Blog 2 of 6: Strategy Execution and Alignment
Kaplan and Norton state that “90% of strategies fail due to poor execution!” Other research also point to a rather grim picture of strategy execution success. This is the second in a series of six blogs that draws on our extensive research involving 75 medium-sized businesses and 1500 leaders. This research has identified six key challenges that these businesses must address to succeed.
We discovered that businesses often struggle with a lack of clear vision, strategy, and goals. This absence of clarity hampers their ability to effectively execute strategies and prioritise efforts. Consequently, this results in misalignment, leading to the inefficient allocation of scarce resources to areas that do not add value. Here are six themes that business leaders have identified to help mitigate these issues:
Crafting and Executing a Vision That Transforms
In the realm of business leadership, a clear, communicable vision is not merely an advantage—it is the cornerstone of any successful organisation. However, crafting this vision and strategy is only the initial step. The true measure of leadership lies in executing that vision with precision and aligning it across every facet of the organisation. This alignment is what truly differentiates leaders from followers in today’s competitive business world.
A Vision for the Future That Everyone Can Share
A strategic vision should not represent a distant, vague ideal; rather, it should present a clear, compelling picture of the future that every member of the organisation can strive toward. Simplifying complex ideas into actionable and communicable plans ensures that everyone from the boardroom to the break room is on the same page, moving forward with purpose and clarity. This involves laying out not just the 'what' and the 'why', but also the 'who', 'when', and 'how'. People want to be part of something and feel that they can contribute or are making a difference in some way. How are you connecting them to it? How often?
Living Your Values and Purpose Beyond Tokenism
In our advisory capacity, we stress to our clients that corporate values and purpose should transcend the decorative realm of office plaques or the pages of an employee handbook. They should be living, breathing aspects of daily operations. By embedding these principles in every strategy, decision, and interaction, organisations can move beyond mere tokenism to a genuine embodiment of their core ideals. This commitment aligns a company’s actions with its aspirations, making its values the guiding light of its strategic journey.
Operating on Dual Horizons for Sustained Agility
Today’s fast-paced business environment demands the ability to operate effectively across two horizons. On one hand, addressing the immediate needs of the business—managing current challenges and opportunities—is crucial. On the other hand, paving the way for future growth involves innovating and planning with a forward-thinking mindset. This dual focus ensures organisational agility and preparedness for whatever the future may hold. Strategic leaders influence people to achieve organisational outcomes, and solve today’s problems with tomorrow in mind.
Strategic Priorities: Clarity and Accountability
Setting clear strategic priorities is fundamental. These priorities should outline not just objectives, but also delineate the responsible parties, timelines, and expected outcomes. Such clarity helps prevent the dilution of focus and ensures that every team member understands their role in the larger picture. By understanding and applying the law of diminishing returns (the law of diminishing returns shows that if you want 2-3 things done to a level of excellence, chose 2-3 things – anymore reduces the effectiveness proportionately), companies can optimise their efforts, concentrating on activities that deliver the greatest impact. This clarity guides decision making, allocating resources, and speeds momentum because no-one has to come back to ask you!
Creating a Cadence for Success
Strategy should not be viewed as a one-time event, but as a continuous cycle of planning, execution, and refinement. Establishing a rhythmic cadence for strategic activities allows organisations to create the necessary time and space for thoughtful execution and regular review. It looks like strategic planning annually, strategic quarterly sprints, and monthly momentum check-ins. This approach ensures that the strategy remains dynamic and responsive to changes within the business landscape, allowing for timely adjustments and sustained relevance. It allows a rhythm for the team to come tight to plan, and loose to execute, tight to iterate, etc. It also breaks the strategy into doable chunks, and then creates an expectation of being held accountable on a given date for having it done. Answers of ‘kind of, sort of, pretty much’ are no longer acceptable!
Contributed by Greg Allnutt MNZM, Partner