There is a gap that must be crossed between current conditions and the ultimate vision. Focus is achieved when the critical success factors needed to propel us across the gap are identified and understood. In other words, we are able to identify the main things that must be done to propel us across the gap and achieve the vision. Focus is the ability to keep those main things the main thing as we go.

If we do not have focus – if organizations do not grasp the main things required of them – then decision making becomes difficult, awkward and mushy. To cover up this cancer, bureaucracy grows and when bureaucracy is mature a culture of indecisiveness is born. At that point, focus becomes very difficult to achieve. Sometimes, only legitimate threats to survival of the enterprise can trigger the action needed to fix things.

The primary characteristic of an indecisive culture is excessive preparation. Excessive preparation involves endless planning sessions and meetings that serve little or no purpose except to provide an illusion of progress. An organization composed of people who are constantly “getting ready” to act is an organization that has been shackled by itself. It is not focused and is unable to act because of its indecisiveness. Strategic Speed is impossible in such an environment and results will rarely meet or surpass expectations.

Focus is only possible when the things that are to be focused upon have been presented and sold to those who must focus on them. At the heart of focus are core issues of direction and the marshalling of resources in a laser-focused way to insure that effort is expended on the things that really matter. Tony Jeary’s facilitation strategy to create the proper focus zeros in on three issues;

• Mandating the correct action items
• Creating the appropriate amount of detail to support action mandates
• Creating benchmarks that can measure results.

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