Many of my Inland Empire colleagues and trusted advisors have been supporting the transfer of ownership of the Ontario airport back to the city of Ontario (from LAX airport) for YEARS. It was a big surprise last week when the Los Angeles Times reported breaking news that it is likely to occur within a year. A major win for the Inland Empire!
As a supply chain consultant, this is HUGE news. Having the ability to take a declining airport with underutilized assets and vast potential and transform it into a vibrant contributor to the economy – and the manufacturing, distribution and transportation network within the Inland Empire – is significant. As is usually the case, developing the strategy to regain control of the airport was easy; however, on the other hand, the execution took years (and often seemed impossible even for the most optimistic of supporters). Now, it will be essential to make sure that hard work pays off with a successful execution of the transition plan. We are counting on it!
One tip to implement this week:
Strategies rarely fail in formulation; however they often fail in execution. So why do executives pay so much more attention to the development than the execution? Thus, my tip for this week is to consciously focus on execution. If you are an executive, think back to your strategy and determine one item you could do to move the execution forward in a positive direction. And do it!
If you are not an executive, think about a plan you put together (whether you wrote it down, shared it or not). Determine one item you could fit into your schedule that would move it forward in some meaningful way. Since you probably do not have “extra” time, you’ll need to be creative. Ask your colleagues for ideas. Evaluate two or three options briefly, pick one and GO. You’ll be surprised as to what can be achieved.
August 10, 2015