Services: Strategy Execution

"The Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing."

— Jim Barksdale, Former COO, Federal Express

What is strategy, anyway? Simply put, strategy is about choices. What's in, what's out, what should we start doing, keep doing, and (most difficult of all) STOP doing. Quite often, companies spend millions developing their strategic plans – only to tuck them away and revisit on important occasions; 'all hands' meetings, board updates or year-end reviews. No wonder the failure rate is so high.

In a 2006 question and answer session with Harvard Business School professor Robert S. Kaplan, he stated:

"Over the past fifteen years, we have studied the root causes of the disconnect between strategy and performance. We have learned that most organizations do not have a strategy execution process. Many have strategic plans, but no coherent approach to manage the execution of those plans. Consequently, many key management processes remain disconnected from strategy."

We have also learned that:

Many organizations don't have a consistent way to even describe their strategy, other than in a large strategic planning binder.
Sixty percent of typical organizations do not link their strategic priorities to their budget, virtually ensuring that key strategic initiatives do not get funded and resources may not be supplied to deliver on the strategic plan.
Two-thirds of HR and IT organizations develop strategic plans that are not linked to the organization's strategy. This is extraordinary.
Seventy percent of middle managers and more than 90 percent of front-line employees have compensation that is not linked to the strategy.
Most devastating, 95 percent of employees in most organizations do not understand their organization's strategy.

In short, there is often a chronic disconnect in organizations between strategy formulation and strategy execution.

At the Thornton Group, we work with you to:

Develop your 'Desired Future State', that clearly describes your organization's strategic direction over the next 3 to 5 years.
Determine the 2 to 3 Strategic Anchors (Decision-making Filters) your organization will use to guide decision-making.
Identify the 'Thematic Goal' (Main Thing) and Supporting Business Objectives the company will align around.
Develop and implement the Systems and Processes that measure progress and determine results.
Develop the Communication Strategy to cascade through the organization, so that every employee understands where the company is heading and how what they do 'fits'.