Why only 10% of strategies succeed
Identifying the missing link between strategy and implementation and tangible ideas for engaging your staff before or after a strategy is formulated
Hello everyone 👋
This week we are exploring the missing link between strategy and implementation. The best organizations don’t simply think about the future and create exciting plans on how to get there. They also know how to convert these plans into reality.
I’ll admit that I love the thinking and plan creation part of the process. My personality aligns well with idea generation, divergent-type thinking and ambiguity. To switch into implementation-mode, I have to make a deliberate effort and keep the daydreaming at bay. This article covers how organizations do the same.
I. The Missing Link in Strategy
It’s no secret that strategies often failed to be implemented. There are different stats out there but the failure rate ranges from 60% to 90% and my own work validates that implementation is the biggest hurdle. Having strategic conversations is fun but converting these conversations into tangible outcomes requires a different kind of thinking.
As always, I want to focus on the organizations that do this successfully, the so-called 40% - 10% in those previously mentioned studies. I believe we can learn more from success than from failure.
One of the keys to their success comes from engaging their staff, before and after the strategy is formulated. The staff—middle managers, directors and even individual contributors—are the ones responsible for implementation but they are often ignored in the whole process.
I will admit that my own process explicitly states that only leaders should be "in the room" when formulating a strategy but I add extra steps to engage everyone else.
Practically speaking, you cannot formulate a strategy with more than 15 people (give or take a few). The best follow these same rules but they don’t forget about the staff. They find ways to engage them, before and after.
II. Engaging Staff Before
You have two opportunities to engage staff when creating a new strategy, before or after. Both are essential and you could think of the before as the preventive and the after as the contingent. If you skip one (usually the before) then you will need to work harder on the after.
Before your leadership team has a strategic conversation, you can explore ways to let your staff share their thoughts and comments. Here are several ideas that I have seen work well with my clients.
Survey with a few questions
Townhall (virtual or in-person)
Individual comments from one-on-ones
Interviews with a select number of people
Public voting of ideas
Set up of a feedback@ email to capture ideas
I personally like to use the survey option as it provides multiple avenues for engagement including text, audio and video responses. If you want to see a preview of the survey I use, visit this link (no email paywall). You can see the 5 - 6 questions I use for most strategic planning sessions.
Besides capturing feedback, these questions also start the thinking process for the people who will be in the room. Instead of starting cold, like a runner on a cold morning, participants (including myself) arrive "warm" and ready to dive into the strategic conversation.
In a recent engagement, I was working with an organization in the food business. Their survey responses started generating ideas in my mind, recollecting any relevant stories and examples that I may have come across in the past. By the time I was in front of their team, I had noted several questions that would help us identify their most important challenges.
Whatever you choose, make sure you create a summary of the responses to surface patterns and key ideas. You can then take these ideas into the actual strategic conversation. I often refer to these ideas during the session without mentioning specific names.
By doing this before a strategy is formulated, staff will be able to identify their concerns in the strategic priorities selected. Not all concerns will be addressed, of course, but at the very least they had a chance to voice them and for leaders to consider them.
III. Engaging Staff After
In the after portion, leaders need to embrace a simple form of coaching. I recently started helping an organization implement their strategy and my coaching focuses on three questions:
Who are the key people needed for implementation?
How can I demonstrate the benefits of the strategy for their work and life?
What tools do they need?
The first question is all about finding the levers that influence the rest of the organization. Getting a manager onboard means a higher probability of getting all of their direct reports onboard as well.
The second question centers on motivation, underlining the fact that is not enough to tell someone to do something. Many people are already busy and this new strategy is yet another item on their to-do list. If I can help them see that making time for the new strategy will reduce their workload or help them have a bigger impact, I’m going to have a more willing participant.
You might think that this mentality is more common in younger workers while older workers do not need such persuasion. While younger workers may need more persuasion than others, I still see similar patterns in all age groups. An employee may do something without buying into it but you’re better off trying to get people to own their contribution.
The third question encompasses the wide range of tools someone might need. They can include tools for providing feedback, dealing with conflict, prioritization, time management and so forth. I don’t create all of these tools from scratch and there’s many options in any given category.
It’s important to keep things simple. The more overhead a strategy requires—adoption of new templates, new meetings, new concepts—the less likely it is to be implemented.
I’m always looking for ways for individuals to make small shifts in a positive direction. These small shifts can add up to big changes over time, just like compound interest. Too many people are looking for massive top-bottom overhauls when the small stuff is good enough for today, this week or this month.
IV. Drip Pricing, Negative Self Talk and More
As always, here are my favorite articles from the Substack universe and the authors who wrote them.
wrote a great piece on how to market without social media. I’m amazed how quickly organizations default to social media as the “best” channel. Social media has valid use cases but there are a lot of alternatives out there. wrote on how the expectations have increased for CEOs and what they can do about it. He covers two areas that are particularly difficult, Social Justice and DEI. wrote on how to keep negativity at bay. The concept of mirrored reciprocity stuck out for me as a way to gauge if the reactions we get from others are actually originating inside of us. wrote an interview on how PETA uses shock in their strategy. I’m personally not a fan of these types of marketing tactics but it clearly works for them and their audience.That’s all I have for this week!
Engaging your staff is important but also not complex. Give them an opportunity to voice their concerns, take them seriously and align their work with their self-interest.
Until next week,
Ruben
P.S. If you have a pressing question or decision and you would like rapid advice (in less than 60 minutes), then check out a new offering I just put together. I’m calling them "Thinking Sessions."
Here’s how they work:
You identify a burning issue or decision that your team is facing
We work on it together for 30 - 60 minutes over a Zoom call
We will identify different ways to addressing it and create an action plan you can follow
You will gain clarity, confidence and walk away with tangible steps you can take next
This is the same process I follow with clients but I’m offering it as a standalone service. In the past, I have helped clients figure out decisions around remote work, hiring of key individuals, conflicts, product expansion, political challenges and more.
If this sounds like a good fit, then click the button below to read more and self-book a session.