A significant part of my work is helping clients improve organizational performance, developing and implementing new strategies, navigating major changes, and working through various organizational challenges.
The pace of change, the desire to get things done, and the pressure to produce results in today’s organizational life leads to a bias for action. Taking time to think, clarify, and prepare has become minimized, if not lost, in the meeting-to-meeting dash. The “just jump in” approach turns into habit.
An issue that frequently surfaces is a disconnect between management intentions and the understanding of the teams working to “make it happen”. The disconnect is an unintentional by-product of the organization’s bias for action but ultimately impacts the results achieved.
Regardless of the nature of the project or amount of progress already made, one of the most consistently effective remedies is to focus on five P.R.I.M.E. questions:
1. Purpose: What is the purpose?
2. Results: What results do we want to achieve?
3. Information: What information do we need?
4. Model: What model will we use?
5. Execute: How will we execute?
The PRIME Questions in Detail:
1. PURPOSE: What is the purpose?
This question of Purpose is about clarity of intention - what the effort is intended to accomplish, and why it is important to the organization. Whether working on strategic initiatives, small scale improvements, or any of various projects and tasks, getting clear on the purpose should be the first step. Simply stating that something is part of Project X, or Strategy Y is insufficient.
Put on your organizational hat and identify why the effort is important. What organizational challenge or need is compelling enough to justify expending resources and money on this effort above others?
2. RESULTS: What results do we want to achieve?
The Result question is about getting crystal clear on the results intended to be achieved what success looks like.
Describe the observable results in clear, specific, and tangible terms.
Avoid vague phrases like “improved productivity”, “increased alignment”, “employee buy-in”, or “build a world-class capability”. Broad general statements are too abstract and vague. Instead, identify concrete characteristics and attributes that would be observable evidence when the desired results exist.
Describing intended results in tangible and observable terms:
Provides a basis for evidence of accomplishment and meaningful measures,
Shapes the plans and activities toward the desired results, and
Enables people and teams to act independently while still being aligned with the broader organizational needs.
3. INFORMATION: What information do we need?
Relevant data and information drive better discussions, decisions, and actions.
Ask what data and insight is needed to inform discussions and make evidence-based decisions. Avoid the temptation to accept intuition, assumptions, and opinions alone.
For example: A big box store was deciding what products to stock in preparation for hurricane season. Intuitively they expected people would want batteries, flashlights, water, toilet paper, canned food, etc. Seems reasonable, right?
But after examining historic data, management learned that leading up to a hurricane Strawberry Pop-Tart sales increased by seven times and the top-selling item was beer.
Don't forget that data and information about people, behavior, and culture is just as important as that from the business and technical facets of the organization.
4. MODEL: What model will we use?
Models and frameworks make sense of ideas and concepts. They help visualize principles and systematic relationships which provides structure and guidance. They exist for many aspects of organizations from strategy to marketing to engagement to enhancing performance.
While no model is perfect or universally applicable, an appropriate model:
Helps frame and clarify thinking.
Provides a big picture view along with individual parts.
Standardizes terminology.
Grounds discussions.
The structured understanding gained from using models and frameworks elevates our thoughts and enables thinking more strategically and creatively.
5. EXECUTE: How will we execute?
Successful execution is about bringing the desired results to life. That requires attention to both short-term and long-term views of success.
”You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” — Alvin Toffler, American futurist and businessman. Author of Future Shock and The Third Wave
Short term questions are tactical and project management focused - what needs to be done, by whom, and by when.
Long-term questions require elevating above actions and asking how to bring the desired results to life and make the changes durable and sustainable. This includes organizational politics, technology, roles, implementation approach (progressive and staged, or “big bang” and abrupt), capabilities, impact on people, resistance created, and more.
Execution questions are extensive and evolve long after the formal planning is over.
Thinking about execution and implementation prior to the start reminds us of two truths:
1. What we do (and don’t do) at the start impacts execution and overall success.
2. A strategy for successful implementation influences plans and actions from the start.
Why P.R.I.M.E.?
PRIME questions are useful for everything from large scale strategic change programs to planning your next meeting, and even revamping the backyard garden. P.R.I.M.E. questions facilitate thorough preparation and thoughtful consideration.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” -- Albert Einstein
It may seem like common sense to ask the P.R.I.M.E. questions, but common sense is not always common practice. Use P.R.I.M.E. today. It adds value.
Two actions to start using P.R.I.M.E.
1. Write P.R.I.M.E. on a note tagged to your computer, desk, or daily planner
2. Include P.R.I.M.E. in your next review meeting or planning agenda
This post is an update of the original of from September 2017
Brook Rolter is a management and organization development consultant who specializes in integrating strategy, performance, management and implementation to enhance organizational performance. Rolter Associates provides practical, tailored support to the unique situations of clients in corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations.
Call Brook Rolter at 703-628-0340 or email Brook@RolterAssociates.com.
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