skills. People with
leadership qualities have greater success in seeing that their decisions
and recommendations are implemented. Implementing most larger
action-options requires resources such as budgets, management
attention, personnel, and time. When personal decisions result in
team or group implementation (such as a manager making a decision
that is intended to be implemented by a department), the reasons and
underlying premises for the decision and the associated action-
options need to be communicated extensively. As indicated, people
who participate in implementing the decisions must have tacit and
intuitive understanding of the decisions. Unless they understand, they
will not be able to incorporate the desired action-options in their tacit
Decision-Making activities.
The execution capability must also include features to suppress
bad decisions. If an action-option is determined to work against the
intent of the enterprise or otherwise is found to be unsound, it should
be stopped. In many instances, situation-handling should be repeated.