Being a winning organisation in Australia has little to do with charismatic leaders, seeking great breakthrough ideas, rolling out precise mission statements or creating the perfect organisational structure. This paper draws on recent research into eleven organisations that have been high performers over the 25-year period from 1982 to 2007. The research has identified nine timeless elements of success that are highly relevant to service, manufacturing, not for profit and public sector organisations of all sizes. High performance is defined as taking a balanced scorecard perspective covering financial, customer and market performance, service and internal efficiency and long term growth, innovation and productivity issues. The findings are summarised in a winning framework that identifies effective execution of plans and strategies as the pivotal element. It implies that understanding what it takes to be a winning organisation starts with execution.The paper also explores the need for balancing strategy formulation with strategy execution. It discusses preliminary findings into the concept of effective execution and presents some practical tools and techniques for leaders and leadership teams to enhance their organisation's performance. These include focused leadership, visible management systems and use of project management tools and techniques.

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PurposeSeveral studies on high performing organizations in the US have strongly influenced management thinking about excellence in Australia. This paper challenges these studies and summarizes the results of a major four year empirical research project to define the unique attributes and key practices of 11 of Australia's long‐term high performing organizations.Design/methodology/approachOver 1,000 senior executives were surveyed to nominate these winning organizations. Success was defined as taking a balanced scorecard perspective coupled with long‐term growth, innovation and productivity issues. Following detailed analysis, the final number of organizations was narrowed to eleven and their performance studied in depth over a 25‐year period from 1982 to 2007.FindingsNine best practice elements have been identified from the eleven organizations: effective execution, perfect alignment, adapting rapidly, clear and fuzzy strategy, leadership not leaders, looking out and looking in, right people, managing the downside and balancing everything. This paper discusses these elements in detail and presents them as a “winning wheel” framework for achieving sustainable organizational excellence. It highlights the importance of effective execution and leadership as key characteristics of winning organizations.Originality/valueThe principles identified from this research provide leaders and leadership teams with practical ideas and a model for improving their organizational practices and consequently their organization's performance. The framework can be applied to organizations of all types including listed, private, not‐for‐profit and public sector.

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