I was at the launch of Windows Vista and the Microsoft Office 2007 system yesterday here in Toronto.

While the new products being launched by Microsoft were certainly very interesting, there was also a guy named Michael Treacy (who I had heard a little about before) who was there as a guest speaker during the keynote presentation.

While I don’t know much about Michael Treacy, his enthusiasm for the subject did remind of something I read earlier today on technology evangelism (a phrase I admittedly don’t quite understand).

Michael had some very interesting things to say about what he determined to be the common elements of success across various organizations.

Here’s a a summary of what he was talking about (this perhaps reflects my own interpretation of his talk more than just his own points) — along with how you could potentially apply this to your own work.

1. Worry about people, not processes.

One of Michael’s first points was that (in his words) “the best management team beats the best strategy every time.”

While having good processes, workflows and strategies is certainly an important component to any successful project or business, those processes are not going to win the day.

An overreliance on processes to get you through tough situations is going to flat-out fail: focus instead on having the right people in place to make the right decisions when they need to be made.

2. Don’t overcommit yourself to huge tasks.

Michael’s point here was that you should never take on anything that takes more than ninety days to accomplish — if it takes more than ninety days, it should be broken down into smaller chunks.

While ninety days seems like a bit of an arbitrary number to me, I think Michael’s point is a good one. You need to focus on what you can get done quickly, cheaply and efficiently (or in the business world: ‘maximum return on investment’).

Restaurants or retail stores could be examples of these smaller chunks.

Instead of trying to create a chain of stores to rival a competitor, create one very successful store that you can duplicate a hundred or a thousand times.

3. Be disciplined, and you will succeed where others may fail.

Another point Michael brought up was how important discipline was in successful companies.

Not only did they have a way of doing things, but they had a very prescribed way of doing things that indoctrinated their employees into that organization’s way of operating.

I would be careful with this one. While having prescribed, disciplined ways to operate makes sense, there are also times where the flexibility to adapt to new situations is what will allow you to succeed.

From my perspective, what Michael is really talking about is self-discipline: both as an individual and as an organization.

4. Try and fail or try and succeed, don’t try to plan for everything.

This is somewhat related to the first point. Instead of trying to figure out where you’re going to succeed and where you’re going to fail, just try as many things as you can and you’ll succeed eventually.

While planning certainly has its place, don’t let planning interfere with another potentially fruit-bearing action that you could take instead.

Don’t plan instead of act. Act now instead, and react based on what you’ve learned from acting.

If you’re looking for more tips on accomplishing goals, check out this post at CEOConsultant.