Research has consistently found for more than 30 years that organisations have high failure rates in turning strategic plans into successful results.
As recently as 2013, an Economist study1 reported “61% of managers acknowledge that their firms often struggle to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and its day-to-day implementation. And in the last three years an average of just 56% of strategic initiatives have been successful.”
With over two decades experience in designing, developing and implementing strategic plans, we take this challenge seriously. Our solution: a focus on alignment.
Simply put, in our experience many great strategies fall down at the first hurdle: often coal-face employees aren’t aware of nor understand the strategy, nor are they motivated to help implement it. Our alignment engagements typically involve some combination of:
- Aligning the Team: Translate, communicate, educate, motivate
- Getting Organised: Turning intention into accountable actions, and cascading performance goals from the top level down to each individual
- Aligning How We Do Business: Resource allocation, performance management, reporting and reviews
We have demonstrated the high impact that an investment in alignment can deliver: for example in creating and sustaining high performing joint-venture and client/supplier partnerships, and in building momentum and delivering results on complex, mission-critical projects.
1. Why good strategies fail: Lessons for the C-suite, Economist Intelligence Unit, 2013.