L E A D E R S H I P

Connecting the Planners

And Doers
Two Rings model shows how to systematically
do the right thing and do it right
by
Willy A. Sussland

O
RGANIZATIONS NEED A way to Was he referring to the process of planning quality
connect doing the right things and or to the quality of the planning process? Of course
doing them right—to link business both are important, but what comes first?
strategy to its implementation. First things first, and in management the first
To help organizational leadership thing—as Peter Drucker pointed out—is “doing the
establish strategic and organizational right thing.”2 Only then does doing the thing right
connectivity throughout an organization, I have become relevant.
developed what I call the model of the “Two Rings.” Figure 1 shows Drucker’s model that I have mod-
The model features the key tasks of senior manage- ified to highlight the delicate link between business
ment on its outer ring and the key tasks of opera-
tions, or line, management on its inner ring. This
FIGURE 1 Doing the Right Thing Right
model shows how senior and operations manage-
ment can contribute their respective knowledge and
Doing the right thing
develop business strategies together. No Yes
The Two Rings model provides a structure for an
Yes
efficient collaboration between senior and opera- Danger Success
tions management, ensures all the key management Innovate or
processes are given the necessary attention and perish
Doing
helps organize a systematic deployment of all strate- the Operations
thing management
gies throughout different levels and functions, all the right
way down to specific action plans. Failure Vulnerable
Improve or
Going back to the basics No suffer
Back in 1988, Joseph M. Juran wrote, “Many com-
panies are facing serious losses and wastes that have Strategic
their main origin in the quality planning process.”1 management

QU A L I T Y P R O G R E S S I J U N E 2 0 0 2 I 55
CONNECTING THE PLANNERS AND DOERS

strategy (doing the right thing) and its implementa- tation, which must be quickly brought to a halt.
tion (doing the thing right). This model does not pro- • Finally, we get to the case of an excellent implemen-
vide a methodology for doing the right thing, but it tation of a bad business strategy.
helps create awareness of the delicate link between No doubt the last quadrant presents the most chal-
strategy and operations. It can be used to pose perti- lenging situation. First, shifting business strategy is as
nent questions. chancy as transplanting an old oak tree. Second, it
Reading clockwise through this model demon- takes considerable time and effort, and competitors
strates the following: must be willing to remain passive observers.
• The first quadrant (top left) could lead you to won- Sometimes noticeable achievements in doing the
der how far the present business strategy will take thing right can lull managers into a deleterious com-
the enterprise. fort that diverts their attention from doing the right
• Then going clockwise, the next quadrant leads you thing.
to plan the quality improvements necessary to To ensure the enterprise is doing the right thing
implement the strategies effectively. right and effectively link business strategy to its
• The third quadrant features the explosive com- implementation, management needs a comprehensive
bination of bad strategy and bad implemen- methodology that accomplishes the following:
• Connects the internal and
external environments.
FIGURE 2 The Model of the Two Rings • Connects the past to the
future.
• Connects the various levels
Megatrends analysis
Senior management checks
and functions.
operations management. Unless these three parame-
Continuous business Senior management
analyzes megatrends.
ters are managed systemically,
improvement plans
operations management.
strategic and organizational
effectiveness cannot be opti-
Check Alert mized.

Plan
Taylorism revisited
Ad
jus Fredrick Taylor seems to
tm
s en have suggested managers
ean ta
nd
et
/m su mind the “plan” and “check,”
rg pp
Ta or
t and workers stick to the “do”
Long range planning

and “act” parts of the PDCA

Review system

cycle. In operations, the sophis-

Act Do
tication of the personnel and
their empowerment make this
theory obsolete.
Fe
ed k The principle of tailoring the
ba ac
ck edb tasks to the competencies and
Fe
vice versa remains valid, how-
Check ever. I find senior and opera-
tions managers have different
Deploy Plan time horizons and priorities
and altogether different roles.
Senior and operations Senior and operations Senior management should
management agree and detail management agree on priorities
the deployment plans. and coherence of business
concentrate on the big picture.
The process of strategic deployment breakthrough and continuous In spite of uncertainty, it must
business improvement objectives. keep the organization focused
on whatever seems to be the
Senior management right thing to do. Operations
Operations management management must use its
in-depth knowledge of the

