Strategy execution a Must Win Battle
A brilliant strategy, blockbuster product, or breakthrough technology can put you on the competitive map, but only solid execution can keep you there.
Five percent of the challenge is the strategy. Ninety-five percent is the execution
Many organizations today are not ready to execute new business strategies in response to rapid, transformational change. The gap between strategic intent and strategy execution creates a drag on performance while increasing risk exposure.
Setting strategy is elegant. It’s a clean and sophisticated process of collecting and analyzing data, generating insights and identifying smart paths forward.
Mind the gap between strategy and execution – Make sure to close the strategy gap!
But then the trouble starts! Execution is a minefield. The clean and elegant logic of strategy gets dirty in the real world. Various sources have reported implementation failure rates at between 60 and 90 percent.
It’s the age old challenge in strategic planning – how to close the gap between strategy and execution?
Mindset drives strategy execution
Mindset is perhaps the least understood, but most important driver of exceptional strategic execution. It is the turbo-boost in the execution engine. Frequently undervalued and dismissed as soft or intangible, mindset delivers real business results.
In strategy execution, emotional commitment is critical. Employees will only adopt a new initiative if they believe that it is the right strategy.
Better alignment enables successful strategy execution, improves overall performance and delivers financial returns. Don’t forget organizational culture when drafting corporate strategies.
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Close the strategy gap – Gap between strategy and execution — https://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/qca
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Agree, but there is a solution. Read Kaplans follow up on Balanced Scorecard. That is the books “Strategy Map” and “Alignment”
The books don’t give you all the answers, but helps you in the right direction and helps you avoid some of the pitfalls.
Torben,
The mindset is measured via the level of resistance or via sponsor leadership or via stakeholders engagement or another variable? In my attempt to simplify this – I would categorize mindset as the committed discipline of management to work the change management plan and exhibit behavior and mindset they wish staff to emulate. And the disciplined commitment to persevere through execution issues and performance slow down as the organization climbs the learning curve.
Regards – Amy Hout
I totally agree that many organizations struggle with the “Strategy-Execution” gap. I believe the overarching reason for this gap comes from a lack of or extremely deficient courageous and committed leadership.
Too often leaders take the position that they get paid to only think and strategize, not execute and enable.
The best and most effective leaders do not separate the functions, they see strategy and execution as one.
The best and most effective leaders lead with passion and complete engagement throughout the entire change initiative and share in the glory and challenge with their employees from beginning to end.