Preventing Strategic Gridlock: Leading Over, Under & Around Organizational Jams to Achieve High Performance Results (Paperback)

~ (Author) "What do Jill Barad (ex-CEO of Mattel, Inc.), Doug Ivester (ex-CEO of Coca-Cola), and Durk Jager (ex-CEO of Procter & Gamble) have in common?..." (more)
Key Phrases: strategic gridlock, gridlock cycle, hidden roadblocks, Preventing Strategic, Tin Ear, Act Now Think Later (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you're responsible for creating and implementing business plans in any organization, then tune in to Pam Harper..." -- Alexandra R. Lajoux, Editor-in-Chief, Director's Monthly, National Association of Corporate Directors, and Author of The Art of M&A Integration

"Pamela Harper has differentiated herself with this wonderful book and is sure to help those responsible for building a business..." -- Mitchell Schlimer, Chairman.CEO, Let's Talk Business Network, National Radio Talk Show Host

"…a must read book for all levels of management. Keep this one on your desk for future reference." -- Ron Churchill, Vice President, AFSM International

"If you're responsible for creating and implementing business plans in any organization, then tune in to Pam Harper..." -- Alexandra R. Lajoux, Editor-in-Chief, Director's Monthly, National Association of Corporate Directors, and Author of The Art of M&A Integration<br /><br />"Pamela Harper has differentiated herself with this wonderful book and is sure to help those responsible for building a business..." -- Mitchell Schlimer, Chairman.CEO, Let's Talk Business Network, National Radio Talk Show Host<br /><br />"Â…a must read book for all levels of management. Keep this one on your desk for future reference." --Ron Churchill, Vice President, AFSM International

Product Description

Advancing Businesses Despite the Economic Terrain

Find out why strategies and initiatives that looked good during planning end up mysteriously snarled in a tangled web of persistent organizational problems ("strategic gridlock") during execution. Preventing Strategic Gridlock shows the reader how to:

· Gain insights into the common but mistaken assumptions leaders often make about their organizations;

· Apply the six principles and guidelines of organizational reality to U.N.L.O.C.K.® their company from the Strategic Gridlock cycle;

· Learn how to achieve the high-performance results that today’s high-pressure environment demands.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Cameo Publications, LLC (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971573948
• ISBN-13: 978-0971573949
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,030,526 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Prevent It...How to Get Out of It, October 20, 2003

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Obviously, it is highly advisable to identify and then eliminate potential problems before they occur. That is as true in business as it is in healthcare, athletic competition, and international travel. What we have here is a solid, well-organized, and well-written guide to preventing strategic gridlock. First, Harper carefully examines seven of the usual suspects which can cause it. Next, she introduces what she calls U.N.L.O.C.K., a system based on six principles by which to avoid or eliminate them. Finally, she shifts her reader's attention to countless real-world examples.

Obviously, an inappropriate strategy almost invariably results in conflict, confusion, acrimony, perhaps operational gridlock, and worse yet, chaos. Moreover, Harper fully understands that even a fundamentally sound strategy can fail because of internal resistance by those whom Jim O'Toole describes as being captive to "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." Or that strategy can become less effective or even ineffective because of market forces over which the organization has little (if any) conrol. Harper has absolutely no illusions about the complexity of these and other issues. She could easily have identified 14 or even 21 "roadblocks." Her U.N.L.O.C.K. system could have been based on 10 or even 15 principles. That's not the point. Rather, when crafting a strategy, decision-makers in any organization (regardless of size or nature) should identify and then prepare for what they perceive to be the potentially most formidable roadblocks to that strategy's success. (FYI, my personal preference is to view strategies as "hammers" and tactics as "nails.") Everyone must understand and support the strategy. What amounts to an "early warning system" is needed and everyone at least directly involved with the strategy and its tactics must be especially alert during the strategy's initial implementation.

Although I encountered no "cutting edge thinking" in Harper's book, I hold it in high regard because it fully serves the needs of decision-makers who need (perhaps urgently) a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system by which to avoid or extricate their organizations from strategic gridlock. Another major benefit of having an "early warning system" is that if the strategy is a dud, that will soon be obvious and Harper's book can assist with whatever adjustments may be necessary.

Those who share my interest in how and why even major corporations such as Ford, Coca-Cola, and McDonald's make bad strategic decisions, I urge them to check out Matt Haig's recently published Bad Brands.

5.0 out of 5 stars "Must-have advice for strategy developers", August 12, 2009

By	Suzanne K. Klein "Market Insight Services" (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I learned strategic planning from the usual textbooks and strategy consultants with established brand names. That was the easy part. Pamela S. Harper's book is not about any of that. It's about what it takes to develop strategies that have the best chance of succeeding during implementation. These are insights distilled from years of experience.

The book leads off with a description of the symptoms of stalled strategies that should be familiar to almost everyone who has spent a significant amount of time in large corporations. When I read this book, I was compelled to stop and think about why some of the strategic initiatives I've supported succeeded while others failed despite rigorous planning. This book brought the reasons into sharp relief.

Ms. Harper emphasizes that it's essential to gain active support from all of the key players that are impacted. This includes external influences such as alliance partners, wholesalers, regulatory agencies and the public. She explains how to do this in everyday language. She concludes by spelling out a sequence of practical steps that any change leader can follow with the confidence that he/she is doing everything possible to ensure success.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Turbulent Times, June 12, 2009

By	Katherine M. Radeka "Lean Product Development" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pam Harper's book may have come out in 2002 but the insights are as fresh and relevant as yesterday's newspapers. Few companies made it through the recent financial crisis unscathed, and few strategic plans survived the turmoil.

This is an environment that tends to foster strategic gridlock, as the crisis exposes the persistent organizational problems that keep a company from achieving maximum performance. The seven roadblocks that Ms. Harper describes are even more harmful when an organization is emerging from a crisis than they are in the middle of it, since this is the time when the company's leaders are most likely to let down their guard and make a misstep.

Pam Harper's book defines a process for unlocking strategic gridlock through a plan for understanding the current situation, developing a plan that has alignment and then communicating and adjusting that plan.

I just learned about this book recently and I have begun to recommend it to my clients as a way to introduce them to the process of unlocking their own strategic gridlock.