As we are exposed to a message again and again, it becomes more familiar. Because of the way our minds work, what is familiar is also 'true', because familiar things require less effort to process and that feeling of ease unconsciously signals truth. This is called Cognitive Fluency.
The link that FranklinCovey has established between Cognitive Fluency and Organisational Execution goes back to a landmark study we conducted on the topic with McKinsey and Harris Interactive*, which identified 6 key barriers to (or enablers of) Execution, two of which were Clarity of Goals and Commitment to Goals.
This link translates itself in a very practical way through the 'Disciplines of Execution' we work with clients to enable within their teams. The first discipline of 4 that we work through is to establish a short list of 'Wildly Important Goals' and while alot of the work here is focused on narrowing down the list of possibles into 2-3 that are 'Wildly Important', it is then a key focus for us to define these goals so that they combine a short, repeatable, memorable descriptor with a specifically measurable element that can be described in terms of moving from 'X' to 'Y' in period 'Z'. All of this work then allows us to translate these goals down through the levels so there is a 'clear line of sight' from top to bottom of an organisation and high engagement. Front line employees are then better placed to translate these goals into the 'key bets' they will make, which are in turn reflected in highly visible and motivational scoreboards. This allows the message of these goals to be exposed to people again and again, making it easier to for them to determine if they "winning or losing" on a daily and weekly basis. Being able to replicate this across 100s, 1000s or indeed 10000's of people is (in our experience) what then lies at the heart of effective execution.
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