56 I J U N E 2 0 0 2 I W W W . A S Q . O R G
market, people and their problems
to ensure the thing is done right. FIGURE 3 The Process of Strategic Deployment
Focusing on doing the right thing,
senior management must remain First level Second level Third level
alert to shifts and initiate the neces-
sary business breakthroughs. Doing
N-1—Project Aa
the thing right, operations manage-
Strategic
ment should focus on continuous means
business improvement.
Strategic
The specialization of key manage- objective
N—Project A N-2—Project Ab 1
ment tasks at the appropriate level
Strategic
leads to greater effectiveness. means
However, organizational efficiency Strategic
objective
also requires connectivity among Action plans
the various management levels. This N-1—Project Ab

observation led me to develop the Strategic

model of the Two Rings.
The Two Rings
The Two Rings model encompass-
es the whole strategic process, from
the development of strategies to N—Project B
their deployment all the way down
to action plans. As shown in Figure Strategic
2, I use the logical sequence of the objective
PDCA cycle to present the key tasks
of senior and operations manage-
ment.
Figure 2 also shows where and
how the two management levels
should interact. Informal contacts between the different
levels should be encouraged as a complement but not
as a replacement for clear and coherent paths of com-
munication and work relationships.
The key tasks of senior management, namely check,
alert, plan, deploy (CAPD) are placed on the outer
ring of the model. On the inner ring I show the key
tasks of operations management, namely plan-do-
check-act (PDCA). Note each task on the outer ring
interacts with the relevant task on the inner ring.
Step one of the outer ring—check
Strategic deployment is the point at which a close
cooperation between senior and operations manage-
ment is particularly important.
At this step, senior management checks past results
and benchmarks them to determine the organization’s
strengths and weaknesses vs. opportunities or threats,
then analyzes the evolution of the business environ-
ment and validates operations management’s fore-
casts and plans.
Some of the measures used in this check step are
quantitative (such as financial results, market share and
means
Strategic
objective N-2—Project Ab 2
Strategic
means
Action plans
quality reports), while others are essentially qualitative
(such as intellectual capital and customer capital).
There should be a reasonable balance between
quantitative and qualitative results. Lagging indica-
tors should be complemented by an analysis of lead-
ing indicators—in other words, how results have been
obtained.
Key activities are the following:
• Senior management gets a copy of the quarterly
reviews conducted by operations management from
the inner ring’s check step. External sources are
used to get a broader and far reaching picture of the
business environment.
• As a result of its analysis of the quarterly reviews,
senior management may provide feedback to opera-
tions management.
• The output of senior management’s check step
serves as an input to the alert and plan steps of the
outer ring.
Step two of the outer ring—alert
To lead the enterprise to a promising future, senior
management must remain alert to early signs of shifts

