Last post we looked at the Execution Trap and how leaders can become caught there, either by things they have done, or by cultures left behind by long-departed predecessors. Fortunately, once you know you are caught, the Execution Trap is fairly easy to escape from, but it does require some intentional effort.

The key to escaping from the trap is to deliberately shift conversations or meetings about the detail of work towards a focus on improving the system the work takes place within, or a focus on whether the work is aligned to the organisation’s goals and strategies. We do this by asking the right questions. 

The SEEM Model

I should at this point introduce the model we will be using for this. It’s called the SEEM model which was invented by a good friend of mine by the name of Esther Derby. According to the SEEM model, there are three domains that describe all the work being done in an organisation. 

At the top is the Steering domain — work done to set strategy and direction. In the middle is the Enhancing and Enabling domain — work done to enable new capability within the organisation or to enhance the way the organisation delivers value. At the bottom is the Making domain — the detail of work being done to deliver value. Things like projects, steercos, backlogs and so on.

When a leader, and their organisation gets caught in the Execution Trap, all their attention is focussed on that bottom Making domain and the other two domains suffer.

Levelling Questions

The good news is that we, as leaders, have a lot of control over which domain a particular conversation occurs within. We exercise that control with questions that guide the conversation towards the right domain. I call these Levelling Questions.

When a leader is caught in the Execution Trap, they will, often without being aware of it, guide conversations towards the Making domain by asking Making level questions. Or, the culture of the organisation will establish meetings and processes intended to answer Making level questions. What are Making level questions?  

• When is that due?

• What’s the status?

• What are our actuals vs estimates?

• How many bugs are we finding?

• What decision do you need from me?

Important questions, yes, but they should not be the entire focus of the organisation and its leaders.

If you find yourself in a Making level conversation and want to elevate it to an Enhancing and Enabling conversation, you can use Enhancing and Enabling level questions -

• What are the systemic issues getting in our way?

• How could we make things run more smoothly?

• Is there something different we can try?

• Have we set up the right guiderails?

• How do we stop this happening again?

• Do we have the right mix of skills to succeed?

• Who else could handle this?

• Have we set ourselves up for success?

And likewise, if you want to elevate a conversation to a Steering conversation, you can use Steering level questions - 

• Is this taking us in the right direction?

• Will this deliver the business results we are after?

• How does this align with our strategy?

• What are the business benefits?

Elevating the Conversation

There are many more I could list here but you get the idea. By choosing a question that takes the conversation to how we can improve the organisation’s ability to deliver (what systemic issues…) or towards building new capabilities (do we have the right mix of skills) we can shift the conversation towards Enhancing and Enabling. By choosing a question that shifts the conversation towards direction or strategic alignment we can elevate the conversation towards Steering.

It will probably take more than one question though. There is a natural tendency for conversations to drift downwards towards Making, particularly in organisations that are caught in the Execution Trap, so a conversation that starts at Enhancing and Enabling can quickly become a Making conversation unless someone in the room continually elevates it back towards the right level.

It is also common for people to respond to any question with Making level information - 

“Is this taking us in the right direction?” 

“Well the project is on track schedule wise and the actuals have us well within budget…”

Don’t be afraid to ask the question again to get the right level response - 

“Is this taking us in the right direction?” 

“Well the project is on track schedule wise and the actuals have us well within budget…”

“Yes, the project is well on track and thanks for keeping it like that, but is the project taking the organisation in the right direction?

Dealing with Decision Escalation

The other thing leaders need to be aware of is decision escalation. That’s one of the most common ways an organisational culture can trap a leader down in the Making domain - by constantly bombarding them with requests for decisions that relate to the detail of work. 

Leaders are conditioned to make decisions. So when someone comes to you for a decision, the temptation is to go ahead and make it (or to escalate again if the organisation’s culture demands it). This reinforces the escalation culture and locks the leader firmly in the Execution Trap. Instead, the leader should, gently but firmly, redirect those escalations back down. 

This can be tricky, particularly if the organisation has a culture of fear around decision making - people will be very reluctant to make a call themselves, that’s why they escalated in the first place. So you will probably have to ease them in gently. Start by asking them, or their team for a recommendation. That way they do a lot of the decision making but still have the safety of you making the final call. Get them to provide a couple of options and recommend one as the preferred way to go. By doing this you can coach a reluctant or inexperienced team to think about problems, assess options and make a decision. 

As they become more comfortable with making the decisions, which is what they are doing by providing you with recommendations, start to gently remove the need to come to you for the final call. Make it clear that you trust them and whatever recommended option they choose, you will support it. 

This is, of course, way more work than just making the decision for them in the first place, but rather than locking the Execution trap tighter around you, it will slowly, but surely, break you, and the organisation free.

Breaking free from the execution trap

While the tools for getting out of the execution trap are easy, they do need to be applied diligently and intentionally over time. It’s no good asking a levelling question once or pushing one decision back down. What you are doing is building a new culture and that takes time. 

It will seem like nothing is shifting. It will seem like your efforts are in vain but things will shift. Slowly but surely. Over time, you and your organisation can dismantle the Execution Trap and break free.