I was with a client, trying to accelerate his business execution and create a habit to be sure his priorities were not random but they were SMART. Tom Stone shared with me why he liked our RedYellowGreen process. He told me that if we could do the M - Measureable and the T - Timely part of "SMART." We are pretty much there. He realized that by RedYellowGreening you can. Here is how you RedYellowGreen your priorities:
Green = The goal
Red = Unacceptable results
Yellow = between Red and Green
And then we have SuperGreen which is the stretch goal that your "A" Players need.
The added bonus of RedYellowGreening a priority is the gift of Red. Most people do not discuss what unacceptable performance is. But you should because that will drive your business execution! People do not enjoy failing. I have not met many executives who are working on their businessexecution who would say "Yup, I saw the failure point and failed gloriously…. no problem!" No. We all want to win and we all have the capacity to win. Most important - we all have the desire to not fail. So when you set the Red level of results, most people will manage themselves away from the Red level of performance. Nobody wants to show up in at a meeting with priorities that are Red. This is a simple step to having stronger/faster business execution while keeping your team accountable. I said simple, not easy - remember Ryan's post?
