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Execution Reliability Diagnostic Worksheet

A practical leadership-team worksheet for identifying where execution breaks down — and which part of the operating system needs attention first.

What this diagnostic is

The Execution Reliability Diagnostic Worksheet helps senior leaders and leadership teams assess the strength of the operating system behind performance, follow-through, and improvement work.

It is not a generic culture survey or a broad maturity model. It is a practical discussion tool designed to help leaders identify the weakest link in the execution system before launching more activity, more projects, more training, or more technology.

The diagnostic is organized around the eight elements of the EMS Execution Reliability Model:

  • Business condition clarity

  • Objectives, measures, and value

  • System view

  • Problem-solving discipline

  • Capability building

  • Leadership ownership

  • Operating cadence

  • Follow-through and sustainment

Where it comes from

This worksheet is a companion resource for The Execution Reliability Advantage, our book on why improvement activity often fails to become sustained business performance — and how leaders can build a more reliable operating system for execution.

The book introduces the Execution Reliability Model as a way to connect business conditions, leadership routines, problem-solving, capability building, cadence, and sustainment into a coherent system.

What it helps you do

Use the worksheet to guide a focused 45- to 60-minute leadership discussion. The goal is not to complete paperwork. The goal is to surface where execution friction is originating and decide what needs to be strengthened first.

The diagnostic helps leadership teams clarify:

  • What business condition must improve now

  • Which measures and target conditions define progress

  • Where handoffs, delays, decision gaps, or ownership gaps are affecting flow

  • Whether the team is solving causes or reacting to symptoms

  • What capability, ownership, cadence, and follow-through routines need to be strengthened

  • The single most important action to take in the next 14 days

Who should use it

This diagnostic is most useful for CEOs, COOs, general managers, division leaders, functional executives, and operating leadership teams responsible for improving performance across functions.

It is especially relevant when an organization has active improvement work underway, but results are not moving as predictably as expected — or when leaders sense that priorities, decisions, ownership, and follow-through are not working as a complete system.

Download

Download the worksheet and use it with your leadership team as a structured discussion guide.

Companion resource for The Execution Reliability Advantage.

Private Conversation (For Senior Leaders)

If you’d like to discuss what surfaced from the diagnostic, we’re happy to schedule a brief executive conversation.

No obligation. No sales presentation.

Just a focused discussion about where execution friction may be originating and what would create the most value to address first.

No sales pitch. We’ll determine quickly whether there’s meaningful value to create.