The Art of Action: How Leaders Close the Gaps between Plans, Actions and Results

by Stephen Bungay

Strategy was hard-nosed stuff, understood in terms of analysis and a calculator. Organization was “touchy-feely,” soft stuff understood in terms of human behavior and judgment.

Glimpse of the Blindingly Obvious.

Here, then, is a summary of the argument of this book in the form of 10 GBOs: 1 We are finite beings with limited knowledge and independent wills. 2 The business environment is unpredictable and uncertain, so we should expect the unexpected and should not plan beyond the circumstances we can foresee. 3 Within the constraints of our limited knowledge we should strive to identify the essentials of a situation and make choices about what it is most important to achieve. 4 To allow people to take effective action, we must make sure they understand what they are to achieve and why. 5 They should then explain what they are going to do as a result, define the implied tasks, and check back with us. 6 They should then assign the tasks they have defined to individuals who are accountable for achieving them, and specify boundaries within which they are free to act. 7 Everyone must have the skills and resources to do what is needed and the space to take independent decisions and actions when the unexpected occurs, as it will. 8 As the situation changes, everyone should be expected to adapt their actions according to their best judgment in order to achieve the intended outcomes. 9 People will only show the level of initiative required if they believe that the organization will support them. 10 What has not been made simple cannot be made clear and what is not clear will not get done.