Strategy without implementation is fruitless. Yet, in a world of uncertainty, no strategy survives contact with reality. Thus, leaders need to be agile and make adjustments on the fly.
While most companies spend 95% of their strategic planning time on setting the strategy, goals and metrics, only 5% is left to focus on employee mindset, beliefs and capabilities. Yet, this is critical for strategy implementation – as ideas must have the reality of operations to be implemented.
Leaders must focus on:
- Alignment: helping employees understand the “why, what and how” of the new strategy
- Mindset: address which core beliefs need to shift in order to support the new strategy
- Capability building: define and build the knowledge, skills and abilities required to executive the strategy (Source: BTS)
William von Meister launched five companies, which all failed. His 6th one was going to fail, too, until two others were able to align, shift mindset and build capabilities to support the strategy. Thus, AOL became a success based on the operations of Jim Kimsley (former Army Ranger) and the marketing of Steve Case (talented marketing professional.)
How does your organization align, shift mindset and build capabilities to successfully execute your strategy?
