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According to the authors of Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done (2002), there are three building blocks to execution. The first is “the leader’s seven essential behaviors;” the second is “creating the framework for cultural change;” and the third is “having the right people in the right place.”

Of course, you can’t have the last one without the first two, but I think the last is the most important “building block” of execution.

The reason for this is that all these building blocks (would) exist between or within individuals. If the individuals are not open to these ideas or share a common energy, the aforementioned blocks are doomed to never be stacked. Bossidy and Charan (2002) explain, “over time, choosing the right people is what creates that elusive competitive advantage” (p. 110).

Part of the reason many public and academic libraries seem so behind on the user experience seems to be the fact that they do not have that competitive advantage of having the right people. Could this be because the leadership is not as passionate about the success of the library as, say, a businessman might be about a profit-yielding company? I think that might have something to do with it.

If libraries are to compete with for-profit companies like bookstores and search engines, how are they to have any hope of proving their relevance while they seem to keep having the wrong people in the wrong places (or the right people in undefined places)?

It’s hard to find the right people for the libraries that need to justify their value because those “right people” are more likely to work at for-profits than at unproven libraries. Perhaps the institution of the library needs to look into advertising (read glamorizing) for the right people (read competitive employees).

This semester, my last before I receive my degree, I am taking a course called Library Planning, Marketing, & Assessment. One of our first assignments is to form a group, choose and read a book about leadership, and present it to the class. My group formed out of the desire to read something a bit less narrowly defined; not a book about library management, but management in general.

With increased competition, libraries are forced to prove their usefulness in a time of Google, comfortable book stores, community centers, and churches. Libraries are now competing with other organizations, including real businesses; thus, the need exists to understand and approach management in a library as management in any other business. Though my experience is very limited, I can already vividly see the need for this approach. There are so many services libraries can and often do offer, so many talented people involved in them, but so few competitive advantages.

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

So, one of the books I recommended for consideration and the book chosen was Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, and Charles Burck. The authors of this book explain that what is missing in many organizations that flounder is the discipline of execution. They posit that this discipline, though vastly important to any organization that wishes to compete, is rarely acknowledged or understood.

The discipline of execution includes:

• coaching through communication: asking probing questions, guiding (pp. 24-25)
• setting realistic goals
• involving those concerned with implementation with the strategic plan
• setting realistic goals based on the capability of the organization
• having the right people in the right positions
• setting milestones for the progress of the plan with strict accountability
• having foresight: setting contingency plans to deal with the unexpected (pp. 38-39)

A lot of library planning seems to lack the structure of planning at organizations that exist for profit. If libraries are to compete with other types of organizations to prove their worth, they should have the structure in place to support the competition. New ideas should be openly discussed in high performance teams of experts. New projects should be formally planned, with all of the above criteria met. There should be little to no ambiguity, with a leader open to and encouraging effective communication.

Though libraries falter in some aspects of management, they are making valid attempts to stay current. This is important as well. The authors explain,

“If you are really executing, and you have the resources, you are listening to tomorrow’s customers as well as today’s and planning for their needs” (p. 44).

Libraries should always be updating themselves. As an organization with a growing responsibility to prove itself, the library needs to maintain its relevance to its patrons.