QU A L I T Y P R O G R E S S I J U N E 2 0 0 2 I 57
CONNECTING THE PLANNERS AND DOERS
in the business environment. It should distinguish
between passive and proactive changes.
Passive changes are those that cannot be avoided
but can be managed with contingency plans.
Management’s greatest opportunity is to initiate
proactive changes. These are the changes that will
enable the enterprise to get to the future first. They
may enable the enterprise to set new standards, dic-
tate the rules of the game or blanket the market.
Alertness has become a crucial task because, in our
turbulent times, many a false step has been taken by
standing still. To emphasize senior management’s
alertness, our model focuses on this task in the second
step. I advocate adopting the Delphi technique3 for
consultation and consensus development with inter-
nal and external experts, and using checklists such as
the one proposed by this author.4
An early warning system should be established and
coupled with methods such as scenario management.
The check and alert steps are complementary. The
check step focuses on intelligence regarding the busi-
ness environment, with a short- to medium-term hori-
zon. The alert step explores the future and hence the
unknown. The check process goes from inside the
enterprise toward the outside; the alert process goes
from the outside in.
Key activities in step two include the following:
• Senior management takes into account the business
fundamentals (business model, strategic thrust,
FIGURE 4 The Process of Strategic Deployment
S tr
a te g
ic business unit managem e
Middle management
Supervisory management
58 I J U N E 2 0 0 2 I W W W . A S Q . O R G
resource allocation process, review evaluation
recognition processes, strategic ambitions and the
style of leadership).
• Senior management analyzes the inputs from
the check step of the outer ring and checks inputs
from the check step of the inner ring for new
developments operations management might have
identified.
• Senior management consults with external thinkers
who are recognized for their authoritative views on
future trends.
• The outcome of the alert step serves as an input in
the plan step.
Step three of the outer ring—plan
General and President Dwight Eisenhower has been
quoted as saying that the plan is nothing, but plan-
ning is everything. Planning is the complex intellectu-
al and social process that sets the direction and pace
for the whole organization. The plan step consolidates
the inputs from the check and the alert steps as well as
inputs obtained from a variety of external sources.
The balance among the inputs is often not optimal,
and as Charles De Gaulle, another general who
became head of his government, pointed out, some-
times too many facts drown intuition and creativity.5
At this step of the outer ring, strategic objectives
and strategic resources are planned and distributed
throughout the organization as a basis for launching
the deployment process.
Senior management must evolve
strategic objectives for the following:
1. Business breakthroughs—concerning
a few high priority objectives that
should enable the enterprise to make a
quantum leap ahead of competition.
Recently, Toyota, a master at process
nt
improvement, said kaizen no longer
suffices and that business break-
throughs have become indispensable.
A gap analysis between the results
that can be expected with continuous
business improvement at the planning
horizon and the strategic ambitions of
the enterprise will determine the type
and amount of innovation required to
support success. If necessity is the
mother of innovation, planning must
proclaim that necessity.
2. Long-term projects—such as basic
research and new plant construction,
which are usually managed outside
normal structures, have a different
 time frame and are endowed with special resource
allocation and review systems.
3. Continuous business improvement—senior man-
agement should delegate to operations manage-
ment the formulation of strategic objectives for
continuous business improvement to ensure the
performance improvements needed to remain com-
petitive.
4. Business maintenance—con-
cerning less important activi- The process of deploying business
ties.
Working closely together, strategies provides the link between
senior and operations manage-
ment must integrate these four doing the right thing and doing the
strategic objectives for both the
corporation and its business
thing right—often a weak link in the
units into a coherent multiyear
road map with the appropriate
chain of management processes.
checkpoints.
Key activities in this step are the following:
• Senior management reviews the strategic ambitions
formulated in the business fundamentals.
• Senior management studies, integrates and priori-
tizes the inputs from the check and alert steps.
• Senior management may receive inputs from
the plan step of the inner ring when operations
management seeks the support of senior man-
agement to deal with unforeseen situations. This
may induce senior management to examine the
adequacy of the business forecasting system and
take into account emerging situations in the new
planning cycle.
• The output of the plan step serves as the basis for
the next step, the process of strategic deployment.
Step four of the outer ring—deployment
The process of deploying business strategies pro-
vides the link between doing the right thing and
doing the thing right. This is often a weak link in the
chain of management processes.
According to business research,6 while taking time
to concoct strategies, senior management sometimes
does not pay enough attention to their deployment.
Consequently, the necessary interaction between the
planners and the doers gets shortchanged.
In many organizations, management by objective
(MBO) still serves as the linchpin of the planning
process. It focuses management’s attention on getting
results, but not on how they are obtained. Reportedly
this led W. Edwards Deming to say Western managers
get results any old way, without giving much thought
to how results are obtained.7
MBO does not feature a clear method of how objec-
tives should be set or how strategies should be
deployed. Deming criticized MBO in his seminal work,8
and Japanese academics set out to improve on it and
developed hoshin kanri to link activities throughout an
organization. Komatsu and Toyota, adopted this
method in the mid-1960s, and American corporations
such as Hewlett-Packard and Procter & Gamble fol-
lowed suit in the mid-
1980s.9
The process of strategic
deployment (POSD) is
based on hoshin kanri. For
an effective deployment,
the POSD prioritizes and
integrates the business
breakthrough and continu-
ous business improvement
objectives evolved in the
plan step. It involves differ-
ent levels of management to capitalize on their knowl-
edge and creativity.
Finally, connecting the fourth step of the outer ring to
the first step of the inner ring deploys strategies system-
atically all the way to specific action plans. The POSD
encompasses a vertical and horizontal deployment.
Deployment
As vertical deployment begins, senior management
explains the outcome of the plan step on the outer
ring, communicates its objectives for business break-
