> The biggest single development issue I’ve seen over the years is that many VPs still think like directors.
> The VP’s job is to get the right answer. They are the functional expert. No one on the team knows their function better than they do. And even if someone did, they are still playing the VP of function role and it’s their job – and no one else’s — to get the right answer.
> If the CEO makes a plan, gets it approved by the board, and executes it well but it doesn’t work, they cannot tell the board “but, but, it’s the plan we agreed to." Most CEOs wouldn’t even dream of saying that. It’s because CEOs understand they are held accountable not for effort or activity, but results. Part of truly operating at the VP level is to internalize this fact.
Alas that I read this 6 years too late, because it perfectly explains what went wrong at my then-company. A member of the C-suite came up with (what sounded like) a good strategy, but it didn't work because the engineering team wasn't able to execute well enough; and rather than either modify the plan to account for this or shift his attention to fixing the engineering culture -- which might have been politically impossible, but was still his responsibility to try -- he doubled down and became more obsessed with implementing the details of a losing plan. In other words, he was thinking like a director.
A great book is "Strategy and the Fat Smoker". It's written by a consultant but points out an obvious point: the quality of the strategy itself is not nearly as impactful as the ability to execute. The author compares this to being a fat smoker who won't change their habits - knowing the right strategy is insufficient.
> The VP’s job is to get the right answer. They are the functional expert. No one on the team knows their function better than they do. And even if someone did, they are still playing the VP of function role and it’s their job – and no one else’s — to get the right answer.
> If the CEO makes a plan, gets it approved by the board, and executes it well but it doesn’t work, they cannot tell the board “but, but, it’s the plan we agreed to." Most CEOs wouldn’t even dream of saying that. It’s because CEOs understand they are held accountable not for effort or activity, but results. Part of truly operating at the VP level is to internalize this fact.
Alas that I read this 6 years too late, because it perfectly explains what went wrong at my then-company. A member of the C-suite came up with (what sounded like) a good strategy, but it didn't work because the engineering team wasn't able to execute well enough; and rather than either modify the plan to account for this or shift his attention to fixing the engineering culture -- which might have been politically impossible, but was still his responsibility to try -- he doubled down and became more obsessed with implementing the details of a losing plan. In other words, he was thinking like a director.
Meanwhile, another front-page item today is a reminder of why this stuff matters: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43431675