A simple, flexible tool for communicating strategy and execution plans

          The news is full of talk about “A New Strategic Direction” or a need to “Execute” more effectively. What does that mean? We are seeing a pretty big disconnect in how leaders talk about strategy and execution and the mechanism they use to communicate it to their organizations.

          Many organizations have a robust planning process.  Valuable time and energy goes into the design and development of a strategic plan. The operating committee approves the plan and then it is shared with a few key stakeholders. People involved feel good about the output. This select group understands the future direction of the organization. Then what happens? People closest to the process or the Strategy Function “monitor” the plan. Many organizations put them aside or “shelve” them until next year.

          How to build strategy is important; however; successful organizations find a way to also streamline and communicate the message! Aligning the organization around the strategy and communicating it simply is critical. An important and proven tool we have worked with over the years is the Strategy On-a-Page – a summary page that serves as a catalyst for communication, organizational alignment and stakeholder support. Our colleague, Peter Klein, a thought leader in corporate strategy and business development not only coined the phrase, but has shaped much of the thinking around the process and tools to simplify strategy.

          What does this simple tool do? It:

1. Provides a clear line of sight to the realities of what is going on inside and           outside the company.
2. Illustrates Objectives / Goals
3. Shows what choices senior management makes to achieve these results
4. Outlines important initiatives that must be executed to achieve the plan
5. Communicates to each employee where and how they contribute to achieving these results

With the complexities of our rapidly changing marketplace, this is more critical than ever! We believe that the output of any strategic planning process can and should be simply communicated on one page. Just think about how that might help drive a high performing culture.

To see the tool —- scroll up, click on the Resources Tab, and look under tools 

“Five to ten years ago you would set your vision and strategy and then start following it. That does not work anymore. Now you have to be alert every day, week and month to renew your strategy.” Olli-Pekka Kallasvvuo, CEO Nokia *
     Who would have thought that three year strategic plans developed by companies last September would already be obsolete? The world has changed and those companies that have not invested time in building the capability of their organization to think strategically could be in trouble.
     Developing better strategic thinkers is more important than ever. It develops strategic agility. Why have successful companies such as such Kraft, Hershey, Apple, IBM, Dean / WhiteWave Foods, P&G / Gillette and others invest so much time developing their leaders to think more strategically? Why has Wal-Mart been successful over the last year? Very simply…they have invested in the development of their senior leaders at all levels to be able to quickly assess the external landscape and translate that into strategies for success both in the short and long term.
     In December of 2007, we wrote in our Insights to Action Whitepaper … Over the last several years, the partners at GlobalEdg have worked with many senior executives and their leadership teams helping them to develop more comprehensive strategic thinking skills. We have found that these capabilities, if not fully developed, will be a recipe for disaster for the organization as well as the executive. Little did we know!
     Moving forward and success is about making an organization more strategically agile. Strategy is not owned by a few people in the office of the CEO or President. Today leaders in all functions must be capable of contributing, communicating and aligning people on how to execute it. For example, one CPG company was able to reposition a product for immediate release. Using new consumer insights and leveraging a more flexible manufacturing capability, marketing, manufacturing and sales came together to reposition a brand – capitalizing on the emotional scent that has driven consumers to trust and love the product.

     Over the last six months we have seen a dramatic shift in how some organizations are doing business. For example one consumer branded company set aside one week during the first part of this year with cross-functional teams to apply strategic thinking to each line of business. These teams were chartered for only 30 days. The results – a few new Key Issues were identified that did not exist 6 months ago. The organization considered new alternatives and made their recommendations to the executive committee who changed their strategic direction in mid-course.

     Is your organization building a performance culture with strategic agility? Are you challenging business people to think about what are the most important areas that will build capability for the near term? Who is partnering with HR to lead the capability building agenda for the company?

Author — Paul Butler, GlobalEdg pbutler@globaledg.com

* Fast Strategy Doz & Kosonen … Wharton School Publishing