through and tells how the objectives complement the
business improvement objectives of operations man-
agement.
Then the process works top down. As already advo-
cated by hoshin kanri, the POSD suggests objectives are
dictated top down, but the strategies to achieve them
should be delegated to the next level responsible for
implementing these strategies. Therefore, as illustrat-
ed in Figure 3 (p. 57), N passes its objectives to N-1
but delegates to the latter the development and the
selection of strategies to achieve these objectives. This
precept is important because people find it difficult to
commit to strategies if they have not taken a part in
the strategic deployment process.
To determine how best to achieve the objectives,
each management level must do the following:
• Develop actionable alternatives.
• Screen them for effectiveness and efficiency.
• Deploy the strategies and the resources cross func-
tionally.
• If necessary, review the strategies evolved with
superiors.
• Establish a deployment plan.
QU A L I T Y P R O G R E S S I J U N E 2 0 0 2 I 59
CONNECTING THE PLANNERS AND DOERS
At each level, these tasks are carried out in the
framework of workshops, ensuring appropriate par-
ticipation and welcoming contributions so all con-
cerned identify with the outcome.
Human resource experts can observe the partici-
pants at these workshops, analyze their rational,
relational, emotional, creative and operational pro-
cesses, and come up with useful recommendations.
In that way, POSD can serve as a real-world assess-
ment center.
When the strategies evolved by N-1 cannot be
deployed at that level, N-1 will evolve objectives to
achieve his or her strategies and pass these objectives
to N-2, who will then
develop suitable strategies.
The top-down deployment The transparency and organizational
should involve no more
than three management interactivity enabled by the process of
levels so the POSD will not
become too detailed and
strategic deployment foster commitment,
time consuming.
On completion of the
cooperation and collective creativity.
top-down deployment, the
process reverses direction and works its way back up,
level after level, to get approvals and the necessary
resources. Finally, N brings the annual POSD cycle to a
close and allocates roles, resources and responsibilities.
The POSD also features a horizontal deployment.
Each management level participating in the POSD
appoints individuals, who become owners of the strat-
egy, to achieve given objectives.
No one person or department, however, can achieve
important objectives alone. The owner of a strategy,
therefore, has to enlist the cooperation of other services
or business units. This is done within the framework of
peer negotiations, where pertinent implementation
plans are agreed on and the necessary resources are
distributed.
These negotiations are critical to the effectiveness
of the value chain and may also involve key suppli-
ers and large customers. Economies of scope, size
and systems are among the key issues to be consid-
ered.
As illustrated by Figure 4 (p. 58), the horizontal
deployment can be pictured as a fountain with three
dishes, each corresponding to a management level.
Water gushes from the top and falls into the first dish.
The water spreads horizontally until the dish is filled
and overflows into a second and larger dish. Finally,
when the second dish is filled, the water overflows
into the third and last dish, from which it is collected
and pumped back up to the top through an internal
pipe.
60 I J U N E 2 0 0 2 I W W W . A S Q . O R G
The negotiations that take place during the vertical
and horizontal deployments are extremely important.
They ensure vital cross functional communications
and efficiencies.
As shown in Figure 2 (p. 56), the deploy step on the
outer ring connect to the plan step of the inner ring.
This is where operations management translates the
strategies into specific actions and assigns roles,
resources and responsibilities. These plans can be
scheduled on a monthly basis over a period of up to
three years.
The inner ring features the PDCA tasks of opera-
tions management, which concern the planned action,
resources used, processes
deployed, products and ser-
vices delivered and partners of
the value chain (customers and
suppliers). I will not discuss in
detail the PDCA of operations
management because the sub-
ject is amply covered in existing
literature.
This model, which I pub-
lished in 1993 under the name the “5 Ps of
Performance,” is quite similar to the one of ISO
9001:2000 or ISO 9004:2000. Quarterly reviews of
operations assess the performances achieved in
each of the 5 Ps of performance as well as on their
synergies.
A visually based management system using some-
thing similar to Komatsu’s Flag System or Hewlett-
Packard’s hoshin charts helps operations management
look after the effective implementation of the
strategies.10
Cooperation between planners and doers
The first priority of management should be doing
the right thing. Only then does doing the thing right
become relevant. Senior management owns doing the
right thing while operations management is in charge
of doing the thing right. But the two levels and their
respective objectives must be coordinated and
aligned in order to achieve strategic and operational
effectiveness.
The systematic approach taken in the deployment
step of the outer ring ensures everyone understands
who does what, why and with whom. The trans-
parency and organizational interactivity enabled by
commitment, cooperation and collective creativity.
The Two Rings model is a systemic, systematic and
stimulating approach that organizes and fosters coop-
eration between planners and doers. The methodolo-
gy shown helps management connect the internal and
external environments, the past and the future and
various levels and functions.
Unless these three parameters are managed system-
ically, strategic and organizational effectiveness can-
not be optimized.
REFERENCES
1. Joseph M. Juran, Juran on Planning for Quality (New York:
The Free Press, 1988).
2. Peter F. Drucker, The Practice of Management (New York:
Harper & Brothers, 1954).
3. Thomas L. Wheelen and J. David Hunger, Strategic
Management, third edition (Boston: Addison Wesley, 1990).
4. Willy A. Sussland, Connected—A Global Approach To
Managing Complexity (Toronto: International Thomson
Publishing, 2000).
5. Charles de Gaulle, Le Fil de L’épée (Paris: Union Générale
d’éditions, 1944).
6. Wheelen and Hunger, Strategic Management, see reference 3.
7. W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis (Cambridge, MA;
MIT Press, 1986).
8. Ibid.
9. Yoji Akao, Hoshin Kanri, Policy Deployment for Successful
TQM, (Portland, OR: Productivity Press, 1991).
10. Sarv Singh Soin, Total Quality Control Essentials (New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1992).
WILLY A. SUSSLAND is a visiting professor and management
consultant on strategic and organizational effectiveness. Based in
Geneva, he has conducted a postgraduate course on strategic
management at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,
Lausanne, and at the Ecole Nationale Ponts Chausees, Paris. QP
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QU A L I T Y P R O G R E S S I J U N E 2 0 0 2 I 61