High-Velocity Strategy Execution

Leland Russell
President
GEO Group Strategic Services, Inc.

Joyce Jaffe Reynolds, Ph.D.

Weyerhaeuser leaders didn't have to mess with success. By 2004, the company's residential wood products division could boast of $8 billion in annual sales and 15,000 employees scattered across four time zones.

But they recognized some worrisome fissures. Cultural rifts persisted in the wake of several high-profile acquisitions. Five businesses fell under the division's umbrella, competing for and confusing customers. Meanwhile, the home building industry was rapidly consolidating. Leaders have responded with what they describe as the company's largest strategic overhaul in recent memory. Speed ruled. In just 12 months-from January to December of 2005-the 11-member business leadership team was selected and the entire workforce restructured to support the new strategy.

The bulk of the strategy changes occurred during the latter six months of 2005, when the business leadership team picked the next several levels of managers, called "Transition Agents." Together, they educated employees about the new strategy and worked through a 178-item strategic action plan.

In this session, you will hear about how the strategy execution process was organized and how the Business Lead Team and 300 line leaders drove high-velocity execution using an online Collaboration Center and "FastTime" processes.

The session will also cover the high-velocity execution principles, such as:

• Collective IQ - Tapping a diverse group's experience and insight to improve plans and build commitment for fast, aligned execution.
• Good Enough Plans - Creating/adjusting 'good enough' plans in real-time with the recognition that no plan survives its contact with reality.
• High-Velocity, Parallel Actions - Orchestrating a critical mass of the right actions quickly and concurrently for maximum systemic impact.

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