Dan Gillmor thinks Speaker Hastert made a good point when he questioned the wisdom of rebuilding an-under-sea-level New Orleans: “Too bad he’s being pilloried for it.”

There’s a time and place for everything, but this wasn’t the time for the Speaker to suggest bulldozing New Orleans. It would have been a good time to question the federal rescue effort. You know, focus on first things first.

But Dan’s point is a good one, especially when he puts it in the context of rebuilding the San Francisco Bay Area following the big one. Whether and how to rebuild should—and, of course, will—be on the table. But even there, the focus should be on learning the lessons of New Orleans so we can put in place the planning and resources so we can recover. For example, is the Bay Area vulnerable to the kind of emergency response we are witnessing in New Orleans?

After we save as many lives as possible, after we provide food, shelter and medical attention to those in need, after we restore water and sewer service, then would be a more appropriate time to talk about rebuilding. And when we do, recognize that it is as much a political as financial question.

Politics? Hastert is Speaker of the House, a person who just helped dole out $Billions of transportation pork. Or was that energy pork?

Frankly I prefer President Bush’s answer about rebuilding New Orleans: Let’s listen to some experts first.

And let’s make sure the execution is better.

In “Where do you get your advice?,” Seth Godin talks about how companies buy credibility from consultants:

“If McKinsey said to close the plant, then it’s a lot easier to sell your board. If you had gotten precisely the same advice from precisely the same 26-year-old Harvard MBA but she’d been in your strategy group instead of at McKinsey, they’d ignore her.”

The truth is third-party validation is frequently important, especially when you need the approval of your board, the financial markets or other important stakeholders. When seeking approval for a $3.6 billion infrastructure program in San Francisco, the utility faced a major credibility problem. Critical to our eventual success was an independent review of the program by RW Beck and an additional review by an independent panel of utility experts. Beck’s reputation for independence and track record were essential.

Of course, their review was conducted by experts, not a newly-minted MBA. While it can be painful to the organization’s staff when they’re not trusted as credible, that can’t be changed overnight. In fact, in many cases, skepticism by governing boards is required. In these cases, having testimonials from credible third-parties is essential. That’s one reason financial advisors, bond counsel and credit rating agencies are part of the debt issuance process. Transparency is required.

Seth also states:

“I think most organizations don’t buy nearly enough advice. They go 97% of the way, do 97% of the work, make all the investments… but then they get too tired and too stuck to actually do the high leverage stuff that works.”

Organizations buy plenty of advice. They also generate plenty of ideas from internal experts. Turning advice and ideas into action—execution—that’s where many organizations are “stuck.”

Years ago I attended the Aviara Golf Academy trying to improve my game. Well, I’m still not a good golfer, though it’s not their fault. They taught me a lot.

One lesson had to do with control. We all want to hit the ball far and we all want to hit it straight. As a relatively new golfer, I tried to control my golf swing by holding on firmly and using my arms to make the club hit the ball.

And it wasn’t working. So they gave me the following tip: You have to give up control to get control.

They explained how holding on to the club tightly, having tense arms and working so hard to control my swing was counterproductive. These actions actually made me hit the ball inconsistently. Some went left and some were slices to the right. Some 7 irons went 180 yards. Some didn’t get beyond 120 yards.

All that control didn’t work.

Instead, they counseled a relaxed grip, barely holding on to the club. Relaxed arms. A proper takeaway but then turning through my swing to completion without any thought about controlling the swing. Just think about the target.

And you know what? It worked.

Sometimes. As I said, I’m still a poor golfer—as my fellow club members witnessed just this past weekend! But it was the right idea.

Give up control to get control.

And the funny thing is, this idea works in business too.

Are you a controller? Is it working for you?

Try giving up control, relaxing your grip a little. Your team will appreciate the freedom and use it to help you accomplish more.

How about it?

LeadershipIQ.com recently announced the results of its four-year study of why CEOs are fired or forced out. The study, based on interviews with 1,087 board members from 286 public, private, business and healthcare organizations, found that chief executives were fired, or otherwise forced out as a result of:

• Mismanaging change (31%)
• Ignoring customers (28%)
• Tolerating low performers (27%)
• Denying reality (23%)
• Too much talk, not enough action (22%)

The report says virtually every organization it interviewed has undergone change initiatives, noting:

“half of board members said that their change initiative did not go well. Most pointed to a failure on the CEO’s part to properly motivate employees and managers, and more specifically, to adequately sell the need to change course. Another group identified the CEO’s inability to follow-through and solidify the gains as the cause of failure.”

Other studies have shown that 70 percent of organizational change initiatives fail, often because the CEO isn’t committed to the change, doesn’t sell the need for the change or fails to follow through with execution. Similarly, up to 90 percent of strategic plans are never effectively implemented for the same reasons.
(Thanks to Lisa Haneberg for the link)