As they left the courthouse on the day their divorce was finalized, Mark apologized to his now ex-wife Renee, “I told you I would do some things for the benefit of our marriage. I didn’t do them, and I’m sorry.” Such is the case with good intentions that are taken as promises, and then not fulfilled.

Strategy execution has an important similarity to Mark’s admission: an individual fails to follow through and the desired outcome suffers. I believe that we will get better execution of our strategic initiatives if we become more skilled at making and managing promises. To start, I’d like to introduce you to the PAVER framework (an acronym), which I adapted from an article by Donald Sull and Charles Spinosa, “Promise-Based Management: the Essence of Execution.” (Harvard Business Review, April 2007).

A good promise has five properties.

It is made publicly. All stakeholders can detect — through the promiser’s words and declarations — what has been promised. As you might suspect, public exchanges of promises are more emotionally-binding and transparent, both of which are desirable within strategic initiative team.

Perhaps the most important characteristic of a good promise is that it is an active exchange of expectations. Sull and Sponosa write that promises are active conversations that are comprised of “offers, counteroffers, commitments, and refusals.” That may seem a little formal and rigid, but consider the pain that you’ll avoid later when you try to cajole, plead, and bully non performers.

Let’s contrast that negotiation-oriented style with the more common practice of making mild and oblige suggestions. This also brings forward another important success driver: determining which individuals have authority to make decisions and commit resources.

Sull and Spinoza also note that much of the discourse in organizations is endless assertions about the state of nature; that is, a description of what the true conditions are. Some will say the market is growing, and others will assert that it has peaked. Someone will say that they have heard something from a top management and others will claim to have heard something differently. Here is yet another example: consider the frequent comment that “we’re different” that is used by many stakeholder’s to justify why ideas can’t be accepted in their culture. This kind of conversation is a waste of time!

A third property of a good promise is that it is voluntary. As most of us experience, it is easy for an executive to agree to a request, and defer the consequences of that ‘till later. In many cultures, those who say “no” are labeled negatively. However, the courage to say “no” to any request is a key for making the promise voluntary.

The forth property is that a good promise is explicit. Most people are familiar with the idea of SMART objectives, which makes clear the deliverables, the providers, the budget, and the timing.

Sull and Spinoza call the fifth property mission based, but I prefer the term rationale. When you can answer the question, “Why are we doing this?” you are providing a rationale that forces you to show that you understand the linkages and alignment with strategy. (The question “why” is the first of the four driving questions of radical innovation, and needs to be asked and answered before getting into the following questions of “Who needs to be involved? What are we going to do? When are we going to do it?”)

Too, recall that good strategy is a form of problem solving; your explanation of the rationale must link to the important issues and performance gaps that face the organization. Strategic initiatives exist to close a performance gap, so you need to be clear in describing how the strategic initiative supports changing the outcomes and filling that gap.

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Requests and promises are the basic units of work coordination. They take place in a network of external and internal relationships, most of which are informal.

Realize, too, that resources in organizations are constrained by existing commitments and a shifting set of priorities. I always tell my colleagues that they have the right to change their mind about a commitment, but they owe me a message to tell me that they’ve rescinded their commitment.

 Do you agree that making and managing promises is a useful focal point for building effective relationships with your network of colleagues?