Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done is a must read for leaders. The authors nail the principal of the “vital few” strategic initiatives to enhance focus and allocate resources.
How do portfolio companies of private investment groups stand to benefit? For openers, several strategies may work for a company—the point being that it is an unproductive exercise to debate with the investment banker intermediaries and deal team investors to alter the investment thesis. These are experienced professionals who do their homework--but they typically don’t run the companies they buy.
The real point is that the leadership team at the portfolio company has to understand the investment thesis since they own execution. Additionally, they live the business model, and they have intimate knowledge of the impediments of execution that did not necessarily get detected in due diligence.
The strategic planning process that works well for most middle market companies is facilitated collaboration between deal teams and portfolio company management. While designed to accomplish the strategic vision, it is in reality more tactical in nature, i.e., instead of the “what’s,” the group focuses on the “how’s.”
The strategic planning process serves several purposes, including the clarification of roles and expectations, communications, resources alignment, milestones, measures, and priorities. The primary output of the process is execution consensus, memorialized in a project plan. In essence, it is the road map of the investment thesis.