Execution Meltdown: Four Failures That Sank BP

  Decision Making   Leadership   ProjectsAtWork  

A number of factors contributed to the worst oil spill in history, but most of them can be attributed to one colossal problem at BP — lack of execution. Here’s what went wrong … and what project leaders can learn from BP’s failures.

The oil spill is a tragedy that “never should have happened.” That’s the sentiment expressed by BP CEO Tony Hayward during the recent congressional hearing on the Gulf Coast oil spill. Obviously, no one would disagree with him — especially the Americans left to deal with the terrible aftermath. And Hayward is right: the tragedy really shouldn’t have happened — and the fact that it did is a failure of execution.

For any business, the inability to get things done is a serious issue. If you can’t execute well, you aren’t going to be very successful even if you’ve got a great strategy, terrific products, or talented employees — and as we’ve seen from this event, you could potentially cause significant problems for others as well.

It’s obvious from recent events that BP has an enormous execution gap. And had the company focused on recognizing and closing that gap, it would have prevented this unprecedented disaster.

In my research-based book, Closing the Execution Gap: How Great Leaders and Their Companies Get Results (Jossey-Bass/A …

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