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The Strategic Leadership System
The “Deming Wheel,” named for W. Edwards Deming, is the graphical representation of the plan, do, check, act (PDCA)
cycle of work. This cycle is very basic, almost intuitive, but requires strategic leadership to effectively
accomplish with a team.
Plan
The first part of the cycle is the most important. Strategic leadership brings the goal to the table and
participates with the team to draw up a workable plan. The plan has to include all of the steps needed to
accomplish the goal, all of the resources (time, people, materials, outsourced help, money, etc.), all of the
possible roadblocks and all of the contingency plans.
Planning should result in a virtual road map of the project. It should detail all of the necessary steps to
accomplishment, the structure needed to achieve it, and the resources as well as the ways to allocate them. Every
step of the way, strategic leadership is needed to keep expectations realistic, find ways around problems and
motivate the team to accept the necessary workload.
Do
Thorough planning makes the doing that much easier. The team should be ready at this point to set priorities for
the tasks and begin doing the first jobs. The most strategic leadership is needed to oversee every team and keep
them on schedule while making sure that the materials are secured for the next set of tasks. Strategic leadership
ensures that team members are rewarded when needed and counseled as needed.
Check
The checking is done at each milestone of the project. The strategic leadership duties at this point include
checking standards and performance and making adjustments. Checking standards involves ensuring that the work
product meets the levels set at the planning stage. Checking performance means looking after the employees
themselves and the level of their work. Making adjustments is done when either the standards or performance is not
meeting the plans that were set. Adjustments are usually the responsibility of the leader since it is very
difficult for teams to meet and make decisions in the midst of a project that is not proceeding according to
plan.
Act
The action to be taken at this point is set at the planning stage. It might be releasing a new product, moving on
to the next major part of the project or beginning to plan another project. Sometimes it means going back over a
part of the project that needs to be corrected or changed according to a change in the situation. Deciding what
action to take is the job of strategic leadership.
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