There are five basic conditions under which people tend to execute well:

1. People execute well if they’re clear on what they need to do. How can people possibly do well if they don’t have a clear idea of what “doing well” means—if they don’t have clear goals, benchmarks, and expectations?

2. People execute well if they have the right skills for the job. The right skills come from talents, temperament, and proper training.

3. People execute well if they’re given freedom and support. No one does a good job with people looking over his shoulder; when people are treated like children, they’ll lower themselves to those expectations. Also, people need the tools and support to do their job well. To use an extreme illustration, imagine how difficult it would be for Federal Express employees to make on-time delivery without reliable trucks.

1. People execute well if they’re appreciated for their efforts. All people want their efforts to be appreciated. We’ve consciously chosen the term appreciated rather than rewarded because it more accurately captures that excellent performers value respect and appreciation as much as, and often even more than, money.

1. People execute well if they see the importance of their work.

It should be clear by now that management is all about the art of balance. When it comes to planning and execution, if you only think about the next three months, you might make shortsighted decisions that create problems down the road. On the flip side, if you’re always thinking many years out, you might struggle with speedy day-to-day execution.

So, execution is really the critical part of a successful strategy. Getting it done, getting it done right, getting it done better than the next person is far more important than dreaming up new visions of the future.

But alas, too often the executive does not understand that people do what you inspect, not what you expect.

Execution is all about translating strategies into action programs and measuring their results. It’s detailed, it’s complicated, and it requires a deep understanding of where the institution is today and how far away it is from where it needs to go. Proper execution involves building measurable targets and holding people accountable for them.

Executives are doers; they execute. Knowledge is useless to executives, until it has been translated into deeds. But before springing into action, the executive needs to plan his course. He needs to think about desired results, probable restraints, future revisions, check-in points, and implications for how he’ll spend his time.