11 out of 12 top-down targeted transformations fail to achieve their goals, and only a fraction of the improvements that are theoretically “done” or “realized” end up on a company’s books. In this article, Michael Mankins, partner at Bain & Co, summarizes Bain research that shows the actions that make the difference between success and failure in setting and achieving transformation goals. Key practices include:Focus your leadership mindset on your goals.Specify goals in absolute rather than relative terms.Develop company budgets and operating plans and monitor success.Set more than just cost-based targets.
Most top-down, goal-driven change programs fail to produce lasting results. A Bain study of over 350 companies worldwide found that only 1 in 12 goal-driven transformations achieved sustained performance improvements. Too often, transformations set ambitious goals but fall short. Even worse, some organizations achieve their goals on paper only to find that corporate accounting reflects only a fraction of the improvements that were theoretically “implemented” or “realized.”