90% of strategies are not effectively executed. This is according to Harvard Business School professor Robert Kaplan. He delved deeper into this pertinent matter in his book on strategy execution, Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategies Into Action. Further, he notes that most leaders experience minimal struggle in strategy ideation. What is the missing link between the ideation and execution process?

Important Aspects of Strategy Execution

Let us bring it closer home. What stands in the way of successful strategy execution in your organization?
Below are the common building blocks of strategy execution. As you read through evaluate your organization’s effectiveness in strategy execution.

1. Clear direction

Nothing beats a well-thought-out strategy. It offers a sense of direction for the organization with clearly stated goals. It should be a memorable document that the leader and team members can easily state where they are headed. A clear direction prevents many destructive activities that affect the execution process. Furthermore, it charges up the team as they have a reason to keep going.

2. Granulate the execution process

Having a clear big picture is one thing, breaking it down into actionable, executable steps is another. This step allows for a systemic execution process. It is the small parts that, when actioned will move the organization closer to meeting the end goal.

A strategy that cannot be broken down into small actionable is bound to fail.

Samuel Kariuki- MiVida CEO and Certified Executive Leadership Coach

You can equate this to a spoonful of food taken in a period to finish the portion of food that satiates hunger. Even with the best intentions, a plate full of food cannot be consumed in one go.

3. Ownership

This is a follow through to the granulation process. Members of the team are assigned the tasks specific to them. When the tasks are well done, they play to the success of the department and organization at large. Whenever the tasks are not clearly defined, the whole organization will suffer when the undone tasks will lag the process behind. Ownership breeds accountability, keeping all team members playing a part.

4. Sequence of Execution

A clear sequence keeps the strategy execution process going. This incorporates the periodic team meetings, a clear display of the progress and accountability for the individual team members. Naturally, teams lose touch with the essence of what is happening. Hence, keeping tabs of the progress will ensure consistent recording, recognition and evaluation. A clear display of the results keeps the team motivated.

5. Patience in Execution

With the strategy and execution plan in place, patience is a virtue. No impact or difference happens right away. Actually, the activities that at last make the difference take a while to be tangible. As it is captured in The 4 Disciplines of Execution, lead measures, measurable and predictable activities will in the long run impact lag measures. The lag measures, the activities that take a while to show impact but are crucial, can easily lead to a loss of morale in the team, affecting the entire process.

Lack of patience in strategy execution stands in the way of execution. Give the strategy a chance to develop, mature, and be ingrained in the organization

Janet Kamau, Africa Marketing Director, Oracle and Certified Professional Coach

6. Organizational culture

How activities are run in the organization plays an important role in the strategy execution process. These include the values, beliefs, attitudes, rules, and systems that influence employee behaviour. The values inculcated and systems in place can make or break the teams effort to execute the strategy.

“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”

James Clear

7. Leadership Approach

A leader’s influence on strategy execution cannot be underestimated. It is the influence that keeps the team motivated, challenged, recognized, and on track. A balance of leadership styles based on circumstances will go a long way.

The Hats A Leader Wears For Successful Strategy Execution

In strategy execution, leadership is the fuel that keeps the execution fire burning. In a poll conducted by CDI Africa Coaching Group, poor leadership took the lead in the reasons that stand in the way of effective strategy execution. Below are the essential hats a leader ought to wear to effectively execute the strategy.

1. Visionary

A visionary leader has a clear sight of the goal and keeps the team in touch with it. With competing needs and exciting but short-lived goals, this leader must steer clear unnecessary activities and stay on course with the most important goals. These come with a balance of what is happening currently and how it will matter in the long run in achieving the common goal.

2. Problem Solver

A problem solver models resilience and consistency in dealing with challenging and unexpected situations that arise in strategy execution. Even with the best execution process, problems will arise. A leader must have the capacity to charge himself and the team forward without losing hope in the slightest whim of a challenge. This hat must be won daily to curb the new challenges that arise daily.

3. Cheerleader

A cheerleader recognizes and celebrates wins in the strategy execution process. This includes small wins every step of the way. Recognition motivates, awakening the team members. Over focus on what is not working or silence when things are going right dampens the team’s spirit, hence, demotivating them.

When people are appreciated, they own the execution and in turn succeed

Janet Kamau, Africa Marketing Director, Oracle 

4. Continuous Learner

A leader worth his salt ought to learn and grow. Therefore, be open to question long-held beliefs in favour of new ones, and changing them. This will go a long way in empowering the team. What worked yesterday may not cut it today, stay on top of your game.

5. Mentor

Mentorship draws knowledge and expertise from the leader. As a leader, you offer mentorship to create room for the team members to emulate your strategy execution journey. This saves time and resources that would otherwise be spent figuring out the way forward and instead takes on what is known to work.

6. Coach

Coaching is built on the premise that people have the answers and solutions to their challenges. Therefore, they need an opportunity to find answers to their questions. For this reason, a coach leader listens actively, asks thought-provoking questions, and embraces different perspectives. A leader ought to acknowledge the greatness in every team member and provide room for each one to tap into their inherent greatness.

As a certified coach, I shifted from prescriptive leadership to relational; assessing each individual ability and coaching based on circumstance.

Kariuki, CEO MiVida Homes

Challenges and Opportunities in Strategy Execution

1. Resistance to change

Change is inevitable and unnatural. New perspectives, approaches, and ideas are naturally resisted. This makes it difficult to embrace what is new and mostly uncomfortable. Change offers an opportunity for growth, it is the doorway to the untapped potential.

2. Technological advancement

The 21st Century has experienced an exponential technological revolution. New, better, easier, and convenient options are the order of the day. Holding on to the previous ways is bound to render an organization and its processes redundant. Technological advancement is a great way for an organization to improve strategy execution. Advance your processes from planning, reporting, and accountability.

3. Complexity and uncertainty

Organizations do not function in a vacuum, neither does the strategy execution process. Unexpected situations crop up every day hampering a well-thought-out process from unfolding. Therefore, providing room for the effects of political instability is important. Taking into account the micro and macroeconomic dynamics will go a long way in cushioning your organization.

4. Clarity and alignment

Charting a clear strategy execution path presents a great chance of success. It offers clarity and direction to the team members. Periodic alignment of the goal and processes prevents team members from veering off the execution path.

How to overcome the strategy execution challenges

1. Embed a supportive culture

Set systems in place that will support the strategy execution process. This ranges from day-to-day activities and acknowledgment of individual contribution. The pace with which processes flow and the general tone of functionality inform the execution process. It is common, almost inevitable for new team members to dance to the beat of the organization’s culture. A healthy, supportive, and seamless culture presents a conducive environment. Whereas, a toxic, unproductive work environment renders even great strategies dead on arrival.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”

Management consultant and writer Peter Drucker.

2. Improve Your Adaptability

As earlier pointed out, change is inevitable. A leader’s approach and work systems must be flexible and adaptable to the economic and technological needs. For this reason, malleable strategy execution processes stand a higher chance of successful execution than the rigid ones.

3. Communicate Effectively

Communication is key in strategy execution. It is the glue that holds the team members together and in turn, tied to the overarching goal. It is paramount for the strategy communication to be timely, clear and structured manner to maintain consistency. Effective communication inspires ownership in the team and enforces accountability.

Way forward

Strategy execution is a work in progress that is not actualized in a straight and direct fashion. It has unexpected detours that with the right professional expertise and systems in place, can keep the team on course. Watch the video below where industry experts share their journey in strategy execution.