Executives often spend months (sometimes years) putting together a strategy to grow their organization. However, these strategies are often abandoned, changed, or lose momentum within a year or less. Why? How is it that we spend so much time, money, resources, and effort in creating a strategy, which becomes proverbially obsolete once the rubber actually meets the road? Here are the top six reasons why it happens:
Your strategy isn’t a strategy – Strategies that are comprised of only goals does not a strategy make. Without having a clear understanding of what audience you’re pursuing, what that audience wants, how you’re going to differentiate from the competition, and how you’ll execute all of it, you basically have a wish list of things you want without a way to achieve them. Wishes aren’t a strategic approach.
You haven’t translated the strategy to a department level – Even if you have a clear strategy, each and every department must understand how they can contribute to support it. More often than not, a “corporate strategy” is announced and departments are left to their own devices to figure out what they should do – and usually, that’s the same things they were doing the day before.
You don’t have the discipline – A strategy is a long-term endeavor, not something you change up on a whim. Many companies treat strategy like a campaign – when it doesn’t deliver results in a few weeks or months, it’s scrapped for the next new idea. Your strategy is how you’ll compete in a way that your competitors won’t or can’t. This isn’t just a promotion – it’s how you operate as a business – and aligning those operations takes time.
You don’t have a clear, singular focus – Companies who are new to strategy often have a hard time eliminating the things that don’t align with the strategy. Even worse, they frequently re-label internal, continuous improvement initiatives as strategic ones, and call it a day. While there are always activities and investments which are operational in nature to keep the business humming, these things are not part of the strategy.
You’re in love with planning – Strategy isn’t planning (thank you, Roger Martin!) and many organizations are way more experienced in planning than strategy. Strategy is about making tough choices and harnessing efforts and investments to compete more effectively. Planning is about creating initiatives and projects, with timelines, tactics, and budgets. Plans are how you implement the choices made by the strategy, not the strategy itself.
Your strategy isn’t about your target audience – Organizations who develop a strategy centered around their own internal needs and desires aren’t creating a strategy – they are serving the wrong audience. Customers (and potential customers) are what you’re in business for – and they determine whether you stay in business. While employees are an integral part, many initiatives focus on what makes things easier for the organization, not the customer, and don’t deliver more revenue or less costs.
If your organization is doing any or all of these things, it’s highly likely any strategy you develop won’t gain traction or generate a significant positive impact. Take the time to reconsider your organizational mindset around strategy and start addressing these inhibiting behaviors which thwart success.
About the Author:
Andrea Belk Olson is a keynote speaker, author, differentiation strategist, behavioral scientist, and customer-centricity expert. As the CEO of Pragmadik, she helps organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to Fortune 500, and has served as an outside consultant for EY and McKinsey. Andrea is the author of three books, including her most recent, What To Ask: How To Learn What Customers Need but Don’t Tell You, released in June 2022.
She is a 4-time ADDY® award winner and host of the popular Customer Mission podcast. Her thoughts have been continually featured in news sources such as Chief Executive Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Harvard Business Review, Rotman Magazine, World Economic Forum, and more. Andrea is a sought-after speaker at conferences and corporate events throughout the world. She is a visiting lecturer and startup coach at the University of Iowa, a TEDx presenter, and TEDx speaker coach. She is also an instructor at the University of Iowa Venture School.
More information is also available on www.pragmadik.com and www.andreabelkolson.com.
